Korea under Japanese rule 341418 225990527 2008-07-16T10:19:51Z 124.13.142.19 /* Donghak Revolution and protests for democracy */ {{Infobox Former Country |native_name = {{lang|ko|일제 강점기 (日帝强占期)}}<br /><small>{{lang|ja|大日本帝國朝鮮 (にっぽんりょうちょうせん)}}</small> </small> |conventional_long_name = Japanese Forcible Occupation Period<br>Korea under Japanese Rule |common_name = Korea |continent = Asia |region = Korean Peninsula |era = Interwar period |status = Government-General |empire = Japan |status_text = Ruled by Japan | |event_start = [[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty|Japan-Korea Annexation]] |year_start = 1910 |date_start = August 22 |event_end = [[Surrender of Japan|End of World War II]] |year_end = 1945 |date_end = August 15 | |event_pre = [[Eulsa Treaty]] |date_pre = [[November 18]], 1905 |event1 = [[March 1st Movement]] |date_event1 = [[March 1]], 1919 |event2 = [[Battle of Chingshanli]] |date_event2 = [[September 11]], 1920 |event3 = [[Yoon Bong-Gil|Shanghai bombing attack]] |date_event3 = [[April 29]], 1932 |event4 = ''[[Sōshi-kaimei]]'' |date_event4 = 1940–1945 |event_post = [[Division of Korea]] |date_post = 1945 | |p1 = Korean Empire |flag_p1 = Flag of Korea 1882.svg |s1 = South Korea |flag_s1 = Flag of South Korea.svg |s2 = North Korea |flag_s2 = Flag of North Korea.svg |image_flag = Flag of Japan - variant.svg |flag = Flag of Japan | |image_map = Locationmap Korea.png |image_map_caption = Korea under Japanese rule - 일제 강점기 |capital = [[Keijō]] |latd= 37|latm= 32|latNS= N|longd= 126|longm= 59|longEW= E |national_anthem = [[Kimigayo]]&sup1; |common_languages = [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]] |religion = [[Shintō]]&sup1; |currency = [[Korean yen]] |government_type = Government-General |title_leader = King of Joseon (the Emperor of Japan) &sup1; |leader1 = [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]] |year_leader1 = 1910–1912 |leader2 = [[Emperor Taisho|Taisho]] |year_leader2 = 1912–1925 |leader3 = [[Hirohito]] |year_leader3 = 1925–1945 |title_representative = [[Governor-General of Korea|Governor-General]] |representative1 = Count [[Masatake Terauchi]] |year_representative1 = 1910–1916 (first) |representative2 = [[Nobuyuki Abe]] |year_representative2 = 1944–1945 (last) |legislature = Assembly of Councilors² |footnotes = &sup1; refers to the [[Empire of Japan]]<br />² ''Chūsūin'' (Korean: ''Jungchuwon'') was an advisory council. }} {{History_of_Korea}} '''Korea under Japanese rule''' refers to the period between 1910 and 1945 when [[Korea]] was forcibly occupied by the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese Empire]]. [[Japan]]'s involvement began with the 1876 [[Treaty of Ganghwa]] during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea and increased with the subsequent [[assassination]] of [[Myeongseong of Korea|Empress Myeongseong]] (also known as Queen Min) at the hands of [[Japan]]ese agents in 1895. It culminated with the 1905 [[Eulsa Treaty]] and the 1910 [[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty|Annexation Treaty]], both of which were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965. In this period, the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] often discriminated, tortured, plundered, raped, summary executed and mass murdered innocent Koreans without a valid reason<ref>http://www.b-29s-over-korea.com/Japanese-War-Crimes/index.html</ref>. Major [[cultural genocide]]s and [[war crime]]s done by the [[Japan]]ese include forced [[Sexual slavery|sex slavery]] and [[kidnapping]] of young Korean girls and women for the Japanese army<ref>http://www.religioustolerance.org/sla_japa.htm</ref>, [[human experiment]]s on live Koreans<ref>http://www.aiipowmia.com/731/731caveat.html</ref>, burying of live Koreans<ref>http://www.davidchun.com/korea/archives/000133.html</ref>, burning down of Korean villages<ref>http://populargusts.blogspot.com/2007/03/korean-towns-burned-by-japanese.html</ref>, banning of the [[Korean language]] and [[Religion in Korea|religion]]s<ref>http://tkdtutor.com/02Taekwondo/TaekwondoHistory/12ModernTKD01.htm</ref>, complete [[censorship]] of media, unfair [[confiscation]] of land, food and cultural assets, [[Soshi-kaimei|forced name changes]] and Imperial education, which led to a strong rise in [[Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea|anti-Japanese sentiment]] and [[Korean nationalism]], still persistent to this date in both [[South Korea]] and [[North Korea]].<ref>http://www.geocities.com/uioeastasia2002/KSP6revised.htm</ref><ref>http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-03/2007-03-03-voa30.cfm?CFID=234123093&CFTOKEN=67666245</ref> Japanese control of Korea ended with the [[surrender of Japan]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] in 1945 at the end of [[World War II]]. The [[Korean Peninsula]] was subsequently [[Division of Korea| divided]] into [[South Korea]] and [[North Korea]]. The legacy of the occupation remains in continuing [[Japanese-Korean disputes|disputes between Japan and the two Koreas]]. In Korea, this period is called the ''' Japanese Forcible Occupation Period''' ({{lang|ko|일제 강점기}}; ''Ilje gangjeomgi'', 日帝强占期) or '''Japanese Imperial Period''' ({{lang|ko|일제시대}}, ''Ilje sidae'', 日帝時代). Sometimes it is also referred to as the ''Wae jeong'' ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|왜정}}, [[Hanja]]: {{lang|ko|倭政}}), or "Japanese administration". In Japan, this period is called '''Korea under Japanese rule''' ({{lang|ja|日本統治時代の朝鮮}}) (''Nippon Toji-jidai no Chosen'') == Background == In the late 19th century and early 20th century, various Western countries were competing for influence, trade, and territory in [[East Asia]] while Japan sought to join the modern colonial powers. The newly modernised [[Meiji government]] of Japan turned to Korea, then in the [[sphere of influence]] of [[Qing Dynasty]] of [[China]]. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a [[puppet state|Japanese satellite]] in order to further their security and national interests.<ref>{{cite book | last = Duus | first = Peter | authorlink = | title = The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895–1910 | publisher = Berkeley: University of California Press | date = 1995 | pages = | doi = | isbn = 0-520-0861F7 }}</ref> In January 1876, following the [[Meiji Restoration]], Japan employed [[gunboat diplomacy]] to pressure Korea to sign the [[Treaty of Ganghwa]], which was regarded as [[unequal treaty]], <ref>[http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707220222.html A reckless adventure in Taiwan amid Meiji Restoration turmoil], ''THE ASAHI SHIMBUN'', Retrived on 2007-7-22.</ref> and grant extraterritorial rights and open three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of [[Matthew Calbraith Perry|Commodore Perry]]. <ref>[http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707220222.html A reckless adventure in Taiwan amid Meiji Restoration turmoil], ''THE ASAHI SHIMBUN'', Retrived on 2007-7-22.</ref> === Assassination of Empress Myeongseong === {{main|Empress Myeongseong}} In 1895, [[Empress Myeongseong of Korea|Empress Myeongseong]] was assassinated by Japanese agents.<ref>{{cite news | first=Wha Rang | last= Lee | coauthors= | title=Murder of Empress Myeongseong | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/jp-rape.htm | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref> The Japanese minister to Korea, [[Miura Goro]] orchestrated the plot against her. A group of Japanese agents entered the Imperial palace in Seoul, which was under Japanese guard,<ref> See Russian eyewitness account of surrounding circumstances at http://koreaweb.ws/ks/ksr/queenmin.txt</ref> and Empress Myeongseong (referred to as "''Queen'' Min" by the Japanese) was killed and her body desecrated in the north wing of the palace.