Korea under Japanese rule

Korea under Japanese rule (Chōsen (Korea), Empire of Japan) 日本統治時代の朝鮮(大日本帝国朝鮮) 일제 강점기 (日帝强占期)
1910–1945
Flag Seal of the Government-General of Korea
Anthem: Kimigayo
Korea as part of the Japanese empire, 1939
Status	Annexed by Empire of Japan
Capital	Keijō (Japanese: 京城, Korean: 경성; RR: Gyeongseong; MR: Kyŏngsŏng)
Common languages	Japanese (official) Korean
Religion	State Shinto (official; until 1945)
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Governor-General of Korea
• 1910–1916	Terauchi Masatake
• 1919–1927,1929–1931	Saito Makoto
• 1927, 1931–1936	Kazushige Ugaki
• 1936–1942	Jirō Minami
• 1942–1944	Kuniaki Koiso
• 1944–1945	Nobuyuki Abe
Historical era	Japanese Empire
• Annexation was signed	22 August 1910
• Annexation by Japan	29 August 1910
• March 1st Movement	1 March 1919
• Keijo Imperial University founded	1924
• Soshi-kaimei order	1939
• End of World War II	15 August 1945
• Victory over Japan Day	2 September 1945
Currency	Korean yen
Preceded by Succeeded by Korean Empire People's Republic of Korea United States Army Military Government in Korea Soviet Civil Authority

Korea under Japanese rule
Korean name
Hangul	[일제 강점기 or 일제시대] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Hanja	[日帝强占期 or 日帝時代] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Ilje Gangjeomgi or Iljesidae McCune–Reischauer Ilche Kangjŏmgi or Ilchesidae
Japanese name
Kanji	日本統治下の朝鮮
Hiragana	にほんとうちかのちょうせん
Transcriptions Romanization Nihon Tōchika no Chōsen

Korea was occupied and declared an Imperial Japanese protectorate in the 1905 Eulsa Treaty, and officially annexed in 1910 through the annexation treaty. The Empire of Japan's involvement in the region began with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa during the reign of the Joseon Dynasty. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both the State of Japan and Republic of Korea in 1965.

In South Korea, the period is usually described as "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangeul: 일제시대, Ilje sidae, Hanja: 日帝時代) or the "period of the Japanese imperial colonial administration" (Hangeul: 일제식민통치시대, Ilje sikmin tongchi sidae, Hanja: 日帝植民統治時代). Other terms include "Japanese forced occupation" (Hangeul: 일제강점기; Ilje gangjeomgi, Hanja: 日帝强占期) or "Wae (Japanese) administration" (Hangeul: 왜정, Wae jeong, Hanja: 倭政). In Japan, the term "Chōsen (Korea) of the Japanese-Governed Period" (日本統治時代の朝鮮, Nippon Tōchi-jidai no Chōsen) has been used.

History

Background

In the late 19th and early 20th century, various Western European countries actively competed for influence, trade, goods, and territory in East Asia; the Empire of Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea, then in the sphere of influence of China's Qing Dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese satellite in order to further the country's security and Korean interests.

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat diplomacy to pressure Korea to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa, an unequal treaty, which opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade and granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry in 1854.

Japanese establishment of political relations with Korea

Main articles: Seikanron, Sonnō jōi, and Treaty of Ganghwa

The debate referred to as Seikanron (Debate on punitive expedition against Korea) was a major political conflagration which occurred in Japan in 1873. Saigō Takamori and his supporters insisted that Japan should confront Korea due to Korea's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of Emperor Meiji as head of state of the Empire of Japan, and because of insulting treatment meted out to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations. Those in favor also saw the issue as an ideal opportunity to find meaningful employment for the thousands of out-of-work samurai, who had lost most of their income and social standing in the new Meiji socioeconomic order. These samurai posed a threat to the government, and (as a samurai himself) Saigō sympathized with their situation. According to orthodoxy, "Saigo himself volunteered to go to Korea as a special envoy, inviting an assassination attempt that would provide justifications, if any were needed, for a punitive expedition."

The arguments against an expedition to Korea were outlined in Okubo Toshimichi's "7 Point Document", dated October 1873, in which he argued that action against Korea was premature because Japan was in the stages of modernizing and an expedition would be far too costly for Japan to sustain. Okubo's views were supported by the anti-war faction, which mostly consisted of those returning from the Iwakura Mission in 1873. Iwakura Tomomi, the diplomat who had led the mission, persuaded the emperor to reverse the decision to send Saigo as an envoy to Korea, thus putting an end to the debate.

Three years later, on 27 February 1876, the Treaty of Ganghwa, also known in Japan as the Japanese-Korea Treaty of Amity (Japanese language: 日朝修好条規 [Nitchō-shūkōjōki] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), Korean language: 강화도조약 Ganghwado joyak) was signed. It was designed to open up Korea to Japanese trade. The treaty ended Korea's status as a protectorate of China and opened three ports to Japanese trade.

