Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Korea Under Japanese Rule
Korea Under Japanese Rule
19101945
Flag
Coat of arms
Anthem Kimigayo
Religion Government
Governor-General of Korea - 19101916 - 19191927,19291931 - 1927, 19311936 - 19361942 Terauchi Masatake Saito Makoto Kazushige Ugaki Jir Minami
2
Kuniaki Koiso Nobuyuki Abe Japanese Empire 22 August 1910 29 August 1910 1 March 1919 11 September 1920 9 January 1932
- 19421944 - 19441945 Historical era -Annexation was signed -Annexation by Japan -March 1st Movement -Battle of Qingshanli -Sakuradamon Incident
-Shanghai bombing attack 29 April 1932 -End of World War II -Victory over Japan Day Currency 15 August 1945 2 September 1945 Korean yen
Japanese name
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion (29 August 1910 to 15 August 1945). Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II. Korea was occupied and declared a Japanese protectorate in the 1905 Eulsa Treaty, and officially annexed in 1910 through the annexation treaty. Japan's involvement in the region began with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa during the Joseon Korea. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965. In Korea, the period is usually described as "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangeul: , Ilje sidae, Hanja: ) or more precisely the "period of the Japanese imperial colonial administration" (Hangeul: , Ilje sikmin tongchi sidae, Hanja: ). Other terms include "Japanese forced occupation" (Hangeul: ; Ilje gangjeomgi, Hanja: ) or "Wae (Japanese) administration" (Hangeul: , Wae jeong, Hanja: ). In Japan, there is a term, "Chsen (Joseon) of the Japanese-Governed Period" ( Nippon Tchi-jidai no Chsen).
History
Background
In the late 19th and early 20th century, various Western countries actively competed for influence, trade, goods, and territory in East Asia; Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea, then in the sphere of influence of China's Qing Dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese satellite in order to further the country's security and national interests.[1] In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat diplomacy to pressure Korea to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa, an unequal treaty,[2] which opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade and granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry in 1854.[2] Debate on punitive expedition against Korea The debate referred to as Seikanron (Debate on punitive expedition against Korea) was a major political conflagration which occurred in Japan in 1873. Saig Takamori and his supporters insisted that Japan should confront Korea due to Korea's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of Emperor Meiji as head of state of the Empire of Japan, and because of insulting treatment meted out to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations. Those in favor also saw the issue as an ideal opportunity to find meaningful employment for the thousands of out-of-work samurai, who had lost most of their income and social standing in the new Meiji socioeconomic order. These samurai posed a threat to the government, and (as a samurai himself) Saig sympathized with their situation. According to orthodoxy, "Saigo himself volunteered to go to Korea as a special envoy, inviting an assassination attempt that would provide justifications, if any were needed, for a punitive expedition."[3] The arguments against an expedition to Korea were outlined in Okubo Toshimichi's "7 Point Document", dated October 1873, in which he argued that action against Korea was premature because Japan was in the stages of modernizing and an expedition would be far too costly for Japan to sustain. Okubo's views were supported by the anti-war faction, which mostly consisted of those returning from the Iwakura Mission in 1873. Iwakura Tomomi, the diplomat who had led the mission, persuaded the emperor to reverse the decision to send Saigo as an envoy to Korea, thus putting an end to the debate. Treaty of Ganghwa, 1876 The Treaty of Ganghwa, also known in Japan as Japanese-Korea Treaty of Amity (Japanese language: Nitch-shkjki, Korean language: ),Ganghwado joyak signed on 27 February 1876, was designed to open up Korea to Japanese trade. It ended Korea's status as a protectorate of China and opened three ports to Japanese trade. Imo Incident, 1882 In 1882, followers of Heungseon Daewongun, the de facto ruler of Korea who had been impeached by the supporters of Empress Myeongseong and forced into retirement, staged a coup against the Empress and her allies.[4] Daewongun's forces, or "old military," killed Japanese officers in charge of training the new Korean Army and attacked the Japanese legation.[4] Japanese diplomats,[5] policemen,[6] students[7] and some Min clan members were also killed during the incident. Daewongun was restored to power, only to be forcibly taken to China by Chinese troops dispatched to Seoul to prevent further disorder.[4] In August 1882, the Korean government sent a mission to Japan and agreed to the stationing of Japanese troops to guard the legation in Seoul.[4]
