Period of Japanese Rule (Korea) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Introduction

In Korean history, the Period of Japanese Rule or Iljeong Sidae (일정시대; 日政時代; "Period of Japanese Rule") in Korean) describes the period from 1910 to 1945, when Korea (at that time called Chosun) was ruled by Japan or Japanese Imperialism. By the end of Japanese rule in 1945, there was not one aspect of Korean life that lay unaffected by the pervasiveness and will of Japanese rule. Thus, the events of this period are crucial to an understanding of post-World War II Korea. The political dilemma created by the loss of sovereignty affected the direction of Korean nationalism. The cultural and educational policies of the Japanese skewed cultural development and compounded ideological division among elites. And economic programs and development under Japanese rule intensified class contradictions that continue to influence Korean society. Although Japanese rule stimulated Korean national identity and political consciousness, the very success of its cooptive political control policies exacerbated internal cleavages among Korean independence fighters. Such contradictory effects have left a mixed legacy among Koreans to this day. Anti-Japanese sentiment still runs strong throughout Korea and Asia. List of Japanese War Atrocities.

European Colonialism

Despite early attempts by Japan to gain control of Korea during the Tokugawa period, nineteenth-century European colonialism likely influenced Japan's decision to annex Korea more than the Tokugawa Shogunate invasions of the late sixteenth century. The Europeans took over Africa and partitioned it between their own countries, with France and Britain getting huge portions. In addition, the British won concessions from China and the United States took over Hawaii, Alaska (which was already a Russian colony before the American takeover), and the Philippines by 1900. Moreover, the United States contacted Japan with technology that the Japanese had never seen before in the mid-19th century, sparking the Meiji Restoration. In a world dominated by European colonial powers, Japan felt that it would have to colonize or be colonized; it would have to industrialize or be left out in the rough. Therefore, the Japanese may have decided to take over the nearest country they could think of, and Korea happened to be that country.

Unequal Treaties

It was common practice for colonial powers to force unequal treaties favoring themselves on other countries prior to colonizing. For example, following the Opium War of the 1840s, the British forced the Chinese to grant trading rights and land to the British Empire, including Hong Kong. Likewise, the Japanese (after attacking Korea in 1875) required the Koreans to give Japanese extraterritorial rights and open up three of Korea's ports to trade with Japan in February of 1876. Korea went on to sign treaties with the British, Americans, Russians, Italians, and various other countries in the next ten years.

The Assassination of Queen Min

In 1895, Queen Min of Joseon was assassinated, allegedly by the Japanese Yakuza. The Queen had opposed members of her court that favored reforms suggested by Japan, and so the Japanese minister to Korea is said to have orchestrated the assassination of the Queen. Assasins entered the royal palace, which was under Japanese guard, and pushed aside people trying to defend the Queen. The Queen was then either stabbed to death or burned alive; if she was stabbed to death, her body was cremated. Warning: this paragraph may not be NPOV. This is based on information from a website documenting Japanese atrocities.

The Tonghak Rebellion and Protests for Democracy

1894 and 1895 saw the advent of the Tonghak Rebellion in Korea. This rebellion, fueled by religion and anger at the government, began in southwest Korea and spread to central Korea. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan presented the Chinese dispatch as a justification send in its own troops to Korea. China and Japan soon went to war in the First Sino-Japanese War, which Japan won, and Japan forced another treaty onto Korea: the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895). This treaty abolished class distinctions, liberated slaves, ended a Chinese-influenced civil service exam system, and reformed the system of taxation.

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, being afraid of the Japanese, 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 for the USA 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 King 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 already a Japanese protectorate. In 1907, King Kojong abdicated (under Japanese influence), and his son became the new King. The new King soon married a Japanese and was given a Japanese peerage.

Annexation

On August 22, 1910, Japan annexed Korea by the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty and the Japanese Resident-General in Korea became the Governor-General of Korea. Korea continued to be ruled by Japan until Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945.

Japanese landowners

Japan, being a crowded country and unable to grow enough food for its own people, was forced to look elsewhere for its land - so Japan took land from Korean farmers. Many farmers were stripped of the land they were farming on during the ownership registration process that Japan required of the Koreans. Joint ownership as it was common in Korea at the time was not recognized by Japan and this led to many disputes over land ownership. Many Koreans blame Japanese rule (and Japanese landowners) for the mass expulsion of Korean landowners from their property.

Economy

Modern transport and communication networks were established across the nation. This facilitated Japanese commerce. An industrial base was established in Korea under Japanese rule. Also, the average lifetime expectation rose from 26 years to 42 years (1945) and the population increased twofold. Korea's underground resources were also exploited at this time by conscripting 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. Many Korean businesses were unable to compete with their Japanese competitors in the Korean market (they lacked the capital and financial strength 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.

Education

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 Korean villagers towards the Japanese authorities. The Federation was banned in 1935.

Independence Movement

After the former Korean emperor Gojong had died, 1542 anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide 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 peaceful 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. After the declaration of independence and the subsequent massacres by Japanese authorities, some of the aspects of Japanese rule considered most objectionable to Koreans were removed. The military police were replaced by a civillian 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 burned alive. 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." Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civillians towards the Japanese government.

Koreans and the Japanese Imperial Army

In the early years of Japanese rule, many Koreans volunteered to join the Japanese military, often because joining offered the opportunity to study in Japanese military schools. Many later gained administrative posts in the government of South Korea, one well-known example being Park Chunghee.

Koreans as well as Japanese participated in the Japanese war effort. Many Korean students were sent to fight against both Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). After 1944, all Korean males were obliged to join the Japanese Imperial Army.

More than one million Koreans serving in the Japanese Imperial Army and working in the military industrial sector were killed during six years in the later period of Japanese rule (1939–44). In the case of Korean A-bomb Victims in Japan, during the Second World War, 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.

Estimates regarding number of Korean women in the Japanese prostitution army during World War II range from 20,000 to 300,000. During World War II, Japan recruited poor, rural Korean women for their labour forces. These women were forced to be official prostitutes for Japanese soldiers. Many Korean women died of venereal diseases. Other Korean women were either abandoned in foreign lands or were killed by the soldiers when the Japanese retreated from their battle lines. When Japanese soldiers reported the death toll to their superiors, they simply reported these women’s deaths as “a few lost war supplies”. The Japanese government deliberately destroyed the reports on these Korean women.

The end of Japanese rule

A self-proclaimed "Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea" was established during the Period of Japanese Rule in Shanghai. On December 11, 1941, shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the organization declared war on Japan, even though it was not widely recognized as a legitimate government. It fought with its Korean Restoration Army alongside the Allied Forces. Seven days after the sundering of the friendship Pact, Soviet tanks invaded Korea from Siberia, meeting little to no resistance. Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese rule. US forces under General Hodge, would not arrive to southern part of Korea until September 8th. Colonel Dean Rusk proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency US meeting to determine spheres of influence during this time. Efforts by the "Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea" to establish control over Korea at the conclusion of the war were resisted and ultimately stopped by both United States and Soviet occupation authorities. The US occupation authorities in southern Korea viewed the self-proclaimed government as a communist insurgency and refused to recognize the "Provisional Government". Biterness over the division of Korea into two halves by Soviet and US occupation authorities is widely felt by many Koreans to this day.

See also

• History of Korea
• Imperialism in Asia
• Japanese Empire
• Anti-Japanese sentiment
• List of Japanese War Atrocities
• List of Korea-related topics
• List of Japanese governors-general in Korea

• Country Studies on Korea

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