Political turmoil in Korea

Main articles: Imo Incident and Gapsin Coup

In 1882, followers of Heungseon Daewongun, the de facto ruler of Korea who had been impeached by the supporters of Empress Myeongseong and forced into retirement, staged a coup against the Empress and her allies. Daewongun's forces, or "old military," killed Japanese officers in charge of training the new Korean Army and attacked the Japanese legation. Japanese diplomats, policemen, students and some Min clan members were also killed during the incident. Daewongun was restored to power, only to be forcibly taken to China by Chinese troops dispatched to Seoul to prevent further disorder. In August 1882, the Korean government sent a mission to Japan and agreed to the stationing of Japanese troops to guard the legation in Seoul.

The struggle between Heungseon Daewongun's followers and those of Empress Myeongseong was further complicated by competition from a Korean independent faction and a conservative one. While the former sought Japan's support, the latter sought China's. On 4 December 1884, a Korean independence group, assisted by the Japanese, attempted a coup and established a pro-Japanese government under the reigning king, dedicated to the independence of Korea from Chinese suzerainty. However, this proved short-lived, as conservative Korean officials requested the help of Chinese forces stationed in Korea. The coup was put down by Chinese troops, and a Korean mob killed both Japanese officers and Japanese residents in retaliation. Some leaders of the independence faction, including Kim Okgyun, fled to Japan, while others were executed.

Donghak Revolution, and First Sino-Japanese War, 1894

Main articles: Donghak Peasant Revolution and First Sino-Japanese War

The outbreak of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward Korea. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt, and Japanese leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan responded by sending its own troops. 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 tributary relationship with the Chinese Qing Dynasty, leading to the proclamation of fully independence of Joseon Korea in 1895.

At the same time, Japan suppressed the Donghak Revolution with Korean government forces, which had solidified Japanese military predominance than any other country in Korea.

Assassination of Empress Myeongseong, 1895

The Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Goro, orchestrated a plot against 43-year-old Empress Myeongseong ("Queen Min"), and on 8 October 1895, she was assassinated by Japanese agents. In 2001, Russian reports on the assassination were found in the archives of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. The documents included the testimony of King Gojong, several witnesses of the assassination, and Karl Ivanovich Weber's report to Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Foreign Minister of Russia. Weber was the chargé d'affaires at the Russian legation in Seoul at that time. According to a Russian eyewitness, Seredin-Sabatin (Середин-Cабатин), an employee of the Korean king, a group of Japanese agents entered the Gyeongbok palace, killed Empress Myeongseong and desecrated her body in the north wing of the palace.

When he heard the news, Heungseon Daewongun returned to the royal palace the same day. On 11 February 1896, King Gojong and the crown prince moved from Gyeongbokgung palace to the Russian legation in Jeongdong, Seoul, from where they governed for about one year, an event known as the Korea royal refuge at the Russian legation.

Protests for democracy and the proclamation of Korean Empire, 1896-1898

Main articles: Independence Club and Korean Empire

After royal refuge, some Korean activists established the Independence Club (독립협회, 獨立協會) in 1896. They claimed that Korea should negotiate with Western powers, particularly Russia, to counterbalance the growing influence of Japan and Russia. This club had contributed to the construction of Independence Gate, and they held regular meetings at the Jongno streets, demanding democratic reforms as Korea became a constitutional monarchy, and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. However, it was dissolved on 25 December 1898 as Emperor Gojong officially announced a prohibition on unofficial congresses.

In October 1897, King Gojong had decided to return to his other palace, Deoksugung, and proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire. During this period, the Korean government had conducted a westernization policy. It was not a radical reform, however, and Korea steadily become subordinated to the larger powers of Japan and Russia.

On the road to annexation

Main articles: Russo-Japanese War, Eulsa Treaty, and Hague Secret Emissary Affair

Flag of the Japanese Resident General of Korea. (1905-1910)

The rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded into the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, which Japan won. Under the Treaty of Portsmouth, 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, which subsequently aroused anti-American sentiment among Koreans decades later. The Taft-Katsura Agreement between the U.S. and Japan recognized U.S. interests in the Philippines and Japanese interests in Korea. 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 by the Eulsa Treaty. A large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but by then Japanese dominance in Korea was a reality.

In June 1907, the Second Peace Conference was held in The Hague. Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates who questioned the legality of the protectorate convention. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Jun, committed suicide at The Hague.

In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On 19 July, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as regent. 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, founded in 1392.

Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, 1910

Main article: Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty

General power of attorney to Lee Wan-Yong sealed, but not signed, by the last emperor, Sunjong on 22 August 1910 (융희4년, 隆熙4年).

In May 1910, the Minister of War of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan-Korea Protocol of 1904 and the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectively annexed Korea with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed by Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.

The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. 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 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea because both treaties were obtained under threat of force, and that 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.

This era is also known as Military Police Reign Era(1910- 1919) in which Police had the authority to rule entire country in every way. Japan was in control of the media, law as well as government by physical power and regulations.

During World War II

National Mobilization Law

See also: Koreans in Japan and Sakhalin Koreans

Kuniaki Koiso, Japanese Governor-General of Korea, implemented a draft of Koreans for wartime labor.