Korea under Japanese rule Gapsin Coup, 1884 The struggle between Heungseon Daewongun's followers and those of Empress Myeongseong was further complicated by competition from a Korean independent faction and a conservative one. While the former sought Japan's support, the latter sought China's.[4] On 4 December 1884, a Korean independence group, assisted by the Japanese, attempted a coup and established a pro-Japanese government under the reigning king, dedicated to the independence of Korea from Chinese suzerainty.[4] However, this proved short-lived, as conservative Korean officials requested the help of Chinese forces stationed in Korea.[4] The coup was put down by Chinese troops, and a Korean mob killed both Japanese officers and Japanese residents in retaliation.[4] Some leaders of the independence faction, including Kim Okgyun, fled to Japan, while others were executed.[4] Donghak Revolution, and First Sino-Japanese War, 1894 The outbreak of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward Korea. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt, and Japanese leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan responded by sending its own troops. Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War, and China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea," thus ending Korea's tributary relationship with the Chinese Qing Dynasty, leading to the proclamation of fully independence of Joseon Korea in 1895. At the same time, Japan suppressed the Donghak Revolution with Korean government forces, which had solidified Japanese military predominance than any other country in Korea. Assassination of Empress Myeongseong, 1895 The Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Goro, orchestrated a plot against 43-year-old[8] Empress Myeongseong ("Queen Min"[9]), and on 8 October 1895, she was assassinated by Japanese agents.[10] In 2001, Russian reports on the assassination were found in the archives of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. The documents included the testimony of King Gojong, several witnesses of the assassination, and Karl Ivanovich Weber's report to Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Foreign Minister of Russia. Weber was the charg d'affaires at the Russian legation in Seoul at that time.[10] According to a Russian eyewitness, Seredin-Sabatin (-C), an employee of the Korean king, a group of Japanese agents entered the Gyeongbok palace,[11] killed Empress Myeongseong and desecrated her body in the north wing of the palace.[12] When he heard the news, Heungseon Daewongun returned to the royal palace the same day.[10] On 11 February 1896, King Gojong and the crown prince moved from Gyeongbokgung palace to the Russian legation in Jeongdong, Seoul, from where they governed for about one year, an event known as the Korea royal refuge at the Russian legation. Protests for democracy, 1896-1898 After royal refuge, some Korean activists established the Independence Club (, ) in 1896. They claimed that Korea should negotiate with Western powers, particularly Russia, to counterbalance the growing influence of Japan and Russia. This club had contributed to the construction of Independence Gate, and they held regular meetings at the Jongno streets, demanding democratic reforms as Korea became a constitutional monarchy, and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. However, it was dissolved on 25 December 1898 as Emperor Gojong officially announced a prohibition on unofficial congresses.
Korea under Japanese rule Proclamation of Korean Empire, 1897 In October 1897, King Gojong had decided to return to his other palace, Deoksugung, and proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire. During this period, the Korean government had conducted a westernization policy. It was not a radical reform, however, and Korea steadily become subordinated to the larger powers of Japan and Russia. On the road to annexation The rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded into the Russo-Japanese War of 19041905, which Japan won.[13] Under the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.[13] A separate agreement was signed in secret between the United States and Japan at this time, which subsequently aroused anti-American sentiment among Koreans decades later.[13] The Taft-Katsura Flag of the Japanese Resident General of Korea. Agreement between the U.S. and Japan recognized U.S. interests in the (1905-1910) Philippines and Japanese interests in Korea. Given the diplomatic conventions of the times, however, the agreement was a much weaker endorsement of the Japanese presence in Korea than either the Russo-Japanese peace treaty or a separate Anglo-Japanese accord.[13] Two months later, Korea was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate by the Eulsa Treaty.[13] A large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but by then Japanese dominance in Korea was a reality.[13] In June 1907, the Second Peace Conference was held in The Hague. Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates who questioned the legality of the protectorate convention. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Jun, committed suicide at The Hague.[14] In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On 19 July, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as regent. Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong or Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, founded in 1392.[15] Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, 1910 In May 1910, the Minister of War of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan-Korea Protocol of 1904 and the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectively annexed Korea with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed by Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea. The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. The treaty stipulated:
General power of attorney to Lee Wan-Yong sealed, but not signed, by the last emperor, Sunjong on 22 August 1910 (4, 4).
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.
