| (1) Japanese Imperialists
and Korea's Rights as a Nation |
Japan, which had desired
exclusive domination of the Korean peninsula, finally
declared war on Russia in 1904. War broke out between
the two powers, and because the object of this war was
the invasion of the Empire of Korea, the battlefield was
the entire Korean peninsula.
As the Russo-Japanese
War broke out, the Korean government declared
neutrality. However, Japan, while declaring war,
simultaneously dispatched two army divisions to Korea to
occupy Seoul and other important locations as bases for
their operations. They then forced Korea to sign the
Korea-Japan Protocol in 1904 and mobilized Koreans in
large scale for war. Using the war as a pretext, Japan
swiftly constructed the Seoul-Pusan and Seoul-Sinuiju
railroads and stole tens of millions of pyong (standard
of land measure) for military use. |
| |
 |
In 1907, Emperor Kojong names Yi Chun, Yi
Sang-sol and Yi Ui-jong as special envoys to the
Hague international Peace Conference in order to
expose the injustice of Japan's occupation of
Korea to the rest of the world. However, the
efforts failed due to strong interference by the
Japanese. | |
| |
Afterwards, Japan forced
Korea to sign the First Korea-Japan Convention and
grasped the real powers of diplomacy, finance, military,
police, education, and the palace in 1904. They
unilaterally concluded and promulgated the Second
Korea-Japan Convention and took away Korea's diplomatic
rights. Japan, which held on tightly to the reigns of
control, set up a Bureau for the Governor-General in
Seoul to manage not only Korea's diplomatic but internal
affairs as well in 1906. As the first Governor-General,
Ito Hirobumi, the mastermind and the archvillain behind
the invasion was appointed.
Japan stole Korea's
rights as a nation by viciously taking over the will of
the Korean people. In the process of concluding the
various treaties with Korea, Japan not only threatened
and bought off the Korean ministers who opposed them,
but also dispatched troops to create an atmosphere of
terror throughout the whole country. Emperor Kojong
dispatched Yi Sang-sol and Yi Chun to the World Peace
Conference at the Hague as representatives and denounced
the unjustifiable acts of aggression by Japan in
1907.
Japan, taking retribution against this act,
forced the abdication of Emperor Kojong and Emperor
Sunjong acceded to the throne. A new Japan-Korea
Convention was then signed in 1907 and Japan appointed
vice ministers to each government branch who were given
actual power of control. Furthermore, Japan forced the
Korean army to disband, turning Korea into a country
without the power of self-defense.
The effects of the
Japanese invasion extended to the police force and
judiciary powers as well. By depriving Korea of its
police and judiciary powers, the Japanese gendarme
police took charge of national security. And after
taking away the people' freedoms of speech, press,
assembly and association to cast darkness over the whole
country, Japan even took away Korea's nominal
sovereignty and turned Korea into a Japanese colony in
1910.
The Japanese aggression was not limited to the
political field. In the process of aggression, they took
away Korea's rights to currency and stole large areas of
land in order to build an economic basis for
colonization. |
| |
| (2) Oppressive Domination
by the Gendarme Police |
After turning Korea into a
colony, Japan established the office of the
Government-General of Choson in Seoul as the central
ruling organization. Underneath it, various agencies of
aggression and plunder were set up like a string of
cobwebs.
The Governor-General was directly under the
Japanese Emperor and exercised tremendous powers in the
legislative, executive, and judiciary branches of
government, and also possessed the authority of command
over the army. Japan stationed two infantry divisions,
40,000 gendarme and police, in addition to 20,000
auxiliary gendarmes throughout the country to build the
foundations for her colonial control.
The domination
by the gendarme police set up by Japan was so cruel that
few similar examples exist in the world.
The
commander of the Japanese gendarme possessed both
central and local police power under one system of
command. He was oppressive beyond belief.
The
gendarme police not only engaged in simple activities to
ensure security but also searched out and punished
patriotic independence fighters and even moved into the
sphere of everyday life of the people. Furthermore, the
Korean people were oppressed with threats, and Japan
forced even civilian officials and school teachers to
wear uniforms and carry long swords.
Under the
control of the Japanese police, the Korean people lived
somber lives as if in prison, completely deprived of
their freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and
association.