From 1939, labor shortages as a result of conscription of Japanese males for the military efforts of World War II led to organized official recruitment of Koreans to work in mainland Japan, initially through civilian agents, and later directly, often involving elements of coercion. As the labor shortage increased, by 1942, the Japanese authorities extended the provisions of the National Mobilization Law to include the conscription of Korean workers for factories and mines on the Korean peninsula, Manchukuo, and the involuntary relocation of workers to Japan itself as needed.

Of the 5,400,000 Koreans conscripted, about 670,000 were taken to mainland Japan (including Karafuto Prefecture, present-day Sakhalin, now part of Russia) for civilian labor. Those who were brought to Japan were often forced to work under appalling and dangerous conditions. About 60,000 are estimated to have died between 1939 and 1945 from harsh treatment, inhumane working conditions and Allied bombings. The total deaths of Korean forced laborers in Korea and Manchuria is estimated to be between 270,000 and 810,000. The 43,000 ethnic Koreans in Karafuto, which had been occupied by the Soviet Union just prior to Japan's surrender, were refused repatriation to either mainland Japan or the Korean peninsula, and were thus trapped in Sakhalin, stateless; they became the ancestors of the Sakhalin Koreans.

Most Korean atomic-bomb victims in Japan were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the name of humanitarian assistance, Japan paid South Korea 4 billion yen and built a welfare center for those suffering from the effects of the atomic bomb.

In 1938, an estimated 800,000 ethnic Koreans were living in Japan as immigrants. The combination of immigrants and forced laborers during World War II brought the total to over 2 million by the end of the war, according to estimates by the American occupation authorities. In 1946, some 1,340,000 ethnic Koreans were repatriated to Korea, with 650,000 choosing to remain in Japan, where they now form the Zainichi Korean community. A 1982 survey by the Korean Youth Association showed that conscripted laborers accounts for 13 percent of first-generation Zainichi Koreans.

Order to name changes

Main article: Sōshi-kaimei

Attempts were made to better segregate individuals of Korean and Japanese ancestry. In 1911 a proclamation, "Matter 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. By 1939, the focus had shifted towards colonial assimilation, and Imperial Decree 19 on Korean Civil Affairs (조선민사령; "勅令第19号「朝鮮民事改正令」") went into effect, whereby ethnic Koreans were permitted to surrender their Korean family name and adopt Japanese surnames. Although officially voluntary, many argue official compulsion and harassment existed against individuals, especially Korean government employees, who refused to create a new Japanese-style name. There is disagreement as to whether this was the result of individual practices by low-level officials, the policy of some regional government organizations, or the overall intention of the colonial government. Others argue that Koreans felt compelled to adopt Japanese family names in order to avoid discrimination by Japanese. A country study conducted by the Library of Congress states that "the Korean culture was quashed, and Koreans were required to speak Japanese and take Japanese names." This name change policy, called Changssi-gaemyeong (창씨개명; 創氏改名), was part of Japan's assimilation efforts. The policy was extremely unpopular, with only some 9.6 percent of Koreans changing their last names to a Japanese one during the colonial occupation. A number of prominent ethnic Koreans working for the Japanese government, including General Hong Sa-ik, insisted on keeping their Korean names. Another ethnic Korean, Park Chun-Geum (박춘금, 朴春琴), was elected as a member of the Lower House from the Tokyo Third District in the general election in 1932 and served two terms without changing his Korean name, but has been registered as chinilpa by the current Republic of Korea government.

After the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule, the "Name Restoration Order" was issued on 23 October 1946 by the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea south of the 38th parallel, enabling Koreans to restore their names if they wished. Many Zainichi Koreans chose to retain their Japanese names, either to avoid discrimination, or later, to meet the requirements for naturalization as Japanese citizens.

Independence and Division of Korea

See also: Division of Korea

Following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the impending overrun of the Korean peninsula by Russian forces, Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese occupation.

American forces under General John R. Hodge arrived at the southern part of Korean peninsula on 8 September 1945, while the Soviet Army and some Korean Communists had stationed themselves in the northern part of the Korean peninsula. U.S. Colonel Dean Rusk proposed to Chischakov, the Soviet military administrator of northern Korea, that Korea should be split at the 38th parallel. This proposal was made at an emergency meeting to determine postwar spheres of influence, which led to the Division of Korea.

Korean independence movement

Main article: Korean independence movement

See also: March 1st Movement and Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea

Photo memorialising the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, 1919

Upon Emperor Gojong's death, anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide, most notably the March 1st Movement of 1919. A declaration of independence was read in Seoul. It is estimated that 2 million people took part in these rallies. The Japanese violently suppressed the protests: According to Korean records, 46,948 were arrested, 7,509 killed and 15,961 wounded; according to Japanese figures, 8,437 were arrested, 553 killed and 1,409 wounded. About 7,000 people were killed by Japanese police and soldiers during the 12 months of demonstrations.

After suppression of the uprising, some aspects of Japanese rule considered most objectionable to Koreans were removed. The military police were replaced by a civilian force, and freedom of the press was permitted to a limited extent. Two of the three major Korean daily newspapers, the Dong-a Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo, were established in 1920.