<ref>{{cite news | first=Tatiana | last=Simbirtseva | coauthors= | title=Queen Min of Korea: Coming to Power | date=1996-05-08 | publisher= | url =http://www.gkn-la.net/history_resources/queen_min_tmsimbirtseva_1996.htm | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref> The empress had attempted to counter Japanese interference in Korea and was considering turning to Russia or China for support. Reacting to the murder of the Empress, on [[February 11]] [[1896]], [[Gojong of the Korean Empire|Emperor Gojong]] and his crown prince fled from the [[Gyeongbokgung]] palace to the [[Russia]]n legation in [[Seoul]], from which they governed for about one year, an event known as [[Korea royal refuge at the Russian legation]]. Russia and the U.S. were granted concessions to counterbalance Japanese influence. ===Donghak Revolution and protests for democracy=== {{main|Donghak Peasant Revolution}} The outbreak of the [[Donghak Peasant Revolution]] in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward Korea. Korea had negotiated with Russia to counterbalance Japan's growing influence. [[So Chae-pil]] and [[Protestant]] [[missionaries]] introduced Western political thought to Korea. Protesters took to the streets, demanding [[democracy|democratic]] reforms and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. The Meiji leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan sent its own troops to Korea. Japan won the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], and China signed the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea", thus ending Korea's [[protectorate]] relationship with the Chinese [[Qing dynasty]]. === On the road to annexation === The strategic rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905, won by Japan.<ref name="chosondy"> {{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kr0017) |title=South Korea; The Choson Dynasty |accessdate=2007-02-20 |last=Hadar |first=Oren |work=Library of Congress Country Studies |archivedate=}}</ref> Under the peace treaty signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.<ref name="chosondy"/> A separate agreement was signed in secret between the United States and Japan at this time, and this subsequently aroused anti-American sentiment among Koreans decades later.<ref name="chosondy"/> The [[Taft-Katsura Agreement]] was cynical by modern standards, exchanging what amounted to a lack of interest and military capability in Korea on the part of the United States (Japan was given a free hand in Korea) for a lack of interest or capability in the [[Philippines]] on the part of Japan (Japanese imperialism was diverted from the Philippines).<ref name="chosondy"/> 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.<ref name="chosondy"/> [[Image:Flag of the Japanese Resident General of Korea (1905).svg|200px|thumb|Flag of the Japanese [[Governor-General of Korea#Residents-General|Resident-General]], [[1905]]-[[1910]]]] Two months later, Korea was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate.<ref name="chosondy"/> Thereafter, a large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but by then Japanese dominance in Korea was a reality.<ref name="chosondy"/> In June 1907, the [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|Second Peace Conference]] was held in [[The Hague]]. [[Gojong of Joseon|Emperor Gojong]] secretly sent three representatives, commissioned 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 alleged the legality of the protectorate convention. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Chun, committed suicide at The Hague.<ref>{{cite book | first=H. B. | last=Hulbert | coauthors= | title=History of Korea | publisher=Routledge | location= | year=1999 | editor= | id=ISBN 070070700X}}</ref> In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On July 19, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as the regent. The Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new [[Sunjong of Korea|Emperor Sunjong]] following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong or Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the [[Joseon Dynasty]], which had been founded in 1392.<ref>{{cite book | first=D. | last=Keene | coauthors= | title=Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912 | publisher=Columbia University Press | location= | year=2005 | editor= | id=ISBN 023112340X}}</ref> ==Annexation of Korea== {{Infobox East Asian |title=Period of Japanese Rule |tablewidth=290 |hangul=일제 강점기 ''or'' 일제시대 |hanja=日帝强占期 ''or'' 日帝時代 |rr=Ilje Gangjeomgi ''or'' Iljesidae |mr=Ilche Kangjŏmgi ''or'' Ilchesidae |kanji=日本統治時代の朝鮮 |hiragana=にほんとうちじだいのちょうせん |romaji=Nihon Tōchi Jidai no Chōsen }} [[Image:General power of attorney to Lee Wan-Yong signed and sealed by Sunjong.jpg|250px|right|thumb|General power of attorney to [[Lee Wan-Yong]] signed and sealed by the last emperor, [[Sunjong of Korean Empire]] (李坧) on [[August 22]], [[1910]] (隆熙4年).]] === Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty === {{main|Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty}} Image:Img902.jpg [[Image:Img902.jpg|250px|right|thumb|A [[Korean yen]] then called a Joseon yen in 1944, the official currency of the protectorate.]] In May 1910, the [[Ministry of War of Japan|Minister of the Army of Japan]], [[Terauchi Masatake]], was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after previous treaties ([[Japan-Korea Protocol of 1904]] and [[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907]]) had made Korea a [[protectorate]] of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On [[August 22]], [[1910]], Korea was effectively [[annexation|annexed]] by Japan 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 text was published one week later and became effective the same day. The treaty stipulated: *"Article 1: His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. *Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan." Both the protectorate and the annexation treaties were declared void in the 1965 Basic Treaty between Korea and Japan since both were: 1) obtained under [[Gunboat diplomacy|threat of force]], and 2) the Korean Emperor, whose [[royal assent]] was required to validate and finalize any legislation or diplomatic agreement under Korean law of the period, refused to sign the document,<ref name="AnnexTreaty">{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Treaty of Annexation | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/documents/kore1910.htm | work =USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Studies Center | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Kawasaki | last=Yutaka | coauthors= | title=Was the 1910 Annexation Treaty Between Korea and Japan Concluded Legally? | date=1996-08-07 | publisher= | url =http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v3n2/kawasaki.html | work =[[Murdoch University]] Electronic Journal of Law | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref>. === Liberation movement === {{main|Korean independence movement}} Upon [[Gojong of Joseon|Emperor Gojong]]'s death, [[anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea|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 [[protest]]s were violently suppressed: according to Korean records, 46,948 were arrested, 7,509 killed and 15,961 wounded; according to Japanese figures, 8437 were arrested, 553 killed and 1409 wounded.<ref>{{cite book | last = Lee | first = Ki-Baik | coauthors = Translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edwar J. Shultz | title = A New History of Korea (韓国史新論) | publisher = Ilchorak/Harvard University Press | date = 1999 | pages = p. 1080 | doi = | isbn = 0-674-61575-1}}</ref> The [[Encyclopedia Britannica]] states that about 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers during the 12 months of demonstrations.