Korea under Japanese rule Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan. Both the protectorate and the annexation treaties were declared void in the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea because both treaties were obtained under threat of force, and that the Korean Emperor, whose royal assent was required to validate and finalize any legislation or diplomatic agreement under Korean law of the period, refused to sign the document.[16][17]
Korea under Japanese rule name and adopt Japanese surnames. Although officially voluntary, many argue official compulsion and harassment existed against individuals, especially Korean government employees, who refused to create a new Japanese-style name.[26] There is disagreement as to whether this was the result of individual practices by low-level officials, the policy of some regional government organizations, or the overall intention of the colonial government. Others argue that Koreans felt compelled to adopt Japanese family names in order to avoid discrimination by Japanese. A country study conducted by the Library of Congress states that "the Korean culture was quashed, and Koreans were required to speak Japanese and take Japanese names."[27][28][29] This name change policy, called Changssi-gaemyeong (; ), was part of Japan's assimilation efforts.[30][31] The policy was extremely unpopular, with only some 9.6 percent of Koreans changing their last names to a Japanese one during the colonial occupation.[32] A number of prominent ethnic Koreans working for the Japanese government, including General Hong Sa-ik, insisted on keeping their Korean names. Another ethnic Korean, Park Chun-Geum (, ), was elected as a member of the Lower House from the Tokyo Third District in the general election in 1932 and served two terms without changing his Korean name, but has been registered as chinilpa by the current Republic of Korea government. After the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule, the "Name Restoration Order" was issued on 23 October 1946 by the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea south of the 38th parallel, enabling Koreans to restore their names if they wished. Many Zainichi Koreans chose to retain their Japanese names, either to avoid discrimination, or later, to meet the requirements for naturalization as Japanese citizens.[33]
Korea under Japanese rule modern South Korean government considers this Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea the de jure representation of the Korean people throughout the period of Japanese rule. The Japanese occupation of Korea after annexation was largely uncontested militarily by the smaller, poorly-armed, and poorly-trained Korean army. Many former soldiers and other volunteers left the Korean peninsula for Manchuria and Primorsky Krai in Russia. Koreans in Manchuria formed resistance groups known as Dongnipgun (Liberation Army), which traveled across the Korean-Chinese border, using guerrilla warfare tactics against Japanese forces. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932 and subsequent Pacification of Manchukuo deprived many of these groups of their bases of operation and supplies. Many were forced to either flee to China, or to join the Communist-backed forces in eastern Russia. One of the guerrilla groups was led by the future leader of communist North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, in Japanese controlled Manchuria. Kim Il-Sung's time as a guerrilla leader was formative upon his political ideology once he came to power.[36] Within Korea itself, anti-Japanese rallies continued on occasion. Most notably, the Gwangju Students Anti-Japanese Movement on 3 November 1929 led to the strengthening of Japanese military rule in 1931, after which freedom of the press and freedom of expression were curbed. Many witnesses, including Catholic priests, reported that Japanese authorities dealt with insurgency severely. When villagers were suspected of hiding rebels, entire village populations are said to have been herded into public buildings (especially churches) and massacred when the buildings were set on fire.[37] In the village of Jeam-ni, Hwaseong, for example, a group of 29 people were gathered inside a church which was then set afire.[38] Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government. On 9 December 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, under the presidency of Kim Gu, declared war on Japan and Nazi Germany. The Korean Provisional Government banded together various Korean resistance guerilla groups such as the Korean Liberation Army, which was involved in combat on behalf of the Allies in various campaigns in China and parts of South East Asia. Tens of thousands of Koreans volunteered for the National Revolutionary Army and the People's Liberation Army. The communist-backed Korean Volunteer Army (KVA, , ) was established in Yenan, China, outside of the Provisional Government's control, from a core of 1,000 deserters from the Imperial Japanese Army. After the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, the KVA entered Manchuria, where it recruited from the ethnic Korean population and eventually became the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