Objection to Japanese rule over Korea continued, and the March 1st Movement was a catalyst for the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea by Korean émigrés in Shanghai on 13 April 1919. The modern South Korean government considers this Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea the de jure representation of the Korean people throughout the period of Japanese rule.

Japan-Korea. Teamwork and Unity. Champions of the World. – The notion of racial and imperial unity of Korea and Japan gained widespread following among the literate minority of the middle and upper classes.

The Japanese occupation of Korea after annexation was largely uncontested militarily by the smaller, poorly armed, and poorly trained Korean army. Many former soldiers and other volunteers left the Korean peninsula for Manchuria and Primorsky Krai in Russia. Koreans in Manchuria formed resistance groups known as Dongnipgun (Liberation Army), which traveled across the Korean-Chinese border, using guerrilla warfare tactics against Japanese forces. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932 and subsequent Pacification of Manchukuo deprived many of these groups of their bases of operation and supplies. Many were forced to either flee to China, or to join the Red Army-backed forces in eastern Russia. One of the guerrilla groups was led by the future leader of communist North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, in Japanese controlled Manchuria. Kim Il-Sung’s time as a guerrilla leader was formative upon his political ideology once he came to power.

Within Korea itself, anti-Japanese rallies continued on occasion. Most notably, the Gwangju Students Anti-Japanese Movement on 3 November 1929 led to the strengthening of Japanese military rule in 1931, after which freedom of the press and freedom of expression were curbed. Many witnesses, including Catholic priests, reported that Japanese authorities dealt with insurgency severely. When villagers were suspected of hiding rebels, entire village populations are said to have been herded into public buildings (especially churches) and massacred when the buildings were set on fire. In the village of Jeam-ni, Hwaseong, for example, a group of 29 people were gathered inside a church which was then set afire. Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government.

On 9 December 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, under the presidency of Kim Gu, declared war on Japan and Nazi Germany. The Korean Provisional Government banded together various Korean resistance guerilla groups such as the Korean Liberation Army, which was involved in combat on behalf of the Allies in various campaigns in China and parts of South East Asia. Tens of thousands of Koreans volunteered for the National Revolutionary Army and the People's Liberation Army. The communist-backed Korean Volunteer Army (KVA, 조선의용군, 朝鮮義勇軍) was established in Yenan, China, outside of the Provisional Government's control, from a core of 1,000 deserters from the Imperial Japanese Army. After the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, the KVA entered Manchuria, where it recruited from the ethnic Korean population and eventually became the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Economy and modernization

Opening of railway from Seoul to Busan.

The Korean economy went through significant changes during the Japanese occupation. There is no academic consensus on the influence of Japanese rule on the development of Korea: some scholars argue that Japanese rule worsened the economic condition of Korea, while others, such as Princeton's Atul Kohli, have concluded that the economic development model the Japanese instituted played the crucial role in Korean economic development, a model that was maintained by the Koreans in the post-WWII era.

There were some modernization efforts by the late 19th century. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to have electricity, trolley cars, water, telephone, and telegraph systems all at the same time, but Korea remained a largely backward agricultural economy at the turn of the century. "Japan's initial colonial policy was to increase agricultural production in Korea to meet Japan's growing need for rice. Japan also began to build large-scale industries in Korea in the 1930s as part of the empire-wide program of economic self-sufficiency and war preparation."

According to scholar Donald S. Macdonald, "for centuries most Koreans lived as subsistence farmers of rice and other grains and satisfied most of their basic needs through their own labor or through barter. The manufactures of traditional Korea--principally cloth, cooking and eating utensils, furniture, jewelry, and paper--were produced by artisans in a few population centers."

During the early period of Japanese rule, the Japanese government attempted to completely integrate the Korean economy with Japan, and thus introduced many modern economic and social institutions and invested heavily in infrastructure, including schools, railroads and utilities. Most of these physical facilities remained in Korea after the Liberation. The Japanese government played an even more active role in developing Korea than it had played in developing the Japanese economy in the late nineteenth century. Many programs drafted in Korea in the 1920s and 1930s originated in policies drafted in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912). The Japanese government helped to mobilize resources for development and provided entrepreneurial leadership for these new enterprises. Colonial economic growth was initiated through powerful government efforts to expand the economic infrastructure, to increase investment in human capital through health and education and to raise productivity.

However, under Japanese rule, many Korean resources were only utilized for Japan. Economist Suh Sang-Chul points out that the nature of industrialization during the period was as an "imposed enclave," so the impact of colonialism was trivial. Another scholar, Song Byung-Nak, states that the economic condition of average Koreans was aggravated during the period despite the economic growth. Most Koreans at the time could access only a primary school education under restriction by the Japanese, and this prevented the growth of an indigenous entrepreneurial class. A 1939 statistic shows that among the total capital recorded by factories, about 94 percent was Japanese-owned. While Koreans owned about 61 percent of small-scale firms that had 5 to 49 employees, about 92 percent of large-scale enterprises with more than 200 employees were Japanese-owned.