<ref>{{cite web | title=March First Movement | work=Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service | url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050797?query=march%20first%20movement&ct=|accessdate=2006-03-01}}</ref> After the suppression of the uprising, 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 [[freedom of the press|press freedom]] was permitted. Two of the three major Korean daily [[newspapers]], the ''[[Dong-a Ilbo]]'' and the ''[[Chosun Ilbo]],'' were established in 1920. [[Image:Soldier of Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies.JPG|right|170px|thumb|Korean independence fighter in Manchuria]] However, 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 [[April 13]], [[1919]]. This Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is considered by the modern South Korea government to be the ''de jure'' representation of the Korean people throughout the period of Japanese rule. In military terms, although the Japanese occupation of Korea after annexation was largely uncontested by the numerically smaller, poor 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 would travel in and out of the Korean-Chinese boundary, fighting with [[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 itself, or to join with the [[Communism|Communist]]-backed forces in eastern Russia. Within Korea itself, anti-Japanese rallies continued on occasion, most notably the nationwide student uprising of November 1929, which 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 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.<ref>{{cite book | last = Wells| first = Kenneth M.| coauthors = | title = Background to the March First Movement: Koreans in Japan, 1905-1919.| publisher = Korean Studies, V. 13, 1989| date = 1989| pages = pp. 1-21| isbn = }}</ref> In the village of Cheam-Ni near Suwon, for instance, a group of 29 people was gathered inside a church which was then set afire to burn them alive.<ref>{{cite book | last = Lee | first = Ki-Baik | coauthors = Translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edwar J. Shultz | title = A New History of Korea (韓国史新論) | publisher = Ilchorak/Harvard University Press | date = 1999 | pages = p. 344 | doi = | isbn = 0-674-61575-1}}</ref> Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government.<ref>{{cite web | title=Land of the Rising Sun. The Rise of Nationalism, and the Impact of the Sam-Il (3-1) Movement As A Living Symbol of Anti-Japanese Resistance | url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/print/news/nn02-2005/nn20050228a6.htm | accessdate=2006-07}}</ref> ===World War II=== On [[December 9]], [[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 Provisional Government banded together various Korean resistance guerilla groups as the [[Korean Liberation Army]], which participated in combat on behalf of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in various campaigns in China and parts of [[South East Asia]]. Tens of thousands more Koreans volunteered for the [[National Revolutionary Army]] and the [[Peoples Liberation Army]]. Outside of the control of the Provisional Government was the communist-backed Korean Volunteer Army (KVA), established in [[Yenan]], China from a core of 1000 deserters from the Imperial Japanese Army. After [[Operation August Storm]], 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]]. Following the dropping of [[atomic bomb]]s on [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], Japan [[surrender of Japan|surrendered]] to the Allied forces on [[15 August]] [[1945]], ending 35 years of Japanese occupation. [[United States Army|American forces]] under General [[John R. Hodge]] arrived in the southern part of Korea on [[8 September]]. Colonel [[Dean Rusk]] proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency meeting to determine postwar [[spheres of influence]] during this time. However, as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea lacked widespread international [[diplomatic recognition]], its representatives were not allowed to participate in the San Francisco Peace Conference, nor was the Provisional Government a signatory to the [[Treaty of San Francisco]].<ref>"50 Years from San Francisco: Re-examining the peace treaty and Japan's territorial problems." [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/50+Years+from+San+Francisco:+Re-examining+the+peace+treaty+and...-a081005664]</ref> ==Economy and exploitation== [[Image:Celebration of opening railway line from Seoul to Fusan.jpg|thumb|250px|Opening of railway from Seoul to Pusan]] Korea during the late Joeson period was a largely an [[isolationism|isolationist]] [[pre-industrial society]], with most [[foreign trade]] prohibited and attempts at economic modernization stifled by an extremely conservative Court and landed aristocracy. During the early period of Japanese rule, the Japanese government concentrated on building a significant [[transportation infrastructure]] on the Korean peninsula, including development of [[port]] facilities, an extensive [[railway]] system, including a main truck railway from the southern port city of [[Busan|Pusan]] through the capital of [[Seoul|Keijo]] and north to the Chinese border. This transportation infrastructure was intended not only to facilitate a [[mercantilism|colonial mercantilist]], colonial economy<ref name="economic"> {{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/docs/publications/ocational_papers/oc24aa.htm |title=Economic Growth and human Production in the Republic of Korea, 1945 - 1992 |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=Lee |first=Jong-Wha |work=United Nations Development Programme }}</ref> for the extraction of raw materials ([[timber]]), foodstuffs (mostly [[rice]] and [[fish]]), and mineral resources ([[coal]] and [[iron ore]]), 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 China 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 to build up the industrial base in the Korean peninsula, especially in the areas of [[heavy industry]], such as chemical plants and steel mills, and [[munition]]s production. The Japanese military felt that having production closer to the source of raw materials and closer to the potential front lines in a future war with China, would be of benefit.<ref>{{cite book | last = Pratt | first = Keith | year = 2007 | title = Everlasting Flower: A History of Korea | publisher = Reaktion Books | id = ISBN 1861893353}}</ref> However, by the early 1930s, Japanese investment was limited due to the [[Great Depression|worldwide economic depression]], competition for investment opportunities from the potentially more lucrative [[Manchukuo]] and by Japans own limited economic capacity. As Imperial Japan began feeling the strains of World War II, Japan "siphoned off more and more of Korea's resources, including its people, to feed its war machine."<ref name="life in korea"> {{cite web|url=http://www.lifeinkorea.com/information/history2.cfm |title=History of Korea; 20th Century |accessdate=2007-02-19 }}</ref> [[Image:Chemical factory in Kankou.JPG|thumb|250px|Chemical factory in Kanko]] ===Japanese migration and land confiscation=== Prior to the annexation of Korea, from around the time of the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], Japanese merchants began settling in towns and cities around Korea seeking economic opportunities. After annexation, the Japanese government wanted more ethnic Japanese settlers to take root in Korea and encouraged further migration to help consolidate and expand Japanese influence. By 1910, the number of Japanese settlers in Korea reached over 170,000, creating the largest overseas Japanese community in the world at the time. [[Image:Oriental Development Company.