'Korea under Japanese rule' was the period when it was a part of the
Japanese Empire from 1910 to 1945.
Japan's involvement began with the 1876
Treaty of Ganghwa during the
Joseon Dynasty of Korea and increased with the subsequent
assassination of
Empress Myeongseong at the hands of
Japanese agents in 1895. It culminated with the 1905
Eulsa Treaty and the 1910
Annexation Treaty, both of which were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.
Japanese control of Korea ended with the
surrender of Japan to the
Allied forces in 1945 at the end of
World War II. The
Korean Peninsula was
subsequently divided into
North and
South Koreas. The legacy of the occupation remains in continuing
disputes between Japan and the two Koreas.
In Korea, this period is called the ' Japanese Forced Occupation Period' (일제 강점기; ''Ilje gangjeomgi'') or 'Japanese Imperial Period' (일제시대, ''Ilje shidae''). Sometimes it is also referred to as the ''Wae Jeong'' (
Hangul: 왜정,
Hanja: 倭政), or "Foreign administration". In Japan, this period is called 'The Korea under Japanese rule' (日本統治時代の朝鮮).
Background
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, various Western countries were competing for influence, trade, and territory in
East Asia while Japan sought to join the modern colonial powers. Securing colonies depended on naval power, which required bases and fuel stations. The newly modernised
Meiji government of Japan regarded Korea, then in
China's
sphere of influence, as an essential
bulwark against colonization by the Western powers. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from China and make Korea a
Japanese satellite in order to further their security and national interests.
[1] Imperial Japan prohibited the old social system of the
Joseon Dynasty and also introduced capitalism and western culture to Korea.
[2]
Treaty of Ganghwa
Main articles: Treaty of Ganghwa
Following the
Meiji Restoration, Japan signed the Treaty of Ganghwa with Korea, which granted extraterritorial rights and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade in February 1876. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted to Western powers in Japan following the visit of
Commodore Perry.
Assassination of Empress Myeongseong
Main articles: Empress Myeongseong
In 1895,
Empress Myeongseong was assassinated by Japanese agents.
[3] The Japanese minister to Korea,
Miura Goro orchestrated the plot against her. A group of Japanese agents entered the Imperial palace in Seoul, which was under Japanese guard,
[4] and Empress Myeongseong (referred to as "''Queen'' Min" by the Japanese) was killed and her body desecrated in the North wing of the palace.
[5] The empress had attempted to counter Japanese interference in Korea and was considering turning to Russia or China for support. After the assassination of his consort,
Emperor Gojong refused to talk with his father, the
Daewon-gun, believing him complicit in the assassination.
Donghak Revolution and protests for democracy
Main articles: Donghak Peasant Revolution
The outbreak of the
Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward Korea. Korea had negotiated with Russia to counterbalance Japan's growing influence.
So Chae-pil and
Protestant missionaries introduced Western political thought to Korea. Protesters took to the streets, demanding
democratic reforms and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. The Meiji leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan sent its own troops to Korea. Japan won the
First Sino-Japanese War, and China signed the
Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea", thus ending Korea's traditional
suzerain relationship with China.
A Gwan Pa Cheon (King's Confinement in Russian Legation)
Main articles: A Gwan Pa Cheon
On
February 11 1896,
King Gojong and his crown prince fled from
royal palace to the
Russian legation in
Seoul, in which they confined themselves and remote-controlled the Korean government for about one year.
This event made everyone in the world doubt Korea's ability to stay as an independent nation. Indeed, after the confinement, Korean policy became strongly pro-Russia. Since Japan was very anxious about Russian power, this event made Japan see Korea as a potential threat.
On the road to annexation
The strategic rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded in the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, won by Japan.
[6] Under the peace treaty signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.
A separate agreement was signed in secret between the United States and Japan at this time, and this subsequently aroused anti-American sentiment among Koreans decades later.
The
Taft-Katsura Agreement was cynical by modern standards, exchanging what amounted to a lack of interest and military capability in Korea on the part of the United States (Japan was given a free hand in Korea) for a lack of interest or capability in the
Philippines on the part of Japan (Japanese imperialism was diverted from the Philippines).
Given the diplomatic conventions of the times, however, the agreement was a much weaker endorsement of the Japanese presence in Korea than either the Russo-Japanese peace treaty or a separate Anglo- Japanese accord.
Two months later, Korea was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate.
Thereafter, a large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but by then Japanese dominance in Korea was a reality.