Virtually all industries were owned either by Japan-based corporations or by Japanese corporations in Korea. As of 1942, indigenous capital constituted only 1.5 percent of the total capital invested in Korean industries. Korean entrepreneurs were charged interest rates 25 percent higher than their Japanese counterparts, so it was difficult for large Korean enterprises to emerge. More and more farmland was taken over by the Japanese, and an increasing proportion of Korean farmers either became sharecroppers or migrated to Japan or Manchuria as laborers. As greater quantities of Korean rice were exported to Japan, per capita consumption of rice among the Koreans declined; between 1932 and 1936, per capita consumption of rice declined to half the level consumed between 1912 and 1916. Although the government imported coarse grains from Manchuria to augment the Korean food supply, per capita consumption of food grains in 1944 was 35 percent below that of 1912 to 1916.

The Japanese government created a system of colonial mercantilism, requiring construction of significant transportation infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula for the purpose of extracting and exploiting resources such as raw materials (timber), foodstuff (mostly rice and fish), and mineral resources (coal and iron ore). The Japanese developed port facilities and an extensive railway system which included a main trunk railway from the southern port city of Pusan through the capital of Seoul and north to the Chinese border. This infrastructure was intended not only to facilitate a colonial mercantilist economy, but was also viewed as a strategic necessity for the Japanese military to control Korea and to move large numbers of troops and materials to the Chinese border at short notice.

From the late 1920s and into the 1930s, particularly during the tenure of Japanese Governor-General Kazushige Ugaki, concentrated efforts were made to build up the industrial base in Korea. This was especially true in the areas of heavy industry, such as chemical plants and steel mills, and munitions production. The Japanese military felt it would be beneficial to have production closer to the source of raw materials and closer to potential front lines for a future war with China.

By the early 1930s, Japanese investment was curtailed by the Great Depression, competition for investment opportunities from the potentially more lucrative Manchukuo and by Japan's own limited economic capacity. As Imperial Japan began feeling the strains of World War II, Japan carried out a colonial exploitation policy in Korea.

Japanese migration and land confiscation

Terauchi Masatake, the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea, reestablished the preexisting Korean land-ownership system.

Prior to the annexation of Korea, from around the time of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japanese merchants began settling in towns and cities in Korea seeking economic opportunity. 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 settlers were interested in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese land ownership was officially legalized in 1906. Governor-General Terauchi Masatake facilitated settlement through land reform, which proved popular with most of the Korean population. The Korean land ownership system was a system of absentee landlords, only partial owner-tenants and cultivators with traditional (but no legal proof of) ownership. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that reestablished ownership by basis of written proof (deeds, titles, and similar documents). Ownership was denied to those who could not provide such written documentation; these turned out to be mostly high-class and impartial owners who had only traditional verbal cultivator rights. Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations such as the Oriental Development Company. Many former Korean landowners as well as agricultural workers became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight.

Headquarters of the Oriental Development Company in Seoul

It is estimated that by 1910 perhaps 7 to 8 percent of all arable land was under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily; during the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership increased from 36.8 to 39.8 to 52.7 percent. Conversely, the ratio of Korean ownership decreased from 63.2 to 60.2 to 47.3 percent. The level of tenancy was similar to that of farmers in Japan itself; however, in Korea, the landowners were mostly Japanese, while the tenants were all Koreans. As was often the case in Japan itself, tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent, forcing many to send wives and daughters into factories or prostitution so they could pay taxes.

Lee Yong Hoon, a controversial professor at Seoul National University and a leading critic of the "New Right" Foundation (뉴라이트재단), which is often called the "New Chinilpa," states that less than 10% of arable land actually came under Japanese control and rice was normally traded, not robbed. He also insists that Koreans' knowledge about the era under Japanese rule is mostly made up by later educators. Many of Lee's arguments, however, have been contested.

Korea suffered from famine due to its economy's over taxation and lagged behind Japan in the rise of agricultural cooperatives and advances in cash crop production and mechanized agriculture.

By the 1930s, the growth of the urban economy and the exodus of farmers to the cities had gradually weakened the hold of the landlords. With the growth of the wartime economy, the government recognized landlordism as an impediment to increased agricultural productivity, and took steps to increase control over the rural sector through the formation of the Central Agricultural Association, a compulsory organization under the wartime command economy.

Treatment of Korean culture

Education and the Korean language

Keijō Imperial University, Seoul

Following the annexation of Korea, the Japanese administration introduced universal education patterned after the Japanese school system, with a pyramidal hierarchy of elementary, middle and high schools, culminating at the Keijō Imperial University in Seoul. As in Japan itself, education was viewed primarily as an instrument of "the Formation of the Imperial Citizen" (황민화; 皇民化) with a heavy emphasis on moral and political instruction.

Throughout the era of Japanese rule, Japanese was the official language of Korea. However, Hangul was taught in the Korean-established schools of colonial Korea built after the annexation, and Korean was written in a mixed Hanja-Hangul script, where most lexical roots were written in Hanja and grammatical forms in Hangul. Japan had banned earlier Korean literature, and public schooling became mandatory for children. For the majority of Koreans in those times, this was their first time learning Hangul. Korean textbooks included excerpts from traditional Korean stories such as Heungbujeon (흥부전).