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Oriental Development Company HQ, Seoul]] Many Japanese settlers were interested in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese landownership was officially legalized in 1906. This was facilitated by a [[land reform]] introduced by Japanese Governor-General [[Terauchi Masatake]] which subsequently proved extremely unpopular with large segments of the Korean population. The Korean land ownership system was a complex system of absentee landlords, partial owner-tenants, and cultivators with traditional but without legal proof of ownership. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that reestablished ownership by basis of written proof ([[deed]]s, titles, and similar documents). Ownership was denied to those who could not provide such written documentation (mostly lower class and partial owners, who had only traditional verbal "cultivator rights"). Although the plan succeeded in reforming land ownership/taxation structures, it added tremendously to the bitter and hostile environment of the time by enabling a huge amount of Korean land to be seized by the government and sold at [[subsidy|subsidized]] costs to any Japanese family willing to [[Settler|settle]] in Korea as part of a larger effort at [[colonization]].<ref name="Japan Focus"> {{cite web|url=http://www.japanfocus.org/products/details/2220 |title=Legal Categories, Demographic Change and Japan’s Korean Residents in the Long Twentieth Century |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=Nozaki |first=Yoshiko |coauthors=Hiromitsu Inokuchi, Tae-young Kim }}</ref>. Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations, such as the [[Oriental Development Company]]. Former Korean landowners as well as agricultural workers, became [[tenant farmer]]s, having lost their [[Property|entitlements]] almost overnight. [[Image:Chojiya Department Store.JPG|thumb|250px|Chojiya Department Store, 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, during which the ratio of Japanese land ownership started at 36.8%, then rose to 39.8%, and finally jumped to 52.7%, while the ratio of Korean ownership began at 63.2%, decreased to 60.2%, and finally fell to 47.3%. This level of tenancy was very similar to that of farmers in Japan itself, but with the difference being that in Korea, the landowners were mostly Japanese, and the tenants were all Koreans. As was often the case in Japan itself, tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent, they were often forced to send wives and daughters to factories or to sell daughters into prostitution to pay for taxes. <ref name="Japan Focus"/> Korea lagged behind Japan proper in the rise of [[agricultural cooperatives]] and advances in [[cash crop]] and [[mechanized agriculture]], and thus suffered from occasional [[famine]] through crop failure and over taxation. By the 1930s, the growth of the [[urban economy]] and flight of farmers to the cities gradually weakened the hold of the landlords. With the growth of the wartime economy, the government recognized that landlordism was an impediment to increased agricultural productivity, and took steps to increase control over the rural sector through the formation of the Central Agricultural Association, which was a compulsory organization under the wartime [[command economy]]. [[Image:Pyongyang tram pre-ww2.jpg|thumb|250px|Business district in Pyongyang under Japanese rule]] ===National Mobilization Law=== From 1939, [[labor shortage]]s as a result of [[conscription|over-drafting]] of Japanese males for the military [[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 involuntary 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 conditions. About 60,000 are estimated to have died between 1939 and 1945 from harsh treatment, inhumane working conditions and [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombings.<ref>{{cite book | first=R. J. | last=Rummel | coauthors= | title=Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1990 | publisher=Lit Verlag | location= | year=1999 | editor= | id=ISBN 3-8258-4010-7}} Available online: {{cite web | title=Statistics of Democide: Chapter 3 - Statistics Of Japanese Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources | work=Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War | url=http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP3.HTM | accessdate=2006-03-01}}</ref> The total deaths of Korean forced laborers in Korea and [[Manchuria]] is estimated to be between 270,000 and 810,000.<ref>{{cite book | first=R. J. | last=Rummel | coauthors= | title=Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1990 | publisher=Lit Verlag | location= | year=1999 | editor= | id=ISBN 3-8258-4010-7}} Available online: {{cite web | title=Statistics of Democide: Chapter 3 - Statistics Of Japanese Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources | work=Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War | url=http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP3.HTM | accessdate=2006-03-01}}</ref> The 43,000 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#Sakhalin|Sakhalin Koreans]].<ref name="Lankov">{{cite news|last=Lankov|first=Andrei|publisher=The Korea Times|date=2006-01-05|accessdate=2006-11-26|title=Stateless in Sakhalin|url=http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200601/kt2006010516434554130.htm}}</ref> In 1938, an estimated 800,000 ethnic Koreans were living in Japan as immigrants. The combination of immigrants and forced labor workers during [[World War II]] brought that total to over 2 million by the end of the war, according to estimates by the [[Supreme Commander Allied Powers|American occupation authorities]]. In 1946, some 1,340,000 ethnic Koreans were repatriated to Korea, with 650,000 choosing to remain in Japan .<ref name="Ryang2000-Ch2">{{cite conference|title=The North Korean homeland of Koreans in Japan|last=Ryang|first=Sonia|title=Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin|date=2000|location=United Kingdom|publisher=Routledge}}</ref>, where they now form the [[Koreans in Japan|Zainichi Korean]] community. A 1982 survey by the Korean Youth Association showed that conscripted labor accounts for 13.3% of first-generation Zainichi Koreans. ==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 of Japan|House of Representatives]]. The election law was amended in 1945 to allot 18 seats of the House of Representatives to the Korean peninsula, but this did not go into effect because of the end of the war later in the same year. Koreans in Japan were, however, eventually given the right to vote and to hold office. [[Pak Chun-geum]] ({{lang|ko|박춘금}}, {{lang|ko|朴春琴}}) was the first ethnic Korean to be elected into the House of Representatives in 1932, re-elected in 1938, and continued to serve throughout the Second World War. Several members of the Korean Royalty and aristocracy were appointed to the [[House of Peers]] including [[Pak Yeong-Hyo]] ({{lang|ko|박영효}}, {{lang|ko|朴泳孝}}) in 1932. 