Japan annexed Korea as a colony on
August 22,
1910.
In June 1907, the
Second Peace Conference was held in
The Hague.
Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives, commissioned to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys ultimately failed, as they were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates who alleged the legality of the protectorate convention, which deprived Korea of its diplomatic prerogatives. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Chun, committed suicide at The Hague.
[7]
In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On July 19, as a consequence of his offense, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as the regent. The Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new
Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong or Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the
Joseon Dynasty, which had been founded in 1392.
[8]
Annexation of Korea
Lack of legality
Main articles: Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
In May 1910, the Minister of the Army of Japan,
Terauchi Masatake, was appointed as "Resident General of Korea", with the mission to finalize the annexation (official commencement of this position after the annexation occurred on
October 1 of the same year). On
August 22,
1910, Korea was effectively
annexed by Japan with the
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed under duress by
Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and
Terauchi Masatake, who became the first ''de facto''
Governor-General of Korea.
The text was published one week later and became effective the same day. The treaty stipulated:
★ "Article 1: His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.
★ Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan."
Both the protectorate and the annexation treaties were declared void in the 1965 Basic Treaty between Korea and Japan since it was: 1. obtained under
threat of force, and 2. the Korean Emperor, whose
royal assent was required to validate and finalize any legislation or diplomatic agreement under Korean law of the period, refused to sign the document,
[9][10].
Liberation movement
Main articles: Korean independence movement
Upon
Emperor Gojong's death,
anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide, most notably the
March 1 (''Samil'') Movement of 1919. A
declaration of independence was read in
Seoul. It is estimated that 2 million people took part in these rallies. The
protests were violently suppressed: according to Korean records, 46,948 were arrested, 7,509 killed and 15,961 wounded; according to Japanese figures, 8437 were arrested, 553 killed and 1409 wounded.
[11]
The Encyclopedia Britannica states that about 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers during the 12 months of demonstrations.
[12] The
March 1 movement was a catalyst for the establishment of the
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in
April 13,
1919. Some Koreans left the Korean peninsula to Manchuria and
Primorsky Krai. Koreans in
Manchuria formed resistance groups known as
Dongnipgun (Liberation Army) which would travel in and out of the Korean-Chinese boundary, fighting guerrilla warfare with the Japanese forces. These guerilla armies would come together in 1940s as
Korean Liberation Army, The Armed Forces of the Provisional Government bringing together the Korean resistance groups in exile. The government duly declared the war against Japan and
Germany on
December 9,
1941, and the Liberation Army took part in allied action in China and parts of
South East Asia. Tens of thousands of Koreans also joined the
Peoples Liberation Army and the
National Revolutionary Army.
After the declaration of liberation and the subsequent massacres, some of the aspects of Japanese rule considered most objectionable to Koreans were removed. The military police were replaced by a civilian force, and limited press freedom was permitted. Two of the three major Korean dailies, the
Dong-a Ilbo and the
Chosun Ilbo, were established in 1920.
Continued anti-Japanese rallies, such as the nationwide uprising of students in November 1929, led to the strengthening of military rule in 1931, after which freedom of the press and expression were curbed. Many witnesses, including Catholic priests, reported that Japanese authorities dealt with alleged insurgency severely. When villagers were suspected of hiding rebels, entire villages of people are said to have been herded into public buildings (especially churches) and massacred when the buildings were set on fire.
[13] In the village of Cheam-Ni near Suwon, for instance, a group of 29 people was gathered inside a church which was then set afire to burn them alive.
[11] Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government.
[15]
World War II
The
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in
Shanghai was considered to be the ''de jure'' representation of the Korean people. It coordinated much of struggle against Japan in China and Korea itself throughout the Period of Japanese Rule. On
December 9,
1941, shortly after the
Attack on Pearl Harbor, the provisional government, under the presidency of
Kim Gu, declared war on Japan. The military force of the Provisional Government, the
Korean Liberation Army took part on the allies side in Chinese and Southeast Asian theatres. Tens of thousands more Koreans volunteered for the
National Revolutionary Army and the
Peoples Liberation Army. However, they were neither invited to San Francisco, nor became a signatory of the
Treaty of San Francisco as they were not recognized as a wartime ally and the Japanese government did not agree to treat
Zainichi Koreans as a victorious nation.
[16]
Following the dropping of
atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the
Allied Forces on
15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese occupation. US forces under General
John R. Hodge arrived in the southern part of Korea on
8 September. Colonel
Dean Rusk proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency U.S. meeting to determine
spheres of influence during this time.