Classes focused mostly on teaching the history of the Japanese Empire as well as inculcating reverence for the Imperial House of Japan and instruction in the Imperial Rescript on Education. The history of Korea was not part of the curriculum. As the Japanese administrative policy shifted more strongly towards assimilation from the 1930s (同化政策; dōka seisaku), all classes were taught in Japanese with Korean language becoming an elective. During colonial times, elementary schools were known as "Citizen Schools" (국민학교; 國民學校; gungmin hakgyo) as in Japan, as a means of forming proper "Imperial Citizens" (皇國民; Hwanggungmin) from early childhood. Elementary schools in South Korea today are known by the name chodeung hakgyo (초등학교; 初等學校) (literally "Elementary School") as the term gungmin hakgyo has recently become a politically incorrect term.

In response to the assimilation policy, nationalists founded the Korean Language Society. Members of the Society attempted to develop a unique Korean literature to promote national identity. Hangul Day was initiated by this group. Historians such as Shin Chae-ho were active in trying to present a Koreanized version of ancient history using textual material.

Although the Japanese education system in Korea was detrimental towards the colony's cultural identity, it helped lay the foundation of future economic growth by improving Korea's human capital. By 1940, 38 percent of school-age Koreans were attending elementary school. Children of elite families were able to advance to higher education, while others were able to attend technical schools, allowing for "the emergence of a small but important class of well-educated white collar and technical workers... who possessed skills required to run a modern industrial economy." The Japanese education system ultimately produced hundreds of thousands of educated South Koreans who later became "the core of the postwar political and economic elite."

Newspaper censorship

In 1907, the Japanese government passed the Newspaper Law which effectively prevented the publication of local papers. Only the Korean language newspaper Taehan Maeil Sinbo (每日新報) continued its publication, because it was run by a foreigner named E. T. Bethell. For the first decade of colonial rule, therefore, there were no Korean-owned newspapers whatsoever, although books were steadily printed and there were several dozen Korean-owned magazines.

In 1920 these laws were relaxed, and in 1932 Japan eliminated a significant double standard which had been making Korean publication significantly more difficult than Japanese publication. Even with these relaxed rules, however, the government still seized newspapers without warning: there are over a thousand recorded seizures between 1920 and 1939. Revocation of publishing rights was relatively rare, and only three magazines had their rights revoked over the entire colonial period. In 1940, as the Pacific War increased in intensity, Japan shut down all Korean language newspapers again.

Anthropology and removal of cultural artifacts

See also: Korean History Compilation Committee

Images of the traditional state of Korean villages were distributed to the international community to prove that Korea was "backwards" and needed to be modernized. This was possible in part because Korea had sealed itself off from outside contact for centuries. Japanese colonial authorities took many photographs of scenes of abject poverty in Korea, but did not take a single photograph of the imperial palace at Gyeongbokgung.

In 1925, Japanese government established the Korean History Compilation Committee (조선사편수회, 朝鮮史編修會), and it was administered by the Governor General of Korea and engaged in collecting of Korean historical materials and compilation of Korean history". The Committee distorted the ancient Korean history to validate Japanese colonization of Joseon. The ancient Korean history was distorted by the Committee and as follows; i) Korean history was only part of Korean peninsula history (Korean history had never rule over Manchuria), ii) North Korean peninsula was the colony of China by Chinese Commanderies, iii) South Korean peninsula was the colony of Japan by Mimana Nihonfu (任那日本府). In order to demonstrate their theories, they moved the a stone monument (棕蟬縣神祠碑), which was originally located at Liaodong, into Pyongyang, and then distorted the location of Chinese commanderies such that they existed in Pyongyang.

The Japanese Government conducted excavations of archeological sites and preserved artifacts found there. Since many of the Japanese ideas were not supported by archeology, Japan decided to demonstrate their theories by moving a stone monument (棕蟬縣神祠碑), which was originally located at Liaodong, into Pyongyang, and then distorted the location of Chinese commanderies such that they existed in Pyongyang. All these actions are viewed as an effort by Japan to destroy the ancient culture of Korea.

The Japanese rule of Korea also resulted in the relocation of many cultural artifacts to Japan. The issue over where these articles should be located began during the U.S. occupation of Japan. It is known that at least 100,000 Korean artifacts were looted and stolen during Japanese rule. In 2002, the controversy was reignited when two Koreans stole two Korean artifacts from a west Japanese temple.

The Chosun Ilbo (Korean Daily News) reports that valuable Korean artifacts can still be found in Japanese museums and private collections. According to an investigation by the South Korea government, there are 75,311 cultural artifacts that were taken from Korea. Japan has 34,369 and the United States has 17,803. Korea frequently demands the return of these artifacts, but the United States and Japan do not comply.

On 10 August 2010, Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan promised to return Korean artifacts which were seized during 1910-1945, while expressing "deep remorse".

Destruction of monuments

The primary building of Gyeongbokgung was demolished and the Japanese General Government Building was built in its exact location. The Japanese colonial authorities destroyed 85 percent of all the buildings in Gyeongbokgung. Sungnyemun, a virtual symbol of Korea, was altered by the addition of large, Shinto-style golden horns near the roofs (later removed by the South Korean government after independence).