38 Koreans were elected into local assemblies in 1942. ===Assimilation of the royalty=== Following the forced dissolution of the [[Korean Empire]] and the assassination of [[Empress Myeongseong]] at the hands of Japanese agents, the [[Korean royalty]] was incorporated into the [[Imperial Household of Japan|Japanese royalty]]. Since the [[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty|''Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty'']] lacked legality as it was never signed by the Korean Emperor,<ref name="AnnexTreaty"/> an effort was made to inter-marry the royalty of the two houses in an attempt to validate the occupation of Korea. [[Crown Prince Euimin|Yi Eun]], then the [[crown prince|Imperial Crown Prince]] of Korea, married [[Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin of Korea|Masako of Nashimotonomiya]]. [[Chinilpa|Pro-Japanese Koreans]] (or ''Chinilpa'') who supported or helped the annexation were also given titles of Japanese nobility. [[Lee Wan-Yong]], the last prime minister of the [[Korean Empire]], was given the title of Count (later Duke) by Japanese fiat and against Korean resistance. In total, 76 Koreans were titled Count, Baron, etc. all of which were later invalidated by the Korean Governments after receiving formal charges of [[Treason|betrayal against the state]]. ===‘Cultural genocide’=== The Japanese colonization of Korea has been mentioned as the ''case in point'' of "[[cultural genocide]]" by a graduate student Ms. Matsumura at the Comparative Genocide Studies group at the [[University of Tokyo]].<ref name="u-tokyo"> {{cite web|url=http://www.cgs.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/workshops_e/w_2004_02_23_e.html |last=Matsumura |first=Yuko |title="Cultural Genocide" and the Japanese Occupation of Korea |accessdate=2007-02-19 }}</ref> The colonial government put into practice the suppression of Korean culture and language in an "attempt to root out all elements of Korean culture from society".<ref name="life in korea"/> :"''Focus was heavily and intentionally placed upon the psychological and cultural element in Japan 's colonial policy, and the unification strategies adopted in the fields of culture and education were designed to eradicate the individual ethnicity of the Korean race.''"<ref name="u-tokyo"/> Initially, the Japanese sponsored several Korean language newspapers to counter the strong [[anti-Japanese sentiment| anti-Japanese]] message of the chief Korean publication ''Hwangson Sinmun'' (1898-1910),<ref name="cohen"> {{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/BIB95/00korea_cohen.htm |title=Japanese Periodicals in Colonial Korea |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=Cohen |first=Nicole }}</ref> and in fact kept issuing the [[Korean language]] newspaper ''Maeil Sinbo'' ({{lang|ko|매일신보}}; {{lang|ko|每日新報}}) until the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese surrender]] in 1945.<ref>The Mai-Il-Shinbo (The Mainichi-Shimpo), No. 11390, p. 4, 14 May 1939, Keijo (Seoul), Mai-Il-Shinbo-sa [http://www.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/umdb/newspaper1000/jpeg-s/01937.jpg]</ref><ref name="cohen"/> Other means of [[cultural suppression]] included the method of “altering” public monuments, including several well-known temples, palaces, scripts, memorials, and statues. Songs and poems originally dedicated to Korean Emperors were re-written to adore the Japanese Emperor. Carved monuments underwent alterations to the Chinese characters to delete or change part of their meaning. The [[Editing Agency of Korean History]] confiscated and burned Korean history books. Two of the more notorious events included the [[Sungnyemun]], a virtual symbol of Korea, which was altered by the addition of large, Shinto-style golden horns near the roofs (later removed by the South Korean government after independence), and the incident of [[Gyeongbokgung]], a former Korean palace which was demolished and the [[Japanese General Government Building, Seoul|Japanese General Government Building]] built in the exact location. In addition, many ancient Korean texts that were discovered mentioning Korean military and cultural exploits or Japan's historic inferiority and uncivilized behavior such as [[Wokou]] were deleted methodically; in general, the awareness of Korean history among Koreans declined during this period. This process of altering history was carried out by the [[Editing Agency of Korean History]]. This eventually led to a revival in [[Korean nationalism]], including in-depth research projects into [[Hangul]], the Korean alphabet, which resulted in the standardization of the Korean writing system by scholars such as [[I Hui-Seong]] (이희승) and [[Choe Hyeon-bae]] (최현배) in the 1930s, as well as underground publications of books about historical Korean figures. Historians, such as [[Sin Chae-ho]], were active in trying to present a Koreanized version of ancient history using textual material. ===Forced name changes=== {{main|Sōshi-kaimei}} In 1911 a proclamation, “Case Concerning the Changing of Korean Names” (朝鮮人ノ姓名改称ニ関スル件) was issued barring ethnic Koreans from taking Japanese names and to retroactively revert the names of Koreans that had already registered under Japanese names back to the original Korean ones<ref name="Mizuno1">{{cite paper|author=Mizuno, Naoki|title=植民地支配と「人の支配」 (Colonial control and "human control")|accessdate=2007-02-20|publisher=Kyoto University|url=http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:kzA9uGNhRbgJ:www.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/staff/youran/mizuno.pdf&hl=zh-TW&gl=tw&ct=clnk&cd=8&client=firefox}} </ref> in an attempt to better segregate individuals of Korean and Japanese ancestry.<ref name="Mizuno1"/> By 1939, however, the focus had shifted towards [[Cultural assimilation|colonial assimilation]], and Imperial Decree 19 on Korean Civil Affairs ({{lang|ko|조선민사령}}; “{{lang|ja|帝令19朝鮮民事令}}”)<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.kstudy.com/japan/html/hwangkook_3.htm |title=황국신민화정책자료해설 |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=윤 |first=해동 |language=Korean }}</ref> went into effect, whereby all Koreans had to surrender their [[Korean name#Family names|Korean family name]] and adopt Japanese surnames. A country study conducted by the [[Library of Congress]] states that “Korean culture was quashed, and Koreans were required to speak Japanese and take Japanese names.”<ref> {{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kp0022) |title=North Korea; The Rise of Korean Nationalism and Communism |accessdate=2007-02-19 |date=1993-06 }}</ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://daga.dhs.org/daga/press/urm/fingerprinting/chap03.htm |title=Part III: The problem from a historical perspective |accessdate=2007-02-19 }}</ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.han.org/a/fukuoka96a.html |title=Koreans in Japan: Past and Present |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=Fukuoka |first=Yasunori |work=Saitama University Review, Vol.31, No.1. }}</ref> This forced name change, called ''Changssi-gaemyeong'' ({{lang|ko|창씨개명}}; {{lang|ja|創氏改名}}), was part of Japan's assimilation policy.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfeatures/HRF56.htm |title=Japan’s minorities yet to find their place in the sun. |accessdate=2007-02-19 |work=SAHRDC }}</ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/67/2493.html |title= The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001. |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=Stearns |first=Peter N. |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company }}</ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.usjp.org/livingtogether_en/ltKoreans_en.html |title=Korean Permanent Residents in Japan |accessdate=2007-02-19 |publisher=Center for US-Japan Comparative Social Studies }}</ref> In all, some 9.6% of Koreans changed their last name to a Japanese one during the colonial occupation. ===Education in Korea under Japanese rule=== [[Image:Keijo Imperial University.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Keijō Imperial University, Seoul]] In Joeson dynasty Korea, education was limited to private academies for the aristocracy.