Economy and exploitation
Business district in Pyongyang under Japanese rule
Historians have cited the period of Japanese occupation of Korea as a time of rapid industrial development after a long period of economic stagnation during the Choson era. However, many of these estimates are based on official Japanese statistics and the greater question remains whether Korea would have been able to
develop on its own had it not become a colony (See below:
Controversy over the Nature of the Japanese Rule).
In many ways the 'industrialization' of Korea marked not a
modernization, but a form of
colonial mercantilism,
[17] with a colonial economic system designed for the needs of Japan, not Korea. Emphasis on developing
infrastructure (virtually non-existent or negligible at the time) was largely to facilitate the transport and eventual shipment of
commodities such as raw materials (timber and leather), foodstuffs (mostly rice, meat and fish), and mineral resources (coal and iron, particularly rich in the northern provinces) to Japan proper.
General
average life expectancy did rise during the colonial era, however these figures may be misleading since
life expectancy is heavily dependent on the
criteria used to select the group and these figures included the Japanese population living in Korea--who had access to better nutrition, health care, commodities, and higher protein diets. Widespread economic poverty and
malnutrition for the Korean population remained endemic, aggravated by the annual
confiscation of Korean rice for export to Japan. The average amount of Korean rice exported to Japan rose from 1,056,000 sacks in 1912 to 7,161,000 sacks in 1937.
As Imperial Japan began feeling the strains of World War II, Japan "siphoned off more and more of Korea's resources, including its people, to feed its war machine."
[18]
Colonization efforts and land confiscation
Duus shows how the Japanese settlers in Korea also played an important role in expanding Japanese influence, a migration which took place in several waves. With the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war, it consisted of mostly petty merchants, peddlers, construction workers, characterized as a "swarm of penny capitalists and carpetbaggers" who were "often rapacious and dishonest". After 1905, the Japanese government wanted its settlers to take root in Korea and encouraged further migration to help consolidate and expand influence. By 1910, the number of Japanese settlers in Korea reached over 170,000, creating the largest overseas Japanese community in the world at the time.
Many Japanese were interested in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese landownership was officially legalized in 1906. Many Japanese took advantage of loose Korean conveyancing practices to acquire land largely for investment purposes, using Koreans as tenant farmers. Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations, such as the Oriental Development Company. It is estimated that by 1910 perhaps 7 to 8 percent of all arable land was under Japanese control.
The Japanese
seizure of Korean land first became widespread during the time the Korea was a Japanese
colony. The Imperial Japanese government handed out large tracts of Korean land at
subsidized costs to any Japanese family willing to
settle in Korea as part of a larger effort at
colonization.
[19] Former Korean landowners as well as agricultural workers became
internally displaced, having lost their
entitlements to labor and property almost overnight. Those who did labor under Japanese landlords did so under significantly higher taxes. As such, Korean farmers suffered under the high degree of their labor, which was required in order to supply rice to an increasingly
urbanized Japan. The ownership registration process that Japan required of the Koreans made it difficult, if not close to impossible for self-employed Korean farms to keep their estates from being exploited and taken away by the
Eastern Real Estate Corporation, which had been established during the beginning of the colonial era by the Japanese
Governor-General to confiscate all land of hereditary ownership. Consequently, Japanese landowners succeeded in
monopolizing the management of Korean farms and property. This is well demonstrated during the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, during which the ratio of Japanese land ownership started at 36.8%, then rose to 39.8%, and finally jumped to 52.7%, while the ratio of Korean ownership began at 63.2%, decreased to 60.2%, and finally fell to 47.3%. This colonial policy of land confiscation without
compensation, coupled with the rice confiscation lead to severe and persistent
famines and food shortages throughout the Korean countryside.
Forced labor conscriptions
With the onset of the
Pacific War Japan began to experience increasing
labor shortages as a result of
over-drafting Japanese males for the military. Although initially the Japanese government allowed private and government recruitment of Korean workers, tens of thousands of Koreans were later conscripted into
forced labor.
About 5,400,000 Koreans were conscripted into forced labor from 1939 to 1945. About 670,000 of them were taken to Japan, where about 60,000 died between 1939 and 1945 due mostly to exhaustion or poor working conditions. Many of those taken to
Karafuto Prefecture (modern-day
Sakhalin) were trapped there at the end of the war, stripped of their nationality and denied repatriation by Japan; they became known as the
Sakhalin Koreans.