Koreans in the Japanese military

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

The history of Korean collaboration during the colonial period is an especially difficult topic to engage for both Korean and Japanese historians. The phenomenon of thousands of Koreans volunteering to enlist in the Japanese military does not fit neatly within Korean nationalist historiography, in which Japanese and Korean people are neatly categorized and divided into a binary of "offenders and victims". While Korean historians argue that these soldiers were physically coerced through conscription, the fact remains that prior to 1944, all enlistments were voluntary - though this does not preclude the possibility that "voluntary" on paper could imply undocumented pressures and other forms of duress; furthermore, there is clear testimony from contemporary sources that Japanese regulations with regards to Korea on paper were frequently ignored. Further complicating the history is that many Korean soldiers were just as violent as their Japanese counterparts towards Chinese civilians and Western prisoners, blurring the division between Korean and Japanese people in their victim's eyes.

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 Crown Prince Euimin, who attained the rank of lieutenant general. Some later gained administrative posts in the government of South Korea; well-known examples include Park Chung Hee, who became president of South Korea, Chung Il-Kwon (정일권,丁一權), prime minister from 1964 to 1970, and Paik Sun-Yup, South Korea's youngest general, famous for his defense of the Pusan Perimeter during the Korean War. The first ten of the Chiefs of Army Staff of South Korea graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and none from the Korean Liberation Army.

Recruitment began as early as 1938, when the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria began accepting pro-Japanese Korean volunteers into the army of Manchukuo, and formed the Gando Special Force. Koreans in this unit specialized in counter-insurgency operations against communist guerillas in the region of Jiandao. The size of the unit grew considerably at an annual rate of 700 men, and included such notable Koreans as General Paik Sun-Yup, who served in the Korean War. Historian Philip Jowett noted that during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Gando Special Force "earned a reputation for brutality and was reported to have laid waste to large areas which came under its rule."

During World War II, American soldiers frequently encountered Korean soldiers within the ranks of the Japanese army. Most notably was in the Battle of Tarawa, which was considered during that time to be one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. military history. A fifth of the Japanese garrison during this battle consisted of Korean laborers who were trained in combat roles. Like their Japanese counterparts, they put up a ferocious defense and fought to the death.

The Japanese, however, did not always believe they could rely on Korean laborers to fight alongside them. In Prisoners of the Japanese, author Gaven Daws wrote, "[O]n Tinian there were five thousand Korean laborers and so as not to have hostiles at their back when the Americans invaded, the Japanese killed them."

Starting in 1944, 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. Koreans provided workers to mines and construction sites around Japan. The number of conscripted Koreans reached its peak in 1944 in preparation for war. From 1944, about 200,000 Korean males were inducted into the army.

After the war, 148 Koreans were convicted of Class B and C war crimes, 23 of whom were sentenced to death (compared to 920 Japanese who were sentenced to death), including Korean prison guards who were particularly notorious for their brutality during the war. The figure is relatively high considering that ethnic Koreans made up a very small percentage of the Japanese military. Justice Bert Röling, who represented the Netherlands at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, noted that "many of the commanders and guards in POW camps were Koreans - the Japanese apparently did not trust them as soldiers - and it is said that they were sometimes far more cruel than the Japanese." In his memoirs, Colonel Eugene C. Jacobs wrote that during the Bataan Death March, "the Korean guards were the most abusive. The Japs didn't trust them in battle, so used them as service troops; the Koreans were anxious to get blood on their bayonets; and then they thought they were veterans." Korean guards were sent to the remote jungles of Burma, where Lt. Col. William A. (Bill) Henderson wrote from his own experience that some of the guards overlooking the construction of the Burma Railway "were moronic and at times almost bestial in their treatment of prisoners. This applied particularly to Korean private soldiers, conscripted only for guard and sentry duties in many parts of the Japanese empire. Regrettably, they were appointed as guards for the prisoners throughout the camps of Burma and Siam." The highest-ranking Korean to be prosecuted after the war was Lieutenant General Hong Sa-Ik, who was in command of all the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps in the Philippines.

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. The collaborators not only benefited from exploiting their countrymen, but the children of these collaborators benefited further by acquiring higher education with the exploitation money they had amassed.

The "Truth Commission on Forced Mobilization under the Japanese Imperialism Republic of Korea" investigated the received reports for damage from 86 people among the 148 Koreans who were accused of being the level B and C war criminals while serving as prison guards for the Japanese military during World War II. The commission, which was organized by the South Korean government, announced that they acknowledge 83 people among them as victims. The commission said that although the people reluctantly served as guards to avoid the draft, they took responsibility for mistreatment by the Japanese against prisoners of war. Lee Se-il, leader of the investigation, said that examination of the military prosecution reports for 15 Korean prison guards, obtained from The National Archives of the United Kingdom, confirmed that they were convicted without explicit evidence.

Japanese Crime in Korea

During the colonial period, many Koreans became victims of Japanese brutalities. Korean villagers hiding resistance fighters were dealt with harshly, often with summary execution, rape, forced labour, and looting.