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Following the annexation of Korea, the Japanese administration introduced [[universal education]]{{Fact|date=June 2008}} patterned after the [[Education in the Empire of Japan|Japanese school system]], with a pyramidal hierarchy of elementary, middle and high schools, cumulating at the [[Keijō Imperial University]] in [[Seoul]]. As in Japan itself, education was viewed primarily as an instrument of “Imperial Citizen Forming” (황민화; 皇民化) with a heavy emphasis on moral and political indoctrination. Although the Japanese colonial government did provide educational material for [[Korean culture]] and [[Korean language]] to some degree, such as a textbook of Hangul<ref> {{cite web|url=http://koreaphoto.hp.infoseek.co.jp/hg.html |title=ハングルを奪った日帝 |accessdate=2007-02-19 |language=Japanese }}</ref> and grammar to mix Hangul with Chinese characters (in the version designed by [[Kakugorō Inoue]]),<ref>http://www.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/umdb/newspaper1000/jpeg-s/01902.jpg</ref> classes focused mostly on teaching the history of the [[Japanese Empire]] as well as glorification of the [[Imperial House of Japan]]. The history of Korea was not part of the curriculum. As in Japan itself, students were made to worship at the school's [[Shintō shrine]] regardless of their religious beliefs, and bow before portraits of the Emperor and copy of the ''[[Imperial Rescript on Education]]''. As the Japanese administrative policy shifted more strongly towards assimilation from the 1930s ({{lang|ja|同化政策}}; ''dōka seisaku''), all classes were taught in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] with [[Korean language]] becoming an elective. Later this policy was replaced by a “Penalty Point” system whereby students were academically penalized for the use of the Korean language during school time. Eventually the use of Korean language was “forbidden in all schools and business”.<ref name="life in korea"/> During colonial times, [[Primary Education|elementary schools]] were known as “Citizen Schools” ({{lang|ko|국민학교}}; {{lang|ko|國民學校}}; ''gungmin hakgyo'') as in Japan, as a means of forming proper “Imperial Citizens” (皇國民; ''Hwanggungmin'') since early childhood. Elementary schools in South Korea today are known by the name ''chodeung hakgyo'' ({{lang|ko|초등학교}}; {{lang|ko|初等學校}}) (literally “Elementary School”) as the term “''gungmin hakgyo''” has become a [[politically incorrect]] term. == Military conscription == {{main|Korean war crimes}} 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. Of those who survived, some later gained administrative posts in the government of [[South Korea]]; well-known examples include [[Park Chung Hee]], who years later became president of [[South Korea]], [[Chung Il-kwon]] (정일권,丁一權), prime minister during 1964&ndash;1970, and [[Paik Sun-yup]], South Korea's youngest general, famous for his defense of the [[Pusan Perimeter]] during the [[Korean War]]. The first 10 of the Chiefs of Army Staff of South Korea graduated the [[Imperial Japanese Army Academy]] and no one from the [[Korean Liberation Army]].<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.army.mil.kr/intro/intro1_3_5b.htm |title=육군 참모총장, The Republic of Korea Army |accessdate=2007-02-19 |language=Korean }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=초기 육군 총장들은 일본 육사 출신, 여야 설전 | date=[[2005-09-26]] | publisher= | url =http://news.naver.com/news/read.php?mode=LSD&office_id=079&article_id=0000056180 | work =CBS Nocut News/Naver | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = Korean }}</ref> Recruitment began as early as 1938, when the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]] in Manchuria began accepting pro-Japanese Korean volunteers into the Manchukuoan Army to form 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]]. Historian Philip Jowett noted that during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Gando Special Force had "earned a reputation for brutality and was reported to have laid waste to large areas which came under its rule."<ref>{{cite book |author=Philip S. Jowett |title=Rays of the Rising Sun |year=2004 |publisher=Helion & Company Limited |location=West Midlands |pages=34}}</ref> Jowett further added that the Chinese in the area hated the Korean soldiers so much that anybody from this unit captured by both the Nationalists or Chinese Communists during the war were immediately executed. During the Second World War, American soldiers frequently encountered Korean soldiers within the ranks of the Japanese army. Most notable is the the [[Battle of Tarawa]], which was considered during that time the be one of the bloodiest battles in US 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. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stamfordhistory.org/ww2_tarawa.htm}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |url=http://worldwar2database.com/html/tarawa.htm}}</ref> 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 to provide workforces to mines and construction sites around the island nation. The discovery proved that the number of conscripted Koreans reached its peak in the year in preparation for the war in the Japanese mainland.[http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/033rd_issue/98031103.htm] The application ratio was allegedly 48.3 to 1 in 1943. From 1944, about 200,000 Korean males were inducted into the army. The number of Korean military personnel was 242,341, and 22,182 of them died during World War II. After the war, 148 Koreans were convicted of Class B and C war crimes, 23 of whom were sentenced to death. Koreans prison guards were particularly notorious for their brutality during the war. 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."<ref>{{cite book |author=B.V.A Roling and Antonio Cassese |title=The Tokyo Trial and Beyond |year=1993 |publisher=Polity Press |location=Oxford, UK |pages=76}}</ref> In his memoirs, Colonel Eugene C. Jacobs also 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext05/blbro10.htm}}</ref> Korean guards were even 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mekongexpress.com/thailand/photoalbum/bridgechapt8.htm}}</ref> The highest ranking Korean to be prosecuted after the war is 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. {| class="wikitable" |+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 |}<ref>太平洋戦争下の朝鮮及び台湾、友邦協会、1961, pg. 191</ref> === Japanese war crimes, Atomic bomb casualties === During World War II, women who served in the Japanese military brothels were called [[Comfort women]]. Historians estimate the number of comfort women between 10,000 and 200,000, which include Japanese women.<ref>{{cite web | title=U.S. playwright takes up 'comfort women' cause | work=The Japan Times | year=2005 | url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/print/news/nn02-2005/nn20050228a6.htm | accessdate=2006-03-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Japan court rules against 'comfort women' | work=CNN.com | year=2001 | url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/03/29/japan.comfort.women/index.html | accessdate=2006-03-01}}</ref> According to testimonies, there were cases that Japanese officials and local collaborators kidnapped or recruited under guise of factory employment poor, rural women from Korea (and other nations) for [[sexual slavery]] for Japanese military. As investigations continue, more evidence continues to surface. There has been evidence of the Japanese government intentionally destroying official records regarding Comfort Women.