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Korea under Japanese rule

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Korea under Japanese rule refers to the period of Japan's administrative control of the Korean peninsula in the early 20th century. Japan's recent era involvement began with the 1876 Treaty of Kanghwa during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea and increased with the 1895 assassination of Empress Myeongseong and the 1905 Protectorate Treaty, culminating with the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. This period ended with Japan's surrender to the Allied forces in the Second World War in 1945, and Korea was subsequently divided into North and South Koreas, although there have been continuing disputes between Japan and the two Koreas.

In Korea, this period is called the Japanese Imperial Period (Ilje Sidae) or the Japanese Imperial Forcible Occupation Period (Ilje Gangjeomgi) in reference to a perceived exploitative nature of occupation.

Period of Japanese Rule
Korean Name
Hangul 일제 시대 or 일제 강점기
Hanja 日帝時代 or 日帝强占期
Revised Romanization Ilje Sidae or Ilje Gangjeomgi
McCune-Reischauer Ilche Sidae or Ilche Kangjŏmgi
Japanese Name
Kanji 日本統治時代
Hiragana にほんとうちじだい
Rōmaji nihontōchijidai

Contents

Background

History of Korea
Gojoseon, Jin
Proto-Three Kingdoms:
 Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye
 Samhan
Three Kingdoms:
 Goguryeo
 Baekje
 Silla, Gaya
Unified Silla, Balhae
 Later Three Kingdoms
Goryeo
  Khitan wars
  Mongol invasions
Joseon
 Seven Year War
 Korean Empire
Japanese rule
 Provisional Gov't
Divided Korea
 Korean War
North, South Korea
Timeline
Military history
List of Monarchs
[[Portal:Korea>Korea Portal]]

\"Unequal\" treaties

Following the Meiji Restoration, Japan sought to identify with Western colonizing powers which often sought trade rights abroad, sometimes by using treaties which are perceived as unbalanced. Japan sought the Treaty of Kanghwa with Korea, granting extraterritorial rights and opening three of its ports to Japanese trade in February of 1876.

Assassination of Empress Myeongseong

In 1895, Empress Myeongseong was assassinated by Japanese agents. The Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Goro, is said to have orchestrated the plot against her. A group of Japanese agents entered the imperial palace in Seoul, which was under Japanese guard, and Empress Myeongseong (also known as "Queen Min") was killed and her dead body desecrated. The empress had opposed Japanese interference in Korea.

After the assassination, Emperor Gojong refused to talk with his father, the Daewon-gun, believing him complicit in the assassination. Empress Myeongseong may have been instrumental in having Emperor Gojong take charge of the state, removing the Daewon-gun from power.

Non-government bodies and individuals have also undertaken their own investigations. In 2005, a South Korean freelance journalist named Jung Soo-woong managed to locate in Japan descendants of people involved in the assassination. Jung concluded that it was conducted by agents of the Japanese government, in response to the empress's efforts to reduce Japanese influence in Korea. Jung recorded the apologies of the individuals.

Donghak Rebellion and protests for democracy

1894 and 1895 saw the advent of the Donghak Rebellion in Korea. This rebellion, fueled by religious fervor of a Buddhist/Taoist "messiah" amongst them (the syncretic religion of Jeung San Do based on the teachings of Gang Il-Sun) and anger at the government for high taxes on rice, began in the Jeolla province of southwest Korea (which is now the North Jeolla province) and spread to central Korea. The Korean government in Seoul asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan presented the Chinese dispatch as a justification and sent in its own troops to Korea. China and Japan soon went to war in the First Sino-Japanese War, which Japan won, and China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895). Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea," ending Korea's status as a tributary state of China.

So Chae-p'il, who had gone to the United States and learned Western ways, and Protestant missionaries, introduced Western political thought to Korea. Soon after, protesters took to the streets, demanding democratic reforms and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. The Russians had become involved in Korean politics because the King did not trust the Japanese, and had gone to the Russian embassy in Seoul in order to run the country in an unimpeded manner. Fear of imprisonment by the Japanese government led So Chae-p'il to leave Korea to America again in 1898.