March 1st Movement

Starting on 1 March 1919, an Anti-Japanese demonstration continued to spread, and as the Japanese national and military police could not contain the crowds, the army and even the navy were also called in. There were several reports of atrocities. In one instance, Japanese police in the village of Jeam-ri, Hwaseong herded everyone into a church, locked it, and burned it to the ground. They also shot through the burning windows of the church to ensure that no one made it out alive. Many participants of the March 1st Movement were subjected to torture and execution.

Forced laborers and comfort women

See also: Comfort women

During World War II, about 450,000 Korean male laborers were involuntarily sent to Japan. Comfort women, who served in Japanese military brothels as a form of sexual slavery, came from all over the Japanese empire. They numbered somewhere from 10,000 to 200,000, and they included an unknown number of Koreans. However, Korean males serving in Japanese army used the comfort station just as the Japanese did during WWII. Comfort women were often recruited from rural locales with the promise of factory employment; business records, often from Korean subcontractees of Japanese companies, showed them falsely classified as nurses or secretaries. There is evidence that the Japanese government intentionally destroyed official records regarding comfort women.

Koreans in Unit 731

Koreans, along with many other Asians, were experimented on in Unit 731, a secret military medical experimentation unit in World War II. The victims who died in the camp included at least 25 victims from the former Soviet Union, Mongolia and Korea.

Discrimination of Korean leprosy patient by Japan

Colonial Korea was subject to the same Leprosy Prevention Laws of 1907 and 1931 as the Japanese home islands. These laws directly and indirectly permitted the segregation of patients in sanitariums, where forced abortions and sterilization were common. The laws authorized punishment of patients "disturbing the peace," as most Japanese leprologists believed that vulnerability to the disease was inheritable. In Korea, many leprosy patients were also subjected to hard labor.

Atomic bomb casualties

Main article: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Many Koreans were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to the secretary-general of a group named Peace Project Network, "there were a total of 70,000 Korean victims in both cities". Japan paid South Korea 4 billion yen and built a welfare center in the name of humanitarian assistance, not as compensation to the victims.

Anti-Chinese riots of 1931

Main article: Wanpaoshan Incident

A series of anti-Chinese riots erupted throughout Korea in 1931 as a result of public anger against the treatment of Korean migrants in China. The Chinese claimed that 146 people were killed, 546 wounded, and considerable properties were destroyed. The worst of the rioting occurred in Pyongyang on 5 July. The Chinese further alleged that the Japanese authorities in Korea did not take adequate steps to protect the lives and property of the Chinese residents, and blamed the authorities for allowing inflammatory accounts to be published. The Japanese countered that the riots were a spontaneous outburst that was suppressed as soon as possible and offered compensation for the families of the dead.

Japanese postcolonial responses

See also: List of war apology statements issued by Japan

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 covered up many incidents that would otherwise lead to severe international criticism. 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 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.

The Japanese Government was recently accused of the burial of non-Japanese test-subject bodies from World War II 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 wartime experiments. The government denied any responsibility. The existence of unmarked mass graves on the "west side of Tokyo is deeply troubling". The testimony of Toyo Ishii, a nurse involved in the coverup, was downplayed 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. "These coverups and falsification of data have made accurate assessment of Japan's impact on Korea very difficult."

South Korean presidential investigation commission on pro-Japanese collaborators

In 2006, Roh Moo-hyun, the President of South Korea, appointed an investigation commission into the issue of locating descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators from the times of the 1890s until the collapse of Japanese rule in 1945.

In 2010, the commission concluded its five volume report. As a result, the land property of 168 South Korean citizens has been confiscated by the government, these citizens being descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators.

See also

• Korean independence movement
• Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
• Japanese war crimes
• Japanese-Korean disputes
• Chinilpa

Further reading

• Eckert, Carter J. (1996), Offspring of Empire: The Koch'ang Kims and the Colonial Origins of Korean Capitalism, 1876-1945, Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies (Paperback ed.), Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, ISBN 0-295-97533-4
• Uchida, Jun (19 December 2011), Brokers of Empire: Japanese Settler Colonialism in Korea, 1876-1945, Harvard East Asian Monographs (Hardcover ed.), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center, ISBN 978-0-674-06253-5
• Hildi, Kang (2001), Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-7270-9 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
• Committee Against Government Apologies to Korea (30 July 2010), A New Look at the Annexation of Korea (PDF), Society the Dissemination of Historical Fact

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
• Toshiyuki Mizoguchi, "Consumer Prices and Real Wages in Taiwan and Korea under Japanese Rule" Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 13(1): 40-56
• Toshiyuki Mizoguchi, "Economic Growth of Korea under the Japanese Occupation - Background of Industrialization of Korea 1911-1940" Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 20(1): 1-19
• Toshiyuki Mizoguchi, "Foreign Trade in Taiwan and Korea under Japanese Rule" Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 14(2): 37-53
• Kim, Young-Koo, The Validity of Some Coerced Treaties in the Early 20th Century: A Reconsideration of the Japanese Annexation of Korea in Legal Perspective
• Matsuki Kunitoshi, "Japan’s Annexation of Korea" Society the Dissemination of Historical Fact

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