<ref name="BBC slaves">{{cite news | first=William | last=Horsley | coauthors= | title=Korean World War II sex slaves fight on | date=[[2005-08-09]] | publisher= | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4749467.stm | work =BBC News | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref><ref name="Seoul Times">{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Japan Boiled Comfort Woman to Make Soup | date= | publisher= | url =http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=1846 | work =The Seoul Times | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref> Nonetheless, Japanese inventory logs and employee sheets on the battlefield show traces of documentation for government sponsored sexual slavery. In one instance, names of known Comfort Women were traced to Japanese employment records. One such woman was falsely classified as a nurse along with at least a dozen other verified comfort women who were not nurses or secretaries. Currently, the South Korean government is looking into the hundreds of other names on these lists.<ref>{{cite news | first=Kim | last=Yun-deok | coauthors= | title=Military Record of 'Comfort Woman' Unearthed | date=[[2005-01-11]] | publisher= | url =http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200501/200501110028.html | work =The Chosun Ilbo | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref> In the case of Korean A-bomb victims in Japan during World War II, many Koreans were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were a total of 70,000 Korean casualties in both cities; 40,000 were killed and 30,000 were exposed to the A-bomb radiation. During Japanese Occupation of Korea, most Koreans became victims of [[Japanese war crimes]], such as Christians being crucified, Korean villages found hiding resistance fighters were dealt with harshly often with [[summary execution]], [[rape]], murder, at times burying elderly people alive; other crimes included [[human experimentation]], [[mass murder]], [[forced labour]], [[preventable famine]] and [[looting]]. :"To this day, valuable Korean artifacts can often be found in Japanese museums or among private collectors. According to the investigation of the South Korea government, There are 75,311 cultural assets that were taken from Korea. Japan has 34,369; the United States has 17,803. Today, Korea frequently demands the return of these artifacts to which Japan does not comply." Koreans along with many other Asians were experimented on in secret military medical experimentation units, such as [[Unit 731]], [[Unit 516]], and many more. An estimated 270,000 - 810,000 Koreans died in seven years from forced labor alone.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP3.HTM |title=Statistics Of Japanese Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=Rummel |first=R. J. }}</ref> == Controversial statements regarding Japanese rule in Korea== The nature, legitimacy, and legacy of the Japanese annexation of Korea, especially its disputed role in contributing to the modernization of the Korean peninsula, is a topic of intense debate. In both Koreas, Japanese rule in the early twentieth century is taught as a ruthless attempt to exploit the Korean people. In both South and North Korea, [[Japanese history textbook controversies|Japanese historical revisionism]] is viewed along the same lines as [[Holocaust denial]] in modern Europe.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. Nonetheless, controversial pro-Japanese statements of the occupation of Korea have been made by Korean academics: *Professor Rhee Young Hoon (이영훈) of [[Seoul National University]] (서울대) argued at a seminar hosted by the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford that despite human rights problems, the Korean economy had grown greatly under the Japanese rule and that the base of modern capitalism introduced by the Japanese to Korea later became a part of the foundation of the modern Korean economy.<ref>{{cite web | title=한국 선진 경제 시작은 근대화 시스템 도입에서 | work=JongAngUSA.com | year=2005 | url=http://sf.koreadaily.com/asp/article.asp?sv=sf&src=metr&cont=metr&typ=&aid=20051018151642200200 | accessdate=2008-01-15}}</ref> *Professor Emeritus Ahn Byung Jik (안병직) of Seoul National University rejects the prevailing view that the late [[Joseon Dynasty]] had a germination of capitalism and could have grown into a modern society on its own, and argues that the Japanese rule helped the economic development of Korea.<ref>{{cite web | title=일제식민지 경험이 경제발전 도왔다? | work=Segye Ilbo | year=2005 | url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ko&u=http://www.segye.com/Service5/ShellView.asp?TreeID=1275&PCode=0007&DataID=200510121307000055 | accessdate=2006-03-01}}</ref> *Professor Emeritus Han Seung-Jo of [[Korea University]] wrote that "The colonial rule of Korea by Japan was actually a stroke of good fortune, and instead of hating them for it, they should be thanked. There is no reason to rebuke, denounce or make criminals of the pro-Japanese activities of 35 years of cooperation without opposition", and said in a later interview that "At the time, if Japan hadn't taken over Chosun, Russia would have, and if that had happened the Korean people would have been scattered under [[Joseph Stalin]]'s racial dispersion policy", and that "I see the colonial rule by Japan as having been not a bad thing, but instead an opportunity for the strengthening of the Korean people's awareness."<ref>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=한승조 '일 식민지배는 축복' 기고 파문 | date=[[2005-03-04]] | publisher= | url =http://www.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10300&no=213684&rel_no=1&index=1 | work =Ohmynews.com | pages = | accessdate = 2007-03-09 | language = Korean }}</ref> *Ji Man-Won, a retired [[South Korea]]n military officer and author caused controversy in Korea and further abroad with his view. Ji has praised Japan for "[[modernisation|modernizing]]" Korea, and has said "only around 20 percent of the Korean women who sexually served the Japanese military personnel were forced, while the remaining 80 percent volunteered in order to make money".<ref>{{cite news | first=Lee | last=Jin-woo | coauthors= | title=Writer angers comfort women | date=[[2005-04-15]] | publisher= | url =http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=23142 | work =The Korea Times | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref> == 1910 interpretations and arguments == Early views of Japanese colonialism before the start of World War II were mixed. T. Philip Terry predicted the following in his 1914 guidebook ''Terry's Japanese Empire, Including Korea and Formosa'': :"That intelligent Koreans will later be as grateful to Japan as the Japanese now are to the United States, there is but little doubt. With customary astuteness and good will, Japan has adopted the admirable British idea in colonization of giving every man, British or alien, friend or foe, the same chance...Japan is to-day repaying Korea for centuries of unjust invasion, by the introduction of civilization and enlightenment."<ref> {{cite web|url=http://wiki.galbijim.com/Japanese_Empire_Including_Korea:_Historical_Sketch |title=Japanese Empire Including Korea: Historical Sketch |accessdate=2007-02-19 }}</ref> However, not all outside accounts before the start of the war were as favorable towards the Japanese occupation. F.A. McKenzie in his book ''Korea's Fight for Freedom'' wrote the following in 1920: :"When Japan, in face of her repeated pledges, annexed Korea, her statesmen adopted an avowed policy of assimilation. They attempted to turn the people of Korea into Japanese--an inferior brand of Japanese, a serf race, speaking the language and following the customs of their overlords, and serving them....'The Koreans are a degenerate people, not fit for self-government', says the man whose mind has been poisoned by subtle Japanese propaganda. Korea has only been a very few years in contact with Western civilization, but it has already indicated that this charge is a lie. Its old Government was corrupt, and deserved to fall. But its people, wherever they have had a chance, have demonstrated their capacity. In Manchuria hundreds of thousands of them, mostly fled from Japanese oppression, are industrious and prosperous farmers. In the Hawaiian Islands, there are five thousand Koreans, mainly labourers, and their families, working on the sugar plantations."