On the road to annexation

Russia gained control of several of Korea's forests and mines after permission was given to Russia to build and operate the Chinese Eastern Railway across Manchuria. Japan and Russia soon engaged in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and 1905. Japanese victory in the conflict put an end to Russian influence in Korea. Shortly afterwards, Japan and the United States, in the Taft-Katsura Agreement, agreed that Japan would be given a free hand in Korea, a departure from previous US statements which had led the Korean Emperor to believe that the United States government would support Korean independence. In return, Japan agreed not to interfere in the American-occupied Philippines. Then-US President Theodore Roosevelt:
"To be sure, by treaty it was solemnly covenanted that Korea should remain independent. But Korea itself was helpless to enforce the treaty, and it was out of the question to suppose that any other nation, with no interests of its own at stake, would do for the Koreans what they were utterly unable to do for themselves ... Korea has shown its utter inability to stand by itself."

By the end of 1905, Korea was an effective Japanese protectorate, following the Eulsa Treaty that was signed under duress by five ministers (Eulsa Ohjeok) in defiance of the wishes of the Emperor and the international law[[Citing sources citation needed]]. In 1907, Emperor Gojong abdicated, and his son became the new Emperor.

Annexation of Korea

On August 22, 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed under duress by Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Masatake Terauchi, Japanese Residents-General in Korea who became the first de facto Governor-General of Korea. Korea continued to be occupied by Japan until Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945. The treaty that brought about formal Japanese rule, whose legitimacy is still claimed by the Japanese government, is no longer accepted as valid in contemporary Korea or by modern international law, as the threat of retribution was present. Even without the application of modern standards the treaty is still considered invalid as only the imperial seal of Korea was affixed while the emperor had refused to give his signature, as attested in his last testament, an act required to bring any new legislation or diplomatic agreement into force as per Korean laws of the period. This period of annexation and colonization is part of the reason why anti-Japanese sentiment is present in North and South Korea.

Independence movement

After the former Korean Emperor Gojong had died, anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide beginning on 1 March 1919 (the March 1st (Samil) Movement). 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, 49,948 were arrested, 7,509 killed and 15,961 wounded; according to Japanese figures, 8437 were arrested, 553 killed and 1409 wounded. Encyclopedia Britannica states that about 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers during the 12 months of demonstrations.. The March 1 movement was a catalyst for the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai in April.

After the declaration of independence 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.

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.[[Citing sources citation needed]] One priest who witnessed the aftermath of a mass killing by Japanese forces termed their actions "utterly savage and against the will of the Holy See."[[Citing sources citation needed]] Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government.

1940s and the end

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 allied side in Chinese and Southeast Asian theatres.

In August 9 1945, seven days after the sundering of its Friendship Pact with Japan, Soviet tanks invaded northern Korea from Siberia, meeting little to no resistance. Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese occupation. US forces under General Hodge would not arrive to the southern part of Korea until 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. Efforts by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea to establish authority over Southern Korea at the conclusion of the war were resisted and ultimately stopped by United States, who had mistakenly believed it to be communist-oriented, and due recognition to the Provisional Government was not given. Bitterness over the division of Korea into two halves by the Soviet Union and the United States is widely felt by Koreans to this day.

Economy

Modern transport and communication networks were established across the nation in order to facilitate industrial exploitation and mining systems. An industrial base was established in Korea under Japanese rule for the production of weapons and military arms for use in the First World War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Pacific War. The average life expectancy rose from 26 years to 42 years (1945) and the population increased two-fold, despite widespread economic poverty and malnutrition caused by the annual confiscation of Korean rice by Japanese landlords. The average amount of rice brought from Korea to Japan yearly was 1,056,000 sacks (8.33% out of 12,303,000 sacks) from 1912 to 1916, 2,196,000 sacks (14.29% out of 14,101,000 sacks) from 1917 to 1921, 4,342,000 sacks (28.57% out of 14,501,000 sacks) from 1922 to 1926, 6,607,000 sacks (40% out of 15,798,000 sacks) from 1927 to 1931, 8,757,000 sacks (47.06% out of 17,002,000 sacks from 1932 to 1936, and 7,161,000 sacks (36.84% out of 19,410,000 sacks) in 1937. Korea's underground resources were also taken advantage of at this time through the conscription of Koreans to work in mines connected to various railroads, all built by Japanese companies. During the Period of Japanese rule, trade barriers between Korea and Japan were lifted in Japans favor. Many Korean businesses were unable to compete with their Japanese competitors in the Korean market due to unbalanced Japanese laws and lack of capital, financial assistance, and low tax rates of their Japanese counterparts. As a result, many Korean businesses went bankrupt, and many sectors which had been filled by Korean companies were after the introduction of Japanese rule largely the domain of Japanese-owned businesses.