Any Korean who was under suspicion by
Japanese authorities was immediately arrested and
tortured by every imaginable means. The leaders of the
Korean people were mercilessly arrested and thrown into
prisons.
But just as new buds sprout from under a
snowbank frozen over in midwinter, the national spirit
continued to steadfastly grow, even under the cruel
control of the Japanese gendarme. Finally, it burst
forth in the March First Movement. |
| |
| (3) Plunder of Land and
Food |
After seizing the rights of
the nation, the Japanese adopted a policy of plundering.
Before colonization, the Japanese had already stolen
large areas of land. In 1910, the Temporary Land
Surveying Bureau was established in the
Government-General's office and by mobilizing tremendous
funds and personnel, usurped more lands away from the
Koreans.
Under the pretext of reorganizing land
ownership through this new survey, the
Government-General ordered Koreans to reregister land
ownership through a complicated procedure. Land, whether
public or private, which failed to be declared or was
declared late, fell under the ownership of the
Government-General.
In this way about, 40% of all
farm land in Korea was improperly repossessed by the
Government-General. The Government-General sold these
lands either to development companies or private
Japanese citizens at low prices.
With the plundering
of the land, Japan took several million Soks (1 Sok =
80kg) of rice and soybeans a year. When they began to
send rice to Japan, Korea's food situation went from bad
to worse. Thus, the Korean people were forced to fill
their hungry bellies with grass roots and tree
bark. |
| |
| (4) Oppression of National
Industries and Exploitation of Labor |
While plundering the land
and food, the Government-General oppressed the
development of Korea's national industries.
First,
they passed a corporation law which interferred with
industrial activities carried out by Koreans. Then, they
passed a Forestry Law by which the Government-General
and private Japanese citizens occupied 50% or more of
all Korean forests.
The Japanese took control of the
fishing industry as well. Under the support of the
Government-General, Japanese fishermen took over the
Korean fishing industry, which had at one time been the
second largest catching nation in the world.
The
Government-General and the Japanese plutocrats (cartels)
also took possession of the underground resources of
Korea. Gold, silver, iron, coal, and tungsten and other
important mines were owned by the Japanese. The quantity
of minerals excavated from the mines owned by Koreans
did not exceed 1/300 of the total.
In addition, the
Government-General monopolized the operation of banks,
railroads, harbors, roads, and communication facilities.
In this way, Japan thoroughly oppressed Korea's national
industries and Japanese enterprises built with Japanese
capital became the main industries. |
| |
 |
In
1908, Japan established the Tong'yang Colonization
company and seized direct control of Korea's land
and underground
resources. | |
| |
When Japan oppressed the
development of Korean industries, the Korean people were
forced to consume Japanese-made goods in exchange for
food, and to supply labor at low wages.
In 1930,
Japan turned Korea into a weapons depot for a
continental invasion and enforced a policy for
industrialization. To this end, Japan demanded
exceptionally hard labor.
Koreans, irrespective of
age or sex, were forced to go to the munition factories
in Korea and abroad to work long hours at the risk of
their lives. |
| |
| (5) Enforcement of the
Policy to Obliterate the Korean Nation |
| The Japanese policy of
colonial domination was evident in education as well.
They destroyed Korea's national history and culture and
strove to inculcate the Japanese spirit and culture into
the Korean people. All text books were rewritten to fit
the Japanese aggression policies and the use of Han'gul
and the Korean language were prohibited. Furthermore,
they closed the Sodangs (villages schools) which
instituted patriotic education while allowing some
industrial and vocational education in order to create
mild and obedient colonial subjects out of the Korean
people. |
| |
 |
In
order to obiliterate religion among Koreans, Japan
built a shrine on Mt. Namsan in Seoul in 1920. All
Koreans were forced to visit the shrine to worship
the Japanese emperor and the Gods idolized by the
Japanese people.
| |
| |
Such Japanese policies were
further strengthened in the process of invading
Manchuria and the Chinese continent. Japan determined a
plan to squeeze out as much commodity and labor as
possible from Korea in order to carry out their war
plans.
In order to obtain these objectives, the
Japanese could not but train Koreans to become colonial
slaves loyal to the Japanese Emperor.