[20] The total deaths of Korean forced laborers in Korea and
Manchuria for those years is estimated to be between 270,000 and 810,000.
[21]
In 1938, 0.8 million Koreans were living in Japan as immigrants. The combination of immigrants and forced labor workers during
World War II brought that estimate to about 2 million Koreans living in Japan at the end of the war (
GHQ estimation). In 1946, 1.34 million people returned to Korea (also estimated by GHQ) and 0.65 million Koreans remained in Japan.
Politics and culture
Residents of the Korean peninsula, whether ethnic Korean or Japanese, did not have the right to vote or right to hold office in Japan's
House of Representatives. The election law was amended in 1945 to allot 18 seats of the House of Representatives to the Korean peninsula, but this did not go into effect because of the end of the war later in the same year. Koreans in Japan were, however, eventually given the right to vote and to hold office.
Bak Chun-geum (박춘금, 朴春琴) was the first ethnic Korean to be elected into the House of Representatives in 1932, and re-elected in 1938. Several members of the Korean Royalty were appointed to the
House of Peers including
Bak Yeong-Hyo (박영효, 朴泳孝) in 1932. 38 Koreans were elected into local assemblies in 1942.
Assimilation of the royalty
Following the forced dissolution of the
Korean Empire and the assassination of
Empress Myeongseong at the hands of Japanese agents, the
Korean royalty was incorporated into the
Japanese royalty. Since the ''Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty'' lacked legality as it was
never signed by the Korean Emperor,
an effort was made to inter-marry the royalty of the two houses in an attempt to validate the occupation of Korea.
Yi Eun, then the
Imperial Crown Prince of Korea, married
Masako of Nashimotonomiya.
Pro-Japanese Koreans (or ''Chinilpa'') who supported or helped the annexation were also given titles of Japanese nobility.
Lee Wan-Yong, the last prime minister of the
Korean Empire, was given the title of Count (later Duke) by Japanese fiat and against Korean resistance. In total, 76 Koreans were titled Count, Baron, etc. all of which were later invalidated by the Korean Governments after receiving formal charges of
betrayal against the state.
‘Cultural genocide’
The Japanese colonization of Korea has been mentioned as the ''case in point'' of "
cultural genocide" by a graduate student Ms. Matsumura at the Comparative Genocide Studies group at the
University of Tokyo.
[22] The colonial government put into practice the suppression of Korean culture and language in an “attempt to root out all elements of Korean culture from society”.
:"''Focus was heavily and intentionally placed upon the psychological and cultural element in Japan 's colonial policy, and the unification strategies adopted in the fields of culture and education were designed to eradicate the individual ethnicity of the Korean race.''"
Initially, the Japanese sponsored several Korean language newspapers to counter the strong
anti-Japanese message of the chief Korean publication ''Hwangson Sinmun'' (1898-1910),
[23] and in fact kept issuing the
Korean language newspaper ''Maeil Sinbo'' (매일신보; 每日新報) until the
Japanese surrender in 1945.
[24]
Other means of
cultural suppression included the method of “altering” public monuments, including several well-known temples, palaces, scripts, memorials, and statues. Songs and poems originally dedicated to Korean Emperors were re-written to adore the Japanese Emperor. Carved monuments underwent Chinese character alterations to delete or change part of their meaning.
Two of the more notorious events included the
Sungnyemun, a virtual symbol of Korea, which was altered by the addition of large, Shinto-style golden horns near the roofs (later removed by the South Korean government after independence), and the incident of
Gyeongbokgung, a former Korean palace which was demolished and the
Japanese General Government Building built in the exact location. In addition, many ancient Korean texts that were discovered mentioning Korean military and cultural exploits or Japan's historic inferiority and uncivilized behavior such as
Wokou were deleted methodically; in general, the awareness of Korean history among Koreans declined during this period. This process of altering history carried out by the
Editing Agency of Korean History.
This eventually led to a revival in
Korean nationalism, including in-depth research projects into
Hangul, the Korean alphabet, which resulted in the standardization of the Korean writing system by scholars such as
I Hui-Seong (이희성) and
Choe Hyeon-bae (최현배) in the 1930s, as well as underground publications of books about historical Korean figures. Historians, such as
Sin Chae-ho, were active in trying to present a Koreanized version of ancient history using textual material.