Japanese landowners

As the Japanese government encouraged its citizens to emigrate to its new Korean dominions for colonization and development, these settlers came and bought many land reforms from the Korean aristocracy who had monopolized the land and farms before 1884. Many Korean farmers were hired by these Japanese, and labored under significantly higher taxation rates than before. 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 not only difficult for the Korean aristocracy to hide and monopolize farming land, but also made it impossible for self-employed Korean farms to keep their estates from being exploited and taken by the Eastern Real Estate Corporation, which had been established in 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, very much like their pre-19th century Korean predecessors. 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%, dropped to 60.2%, and finally ended up at 47.3%.

Labor conscription

The Japanese gathered Koreans to work in Japan in three steps. First, the Japanese government permitted recruitment of Korean workers by Japanese companies. The number of Korean employed in this way is estimated at about 0.6 million people. From 1939 and until the end of World War II in 1945, the Japanese government also offered jobs at local offices in Korea to 10,000 Koreans. Finally, from February 1942, the Japanese government forced tens of thousands of Koreans to move to Japan as 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. The total deaths of Korean forced laborers in Korea and Manchuria for those years is estimated to be between 270,000 and 810,000. Available online:

In 1938, 0.8 million Koreans were living in Japan as immigrants. The combination of immigrants and forced labor workers during WW2 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 (衆議院). 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 living in Japan did, however, have both a right to vote and a right to hold office. Park Choon-Geum (박춘금, 朴春琴) was the first 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 (貴族院) including Park Young-Hyo (박영효, 朴泳孝) in 1932. 38 Koreans were elected into local assemblies in 1942.

Royalty

The Korean royalty was incorporated into the Japanese royalty during the Japanese Rule. Yi Eun (李垠), then the Imeperial Crown Prince of Korea, married Masako (方子) of Nashimotonomiya (梨本宮). Koreans who supported the annexation also were invited into the Japanese nobility. Lee Wan-Yong (李完用), 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 Koreans.

Culture

Western and Japanese culture seeped heavily into Korea during the Period of Japanese Rule, and Korean intellectuals read and discussed European, American, and Japanese writers and artists. Authors tended to discuss social and political agendas, and some looked up to Western ideals such as modernization and mass education, as well as socialism. While many authors engaged in romanticism, the Korean Proletarian Artists' Federation of the 1920s and 1930s criticized the Japanese government and expressed the contempt of many Koreans towards the Japanese authorities. The Federation was banned in 1935. In the meantime, the Japanese Government based in Keijo (modern-day Seoul) rigidly enforced the oppression of Korean culture and language in public, eventually going as far as to ban the use of the Korean language in the media, outlawing Korean newspapers, burning various Korean books and artifacts, encouraging the adoption of Japanese names in favor of Korean names, demolishing Korean national monuments and edifices, demonizing Korean heroes, degrading the statues of Korean culture, and propagating the importance of the Japanese race while emphasizing the inferiority of the Korean race. 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 Lee Hui Sung and Choi Hyun Bae in the 1930s, as well as underground publications of books about historical Korean figures.

In addition, Japan destroyed much of the Korean Imperial palace complex, Gyungbok Palace, which was originally constructed in 1394 AD by Jung Dojun, a Korean architect. Located near northern Seoul, the palace had endured various reconstructions and eventually ended up as a massive 330-building complex. Covering over 41 hectares (101 acres) of land, it was a symbol of majesty for the Korean people and the home of the Royal family. In 1911, the Japanese destroyed all but 10 buildings. The Japanese also took Korean goods such as Hangul scripts or Korean arts from families and had the government confiscate them.