<ref> {{cite web|url=http://wiki.galbijim.com/Korea%27s_Fight_for_Freedom:Preface |title=Korea's Fight for Freedom:Preface |accessdate=2007-02-19 |last=McKenzie |first=F. A. }}</ref> ==Modern interpretations and arguments== {{main|Economy of South Korea}} Korea experienced a true modernization in post-World War II under the stewardship of the [[United States]] and the income from a highly [[export-oriented industrialization]] for several reasons:<ref name="economic"/> # The [[Korean War]] (1950-1953), which followed the Japanese occupation, destroyed most of the peninsula (in total about 2,500,000 people were killed, more than 80% of the [[infrastructure|national infrastructure]] including industrial and public facilities and transportation works, as well as three-quarters of the government offices, and one-half of residential areas were destroyed. The Korean peninsula after the Korean War had an overall economy "''comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa''" (see CIA World Factbook). # [[Economy of South Korea|South Korea's economy]] grew mostly during the 1960s and 70's under the dictatorship era of [[General Park]] and the economic reforms under the Third and Fourth Republics. "From 1960/62 to 1973/75 the share of agriculture in GDP fell from 45 percent to 25 percent, while the share of manufacturing rose from 9 percent to 27 percent"<ref> {{cite web|url=http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/cha.korea |title=The Economic History of Korea |accessdate=2004-06-21 |last=Cha |first=Myung Soo |coauthors=Robert Whaples }}</ref> The total GDP also grew in excess of 500% for this relatively short period. It was during this time of rapid economic growth that foreign observers first applied the term [[Miracle on the Han River|Economic Miracle of the Han River]] and that Korea earned itself the distinctive title of [[East Asian Tigers|Economic Tiger]].<ref> {{cite web|url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/webcourse/key_points/kp_14.htm |title=Korean (1945 - present) |accessdate=2007-02-19 |work=Columbia University }}</ref> # Most Korean companies, especially the large [[Chaebol]] at the heart of the South Korean economic oligarchy, were founded well after the end of the Japanese occupation. These include, but are not limited to: [[Samsung Electronics]], [[Hyundai Group]], [[LG Group]], and [[SK Telecom]] (known as the "Big Four" in South Korea). <ref>http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kr0092)</ref> ==Japan's coverup efforts== {{POV-section|date=May 2008}} Many argue that sensitive information about Japan's occupation of Korea is difficult to obtain, and that this is due to the fact that the [[Government of Japan]] has gone out of its way to cover up many incidents that would otherwise lead to severe international criticism.<ref name="Nurse">{{cite news | first=Mari | last=Yamaguchi | coauthors= | title=Nurse Reveals Wartime Atrocities Buried Beneath Quiet Tokyo Neighborhood | date=[[2006-09-16]] | publisher= | url =http://goldsea.com/Asiagate/609/17wartime.html | work =Associated Press | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref><ref name="BBC slaves"/><ref name="Seoul Times"/> On their part, Koreans have often expressed their abhorrence of [[human experimentation]] carried out by the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] where people often became [[human test subjects]] in such macabre experiments as [[liquid nitrogen]] tests or [[biological weapons]] development programs (See articles: [[Unit 731]] and [[Shiro Ishii]]). Though some vivid and disturbing testimonies have survived, they are largely denied by the Japanese Government even to this day.<ref>[http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20070314_1.htm EastSouthWestNorth: Shinzo Abe's 'Apology'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> A recent example of this behavior included the denial by the Japanese Government of the burial of non-Japanese test-subject bodies several dozen feet below buildings in Japanese urban areas (such as the bodies found under the Toyama No. 5 apartment blocks) in order to cover up these experiments. Flatly denied, even after the bodies are discovered as new developments are constantly being erected in Japan. The unmarked mass graves on the "west side of [[Tokyo]] is deeply troubling". The testimony of Toyo Ishii, a nurse involved in the coverup, are down played or ignored.<ref name="Nurse"/><ref>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Scarred by history: The Rape of Nanking | date=[[2005-04-11]] | publisher= | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/223038.stm | work =BBC News | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Daniel | last=Barenblatt | coauthors= Victor Fic | title=The horrors of Unit 731 revisited | date=[[2005-01-29]] | publisher= | url =http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/GA29Dh01.html | work =Asia Times | pages = | accessdate = 2007-02-19 | language = }}</ref> "After more than 60 years of silence the 84-year-old nurse's story is the latest twist in the legacy of Japan's rampage." In addition, as cited above, much of the statistics are skewed due to the fact that they included Japanese migrants in Korea, making the poverty analysis of true Koreans indiscernible. Also, as referenced above the inventory logs and employee sheets were falsified by the Japanese in order to cover up the comfort women issue.<ref name="Seoul Times"/> These coverups and falsification of data have made accurate assessment of Japan's impact on Korea very difficult. ==See also== *[[Korean independence movement]] *[[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea]] *[[Japanese-Korean disputes]] *[[Chosen Army of Japan]] *[[Chinilpa]] *[[Korean war crimes]] ==Notes and references== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== *[[Isabella Lucy Bird]] (1898), [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00142821&id=6vTaMHgHpTQC ''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), [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01139077&id=ItkMAAAAIAAJ ''Things Korean: A Collection of Sketches and Anecdotes, Missionary and Diplomatic] *[http://countrystudies.us/south-korea/7.htm Country Studies on Korea''] *[[Hildi Kang]] (2001), ''Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945'', Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-7270-9 *[[Elizabeth Keith]], published many [[woodcut]] art of Korea in 1920's.[http://www.hanga.com/bio.cfm?ID=26][http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/maker.asp?maker=KEITHE][http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/~fiorillo/texts/shinhangatexts/shinhanga_pages/keith3.html] {{Gaichi}} [[Category:Korea under Japanese rule]] [[Category:Japanese-Korean relations]] [[Category:Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea]] [[de:Korea unter japanischer Herrschaft]] [[es:Ocupación japonesa de Corea]] [[eo:Okupado de Koreio fare de Japanio]] [[fr:Histoire de la Corée sous occupation japonaise]] [[ko:일제 강점기]] [[id:Penjajahan Jepang atas Korea]] [[he:הכיבוש היפני בקוריאה]] [[ms:Pemerintahan Jepun di Korea]] [[nl:Japanse bezetting van Korea]] [[ja:日本統治時代の朝鮮]] [[no:Japans okkupasjon av Korea]] [[ru:Корея под управлением Японии]] [[zh:朝鮮日治時期]]