Forced name changes
Main articles: Sōshi-kaimei
In 1911 a proclamation, “Case Concerning the Changing of Korean Names” (朝鮮人ノ姓名改称ニ関スル件) was issued barring ethnic Koreans from taking Japanese names and to retroactively revert the names of Koreans that had already registered under Japanese names back to the original Korean ones
[25] in an attempt to better segregate individuals of Korean and Japanese ancestry.
By 1939, however, the focus had shifted towards
colonial assimilation, and Imperial Decree 19 on Korean Civil Affairs (조선민사령; “帝令19朝鮮民事令”)
[26] went into effect, whereby all Koreans had to surrender their
Korean family name and adopt Japanese surnames. A country study conducted by the
Library of Congress states that “Korean culture was quashed, and Koreans were required to speak Japanese and take Japanese names.”
[27][28][29] This forced name change, called ''Changssi-gaemyong'' (창씨개명; 創氏改名), was part of Japan's assimilation policy
[30][31][32] that, according to Ms. Yuko Matsumura, a graduate student at the
University of Tokyo, “''not only robbed the victims of their identity, but also served to destroy the traditional Korean family system.''”
Imperial education
Photograph of students at an all-female school during military education class, 1943
Following the annexation of Korea, education became primarily an instrument of “Imperial Citizen Forming” (황민화; 皇民化) by the Empire of Japan as part of their assimilation policy (同化政策; ''dōka seisaku''). Although the Japanese colonial government did provide previously rare education material, such as a textbook of Hangul
[33] and grammar to mix Hangul with Chinese characters (in the form designed by
Inoue Kakugorō),
[34]
classes focused mostly on teaching the history of the
Japanese Empire as well as glorification of the “
Heavenly Sovereign”. Korean students were made to worship at Japanese
Shinto shrines regardless of their religious beliefs, swear an oath of loyalty to the
Emperor of Japan, and show their support for Japan's “
Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” policy. Teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools typically dressed in military uniforms and carried military-style swords to enforce the intimidation of students. All classes were taught in Japanese with
Korean Language originally being a student elective. Later this policy was scrapped and replaced by a “Penalty Point” system whereby students were academically penalized for the use of the Korean language during schooltime. Eventually the use of Korean language was “forbidden in all schools and business”.
During colonial times,
elementary schools were known as “Citizen Schools” (국민학교; 國民學校; ''gukmin hakgyo'') as in Japan, as a means of forming proper “Imperial Citizens” (皇國民; ''Hwangguk min'') since early childhood. Elementary schools in South Korea today are known by the name ''chodeung hakgyo'' (초등학교; 初等學敎) (literally “Elementary School”) as the term “''gukmin hakgyo''” has become a politically incorrect and sensitive term.
Military conscription
Starting in 1938, Koreans both enlisted and were conscripted into the Japanese military and the first "Korean Voluntary" Unit was formed. Among notable Korean personnel in the Imperial Army was
Hong Sa-ik, a lieutenant general who was later hanged for war crimes. Of those who survived, some later gained administrative posts in the government of
South Korea; well-known examples include
Park Chung Hee, who years later became president of
South Korea,
Jeong Ilgwon (정일권,丁一權), prime minister during 1964–1970, and
Paik Sun Yup, South Korea's youngest general, famous for his defense of the
Pusan Perimeter during the
Korean War. The first 10 of the Chiefs of Army Staff of South Korea graduated the
Imperial Japanese Army Academy and no one from the
Korean Liberation Army.
[35][36]
Starting in 1941, Japan started
conscription of Koreans into the armed forces. All Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Japanese Army, as of April 1944, or work in the military industrial sector, as of September 1944. Before 1944, 18,000 Koreans passed the examination for induction into the army. The application ratio was allegedly 48.3 to 1 in 1943. From 1944, about 200,000 Korean males were inducted into the army. The number of Korean military personnel was 242,341, and 22,182 of them died during World War II. At the
Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal 148 Koreans were convicted of Class B and C
war crimes, 23 of whom were sentenced to death. In 2002, South Korea started an investigation of Japanese collaborators. Part of the investigation was completed in 2006 and a list of names of individuals who profited from exploitation of fellow Koreans were posted. Many collaborators were able to afford higher education with the money they had made; this allowed them to take up influential positions and afford to contribute to the well-being of their children who thus also profited.