At first, Japan
tried to appease the Korean people with a vain and
unfounded theory that the Korean and Japanese people are
descendants of the same ancestors and thus, are like
brothers. Then, they forced Koreans to study Japanese
history, to use the Japanese language and to swear
allegiance to their Emperor. All insubordinators were
thrown in prisons or expelled from their jobs.
In
order to make Koreans just like the Japanese, the Korean
people were forced to change their family names into
Japanese names. In religion life, Japan forced the
Korean people to worship the Japanese gods as a part of
their duty.
This policy was aimed at erasing the
Korean nation from the earth forever and to nurture them
as colonial subjects and slaves obedient only to the
Japanese.
Ultimately, the Japanese drew countless
Korean youths and women to the battle fields, factories,
and mines to aid in their conquests and wars.
|
| |
| (6) Emigration of Nationals
Abroad and Japanese Suppression |
After the opening of the
ports, rapid changes occurred in domestic politics and
society, and as the Japanese economic aggression
intensified, many Korean people emigrated abroad. Many
left due to desolate economic conditions to search for a
new life elsewhere with their families and others left
hoping to amass huge fortunes in commerce. However, some
Koreans left to establish Korean villages beyond the
reach of the Japanese in order to set up national
schools, train independence fighters and wage wars to
restore Korea's independence.
The number of Koreans
living abroad in early 1910 had exceeded 200,000 and
under Japanese rule, this number further increased until
at the time of liberation, there were over 4,000,000
Koreans living abroad.
Koreans lived in large numbers
in Manchuria and the Maritime Province. In particular,
since Kando in eastern Manchuria was believed to be a
part of Korea from ancient times, Koreans crossed the
river to live there. In the days of the Empire of
Taehan, an administrator was dispatched to Kando to
protect the Koreans residing there.
But Japan, which
deprived Korea of its diplomatic rights, transferred
Kando to China in exchange for their right to occupy the
Anpong railroad which would enable them to march to
Manchuria. From then on, Kando was excluded from the
Korean territory forever. Despite this fact, Korean
residents in Kando organized large units of indepenednce
fighters to attack the aggressive Japanese army. The
Pong'o-dong and Ch'ongsal-li Battles are such
examples.
Nevertheless, Japan continued their
suppression of the Koreans living in Kando.
In
particular, the Japanese massacre of the Korean people
through suprise attacks toward the end of 1920 was
notably cruel. This incident was carried out in revenge
of their defeat in Ch'ongsal-li. At the time, the
Japanese attacked Korean villages around the Yalu and
Tumen Rivers under the pretext of searching for
independence fighters. They massacred more than 10,000
innocent Koreans and burnt a majority of their houses,
schools and churches. But the Koreans in Kando refused
to surrender and continued to carry out anti-Japanese
struggles to restore the independence of their country.
|
| |
 |
In 1923, a mazor earthquake hit the
Kanto province in Japan, and the entire society
was thrown into disorder. To appease the popular
sentiment the Japanese government spread false
rumors thar Koreans had poisoned the drinking
wells. A mass hyst eria ensued and resulted in the
but chering of some 7,000
Koreans. | |
| |
Koreans living in the
Maritime Province carried out similiar activities. They
supported the bases of the independence fighters as they
cultivated the paddy rice fields in the cold.
Even
though they were later forced to resettle in Central
Asia by the Soviet government, they have not forgotten
their national consciousness and traditional cultures.
Even today, they continue to live there in group
settlements.
Among the foreign lands, the place where
the greatest number of Koreans lived was
Japan.
During the Japanese colonial domination,
oppression and plundering increased in severity and some
Koreans sailed to Japan to build a new life.
As
victims of discriminatory treatment by the Japanese,
they worked hard in the factories and mines. During the
Kwantong earthquake of 1923, approximately 7,000 Koreans
living in Japan were mercilessly massacred by the
Japanese without reason.
There were also many Koreans
who were dragged away to Japan. Whenever labor shortages
occurred, Japan took Korean youths and women to work in
Japanese munition factories, mines, or textile
factories. In fear of death, they worked, but the
Japanese discrimination and persecution against Koreans
only increased in severity.
Although smaller in
numbers, Koreans also resided in the U.S., Mexico, and
other countries.
In these strange new lands, Koreans
lived enthusiastically all the while holding held on to
their national tradition. They also collected funds to
send to the independence fighters to support the
independence movement. |
| | |