Education

As the Japanese were attempting to assimilate Korea into the Empire of Japan, classes were taught in Japanese during the early years of the annexation period. After the March 1st (Samil) Movement in 1919, the Japanese also allowed teaching of Korean culture. After the outbreak of World War II, however, this lenient policy was reversed, and school subjects such as Korean history and language were once again turned into electives and not encouraged. During the entire colonial period, Korean students were required to pay their respects at Shinto shrines, swear an oath of loyalty to the Emperor of Japan, and show their support for Japan's "Asia for Asians" policy. Teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools were dressed in military uniforms and armed with swords to enforce the intimidation of students.

In May 1942, the number of elementary schools built in Korea counted 4,945, the number of the students totaled 1,876,455, and the school enrollment rate went up to 60%, which was about 42 times greater than the number at the beginning of the annexation period. There were also 75 junior high schools, 75 girl's high schools (高等女学校), 133 trade schools (実業学校), 145 trade continuation schools (実業補修学校), 16 teacher's schools (師範学校), 24 vocational schools (専門学校), and 1 prep school in May 1944. Keijo Imperial University (京城帝國大學), which was absorbed into today's Seoul National University and was one of six imperial universities back then, was established in Seoul in 1924.

Koreans and the Starting in 1938, Koreans located in Korea were forced into the Japanese military and the first "Korean Voluntary" Unit was formed. Among notable Korean personnel in the Imperial Army was Hong Shi-Yok (洪思翊), a lieutenant general. Many later gained administrative posts in the government of South Korea but were limited in rank, one well-known example being Park Chung Hee (朴正熙; 박정희).

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. Prior to 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 total 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 various 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 from exploitations, this allowed them to take up influential positions and afford to contribute to the well being of their children who also profited from Japans exploitations.

Victims of Nuclear Attacks and Sexual Slavery

In the case of Korean A-bomb victims in Japan during the Second World War, many Koreans were drafted, enslaved or kidnapped 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 World War II, Japanese officials and local collaborators are alleged to have forcibly kidnapped poor, rural women from Korea (and other nations) for sexual slavery for men in the Japanese military. These women became known as comfort women. Historians estimate the number of sex slaves at around 200,000.

It has been claimed that the Japanese government intentionally destroyed the reports on these Korean women. Some have cited Japanese inventory logs and employees on the battlefield as evidence for this claim. For example, one of the names on the list was of a comfort woman who stated she was forced to be a prostitute by the Japanese. She was 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.

Controversy over the Nature of the Japanese Rule

The nature of the Japanese rule of Korea, especially its role in contribution to the modernization of the Korean peninsula, is a topic of heated discussion.

In South Korea and North Korea, Japanese rule in the early twentieth century is widely taught as a ruthless attempt to exploit the Korean people, comparable to the ruthless exploitation of the Poles during the Nazi German occupation. This perception of Japanese rule is reflected today in the long-standing anti-Japanese sentiment held by many Korean people.

A small minority of scholars view the Japanese role in modernization of Korea in a somewhat positive light.

Controversial examples:

Views like the above are widely regarded as offensive in Korea, and as representing historical revisionism.

"Despite the often oppressive and heavy-handed rule of the Japanese authorities, many recognizably modern aspects of Korean society emerged or grew considerably during the 35-year period of colonial rule. These included rapid urban growth, the expansion of commerce, and forms of mass culture such as radio and cinema, which became widespread for the first time. Industrial development also took place, partly encouraged by the Japanese colonial state, although primarily for the purposes of enriching Japan and fighting the wars in China and the Pacific rather than to benefit the Koreans themselves. Such uneven and distorted development left a mixed legacy for the peninsula after the colonial period ended. By the time of the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Korea was the second-most industrialized nation in Asia after Japan itself.
"But the wartime mobilization of 1937-45 had reintroduced harsh measures to Japanese colonial rule, as Koreans were forced to work in Japanese factories and were sent as soldiers to the front. Tens of thousands of young Korean women were drafted as “Comfort Women” - in effect, sexual slaves - for Japanese soldiers."
Modernization in Korea can be said definitely to have begun in the post-1945 period under the stewardship of America and its allies in a way that benefited Korea itself.

See also

Notes and references

External links

 

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