Korean military participation until 1943| Year | Applicants | # accepted |
|---|
| 1938 | 2,946 | 406 |
| 1939 | 12,348 | 613 |
| 1940 | 84,443 | 3,060 |
| 1941 | 144,743 | 3,208 |
| 1942 | 254,273 | 4,077 |
| 1943 | 303,294 | 6,300 |
[37]
Comfort women, victims of nuclear attacks, and Japanese war crimes
During World War II, women who served in the Japanese military brothels were called
Comfort women. Historians estimate the number of comfort women between 10,000 and 200,000, which include Japanese women.
[38][39] According to testimonies, there were cases that Japanese officials and local collaborators kidnapped or recruited under guise of factory employment poor, rural women from Korea (and other nations) for
sexual slavery for Japanese military.
As investigations continue, more evidence continues to surface. There has been evidence of the Japanese government intentionally destroying official records regarding Comfort Women.
[40][41] Nonetheless, Japanese inventory logs and employee sheets on the battlefield show traces of documentation for government sponsored sexual slavery. In one instance, names of known Comfort Women were traced to Japanese employment records. One such woman was falsely classified as a nurse along with at least a dozen other verified comfort women who were not nurses or secretaries. Currently, the South Korean government is looking into the hundreds of other names on these lists.
[42]
In the case of Korean A-bomb victims in Japan during World War II, many Koreans were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were a total of 70,000 Korean casualties in both cities; 40,000 were killed and 30,000 were exposed to the A-bomb radiation.
During Japanese Occupation of Korea, many Koreans became victims of
Japanese war crimes, such as Christians being crucified, Korean villages found hiding resistance fighters were dealt with harshly often with
summary execution,
rape, murder, at times burying elderly people alive; other crimes included
human experimentation,
mass murder,
forced labour,
preventable famine and
looting.
:"To this day, valuable Korean artifacts can often be found in Japanese museums or among private collectors. According to the investigation of the South Korea government, There are 75,311 cultural assets that were taken from Korea. Japan has 34,369; the United States has 17,803. Today, Korea frequently demands the return of these artifacts to which Japan does not comply."
Koreans along with many other Asians were experimented on in secret military medical experimentation units, such as
Unit 731,
Unit 516, and many more. An estimated 270,000 - 810,000 Koreans died in seven years from forced labor alone.
[43]
Controversial statements regarding Japanese rule in Korea
The nature, legitimacy, and legacy of the Japanese annexation of Korea, especially its disputed role in contributing to the modernization of the Korean peninsula, is a topic of intense debate. In both Koreas, Japanese rule in the early twentieth century is taught as a ruthless attempt to exploit the Korean people, comparable to the ruthless exploitation of the
Poles during the
Nazi German occupation. In both South and North Korea,
Japanese historical revisionism is viewed along the same lines as
Holocaust denial in modern Europe..
Nonetheless, controversial pro-Japanese statements of the occupation of Korea have been made by Korean academics:
★ Professor Rhee Young Hoon (이영훈) of
Seoul National University (서울대) argued at a seminar hosted by the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford that despite human rights problems, the Korean economy had grown greatly under the Japanese rule and that the base of modern capitalism introduced by the Japanese to Korea later became a part of the foundation of the modern Korean economy.
[44] Within mainstream South Korean
academia, however, Rhee is generally discredited.
★ Professor Emeritus Ahn Byung Jik (안병직) of Seoul National University rejects the prevailing view that the late
Joseon Dynasty had a germination of capitalism and could have grown into a modern society on its own, and argues that the Japanese rule helped the economic development of Korea.
[45]
★ Professor Emeritus Han Seung-Jo of
Korea University wrote that "The colonial rule of Korea by Japan was actually a stroke of good fortune, and instead of hating them for it, they should be thanked. There is no reason to rebuke, denounce or make criminals of the pro-Japanese activities of 35 years of cooperation without opposition", and said in a later interview that "At the time, if Japan hadn't taken over Chosun, Russia would have, and if that had happened the Korean people would have been scattered under
Josef Stalin's racial dispersion policy", and that "I see the colonial rule by Japan as having been not a bad thing, but instead an opportunity for the strengthening of the Korean people's awareness."
[46]
★ Ji Man-Won, a retired
South Korean military officer and author caused controversy in Korea and further abroad with his view. Ji has praised Japan for "
modernizing" Korea, and has said "only around 20 percent of the Korean women who sexually served the Japanese military personnel were forced, while the remaining 80 percent volunteered in order to make money".
[47]
1910 interpretations and arguments
Early views of Japanese colonialism before the start of World War II were mixed. T. Philip Terry predicted the following in his 1914 guidebook ''Terry's Japanese Empire, Including Korea and Formosa'':
:"That intelligent Koreans will later be as grateful to Japan as the Japanese now are to the United States, there is but little doubt. With customary astuteness and good will, Japan has adopted the admirable British idea in colonization of giving every man, British or alien, friend or foe, the same chance...Japan is to-day repaying Korea for centuries of unjust invasion, by the introduction of civilization and enlightenment."
[48]
However, not all outside accounts before the start of the war were as favorable towards the Japanese occupation. F.A. McKenzie in his book ''Korea's Fight for Freedom'' wrote the following in 1920:
:"When Japan, in face of her repeated pledges, annexed Korea, her statesmen adopted an avowed policy of assimilation. They attempted to turn the people of Korea into Japanese--an inferior brand of Japanese, a serf race, speaking the language and following the customs of their overlords, and serving them....'The Koreans are a degenerate people, not fit for self-government', says the man whose mind has been poisoned by subtle Japanese propaganda. Korea has only been a very few years in contact with Western civilization, but it has already indicated that this charge is a lie. Its old Government was corrupt, and deserved to fall. But its people, wherever they have had a chance, have demonstrated their capacity. In Manchuria hundreds of thousands of them, mostly fled from Japanese oppression, are industrious and prosperous farmers. In the Hawaiian Islands, there are five thousand Koreans, mainly labourers, and their families, working on the sugar plantations."
[49][50]
Modern interpretations and arguments
Main articles: Economy of South Korea
Korea experienced a true modernization in post-World War II under the stewardship of the
United States and the income from a highly
export-oriented industrialization for several reasons:
# The
Korean War (1950-1953), which followed the Japanese occupation, destroyed most of the peninsula (in total about 2,500,000 people were killed, more than 80% of the
national infrastructure including industrial and public facilities and transportation works, as well as three-quarters of the government offices, and one-half of residential areas were destroyed. The Korean peninsula after the Korean War had an overall economy "''comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa''" (see CIA World Factbook).
#
North Korea is not, by modern standards, an
industrialized nation and suffers from widespread poverty, famine and power outages.
#
South Korea's economy grew mostly during the 1960s and 70's under the dictatorship era of
General Park and the economic reforms under the Third and Fourth Republics. "From 1960/62 to 1973/75 the share of agriculture in GDP fell from 45 percent to 25 percent, while the share of manufacturing rose from 9 percent to 27 percent"
[51] The total GDP also grew in excess of 500% for this relatively short period. It was during this time of rapid economic growth that foreign observers first applied the term
Economic Miracle of the Han River and that Korea earned itself the distinctive title of
Economic Tiger.
[52]
# Most Korean companies, especially the large
Chaebol which form the powercore of the South Korean economic oligarchy, were founded well after the end of the Japanese occupation. These include, but are not limited to:
Samsung Electronics,
Hyundai Group,
LG Group, and
SK Telecom (known as the "Big Four" in South Korea).
[53]
Japan's coverup efforts
Many argue that sensitive information about Japan's occupation of Korea is difficult to obtain, and that this is due to the fact that the
Government of Japan has gone out of its way to cover up many incidents that would otherwise lead to severe international criticism.
[54] On their part, Koreans have often expressed their abhorrence of
human experimentation carried out by the
Imperial Japanese Army where people often became
human test subjects in such macabre experiments as
liquid nitrogen tests or
biological weapons development programs (See articles:
Unit 731 and
Shiro Ishii). Though some vivid and disturbing testimonies have survived, they are largely denied by the Japanese Government even to this day.
[55]
A recent example of this behavior included the denial by the Japanese Government of the burial of non-Japanese test-subject bodies several dozen feet below buildings in Japanese urban areas (such as the bodies found under the Toyama No. 5 apartment blocks) in order to cover up these experiments. Flatly denied, even after the bodies are discovered as new developments are constantly being erected in Japan. The unmarked mass graves on the "west side of
Tokyo is deeply troubling" The testimony of Toyo Ishii, a nurse involved in the coverup, are down played or ignored.
"After more than 60 years of silence the 84-year-old nurse's story is the latest twist in the legacy of Japan's rampage." In addition, as cited above, much of the statistics are skewed due to the fact that they included Japanese migrants in Korea, making the poverty analysis of true Koreans indiscernible. Also, as referenced above the inventory logs and employee sheets were falsified by the Japanese in order to cover up the comfort women issue.
These coverups and falsification of data have made accurate assessment of Japan's impact on Korea very difficult.
See also
★
Korean independence movement
★
Korean Government in Exile
★
Kim Gu
★
Japanese-Korean disputes
★
Korean Liberation Army
★
List of war apology statements issued by Japan
Notes and references
1. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895–1910, , Peter, Duus, Berkeley: University of California Press, ,
2. Offspring of Empire: The Koch'ang Kims and the Colonial Origins of Korean Capitalism,1876-1945, Eckert, Carter J., , , , , ISBN 0-295-97533-4
3. Murder of Empress Myeongseong Wha Rang Lee
4. See Russian eyewitness account of surrounding circumstances at http://koreaweb.ws/ks/ksr/queenmin.txt
5. Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power Tatiana Simbirtseva
6. South Korea; The Choson Dynasty
7. History of Korea, , H. B., Hulbert, Routledge, 1999, ISBN 070070700X
8. Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912, , D., Keene, Columbia University Press, 2005, ISBN 023112340X
9. Treaty of Annexation
10. Was the 1910 Annexation Treaty Between Korea and Japan Concluded Legally? Kawasaki Yutaka
11. A New History of Korea (韓国史新論), , Ki-Baik, Lee, Ilchorak/Harvard University Press, ,
12. March First Movement
13. Background to the March First Movement: Koreans in Japan, 1905-1919., , Kenneth M., Wells, Korean Studies, V. 13, 1989, ,
14. A New History of Korea (韓国史新論), , Ki-Baik, Lee, Ilchorak/Harvard University Press, ,
15. Land of the Rising Sun. The Rise of Nationalism, and the Impact of the Sam-Il (3-1) Movement As A Living Symbol of Anti-Japanese Resistance
16. Japanese Peace Treaty Files John Foster Dulles
17. Economic Growth and human Production in the Republic of Korea, 1945 - 1992
18. History of Korea; 20th Century
19. Legal Categories, Demographic Change and Japan’s Korean Residents in the Long Twentieth Century
20. Stateless in Sakhalin Andrei Lankov
21. Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1990, , R. J., Rummel, Lit Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-8258-4010-7
Available online: Statistics of Democide: Chapter 3 - Statistics Of Japanese Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources
22. "Cultural Genocide" and the Japanese Occupation of Korea
23. Japanese Periodicals in Colonial Korea
24. [1]
25.
26. 황국신민화정책자료해설
27. North Korea; The Rise of Korean Nationalism and Communism
28. Part III: The problem from a historical perspective
29. Koreans in Japan: Past and Present
30. Japan’s minorities yet to find their place in the sun
31. The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.
32. Korean Permanent Residents in Japan
33. ハングルを奪った日帝
34. [2]
35. 육군 참모총장, The Republic of Korea Army
36. 초기 육군 총장들은 일본 육사 출신, 여야 설전
37. 太平洋戦争下の朝鮮及び台湾、友邦協会､1961, pg. 191
38. U.S. playwright takes up 'comfort women' cause
39. Japan court rules against 'comfort women'
40. Korean World War II sex slaves fight on William Horsley
41. Japan Boiled Comfort Woman to Make Soup
42. Military Record of 'Comfort Woman' Unearthed Kim Yun-deok
43. Statistics Of Japanese Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources
44. 한국 선진 경제 시작은 근대화 시스템 도입에서
45. 일제식민지 경험이 경제발전 도왔다?
46. 한승조 '일 식민지배는 축복' 기고 파문
47. Writer angers comfort women Lee Jin-woo
48. Japanese Empire Including Korea: Historical Sketch
49. Korea's Fight for Freedom:Preface
50. What Can We Do?
51. The Economic History of Korea
52. Korean (1945 - present)
53. [3]
54. Nurse Reveals Wartime Atrocities Buried Beneath Quiet Tokyo Neighborhood Mari Yamaguchi
55. http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20070314_1.htm
56. Scarred by history: The Rape of Nanking
57. The horrors of Unit 731 revisited Daniel Barenblatt
External links
★
Isabella Lucy Bird (1898),
''Korea and Her Neighbours: A Narrative of Travel, with an Account of the Recent Vicissitudes and Present Position of the Country''
★
Horace Newton Allen (1908),
''Things Korean: A Collection of Sketches and Anecdotes, Missionary and Diplomatic
★
Country Studies on Korea''
★
Hildi Kang (2001), ''Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945'', Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-7270-9
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