According to scholar Donald S. Macdonald, "for centuries most Koreans lived as subsistence farmers of rice and other grains and satisfied most of their basic needs through their own labor or through barter. The manufactures of traditional Korea--principally cloth, cooking and eating utensils, furniture, jewelry, and paper--were produced by artisans in a few population centers."[41] During the early period of Japanese rule, the Japanese government attempted to completely integrate the Korean economy with Japan, and thus introduced many modern economic and social institutions and invested heavily in infrastructure, including schools, railroads and utilities. Most of these physical facilities remained in Korea after the Liberation. The Japanese government played an even more active role in developing Korea than it had played in developing the Japanese economy in the late nineteenth century. Many programs drafted in Korea in the 1920s and 1930s originated in policies drafted in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912). The Japanese government helped to mobilize resources for development and provided entrepreneurial leadership for these new enterprises. Colonial economic growth was initiated through powerful government efforts to expand the economic infrastructure, to increase investment in human capital through health and education and to raise productivity.[41] However, under Japanese rule, many Korean resources were only utilized for Japan.[43] Economist Suh Sang-Chul points out that the nature of industrialization during the period was as an "imposed enclave," so the impact of colonialism was trivial. Another scholar, Song Byung-Nak, states that the economic condition of average Koreans was aggravated during the period despite the economic growth. Most Koreans at the time could access only a primary school education under restriction by the Japanese, and this prevented the growth of an indigenous entrepreneurial class. A 1939 statistic shows that among the total capital recorded by factories, about 94 percent was Japanese-owned. While Koreans owned about 61 percent of small-scale firms that had 5 to 49 employees, about 92 percent of large-scale enterprises with more than 200 employees were Japanese-owned.[39][44][45] Virtually all industries were owned either by Japan-based corporations or by Japanese corporations in Korea. As of 1942, indigenous capital constituted only 1.5 percent of the total capital invested in Korean industries. Korean entrepreneurs were charged interest rates 25 percent higher than their Japanese counterparts, so it was difficult for large Korean enterprises to emerge. More and more farmland was
Korea under Japanese rule taken over by the Japanese, and an increasing proportion of Korean farmers either became sharecroppers or migrated to Japan or Manchuria as laborers. As greater quantities of Korean rice were exported to Japan, per capita consumption of rice among the Koreans declined; between 1932 and 1936, per capita consumption of rice declined to half the level consumed between 1912 and 1916. Although the government imported coarse grains from Manchuria to augment the Korean food supply, per capita consumption of food grains in 1944 was 35 percent below that of 1912 to 1916.[42] The Japanese government created a system of colonial mercantilism, requiring construction of significant transportation infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula for the purpose of extracting and exploiting resources such as raw materials (timber), foodstuff (mostly rice and fish), and mineral resources (coal and iron ore). The Japanese developed port facilities and an extensive railway system which included a main trunk railway from the southern port city of Pusan through the capital of Seoul and north to the Chinese border. This infrastructure was intended not only to facilitate a colonial mercantilist economy, but was also viewed as a strategic necessity for the Japanese military to control Korea and to move large numbers of troops and materials to the Chinese border at short notice. From the late 1920s and into the 1930s, particularly during the tenure of Japanese Governor-General Kazushige Ugaki, concentrated efforts were made to build up the industrial base in Korea. This was especially true in the areas of heavy industry, such as chemical plants and steel mills, and munitions production. The Japanese military felt it would be beneficial to have production closer to the source of raw materials and closer to potential front lines for a future war with China.[46] By the early 1930s, Japanese investment was curtailed by the Great Depression, competition for investment opportunities from the potentially more lucrative Manchukuo and by Japan's own limited economic capacity. As Imperial Japan began feeling the strains of World War II, Japan carried out a colonial exploitation policy in Korea.[47]
10
Korea under Japanese rule Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations such as the Oriental Development Company. Many former Korean landowners as well as agricultural workers became tenant farmers, having lost their entitlements almost overnight. It is estimated that by 1910 perhaps 7 to 8 percent of all arable land was under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily; during the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership increased from 36.8 to 39.8 to 52.7 percent. Conversely, the ratio of Korean ownership decreased from 63.2 to 60.2 to 47.3 percent. The level of tenancy was similar to that of farmers in Japan itself; however, in Korea, the landowners were mostly Japanese, while the tenants were all Koreans. As was often the case in Japan itself, tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent, forcing many to send wives and
11
daughters into factories or prostitution so they could pay taxes.[48] Lee Yong Hoon, a controversial professor at Seoul National University and a leading critic of the "New Right" Foundation (), which is often called the "New Chinilpa,"[49][50] states that less than 10% of arable land actually came under Japanese control and rice was normally traded, not robbed. He also insists that Koreans' knowledge about the era under Japanese rule is mostly made up by later educators.[51][52][53] Many of Lee's arguments, however, have been contested.[54] Korea suffered from famine due to its economy's over taxation and lagged behind Japan in the rise of agricultural cooperatives and advances in cash crop production and mechanized agriculture. By the 1930s, the growth of the urban economy and the exodus of farmers to the cities had gradually weakened the hold of the landlords. With the growth of the wartime economy, the government recognized landlordism as an impediment to increased agricultural productivity, and took steps to increase control over the rural sector through the formation of the Central Agricultural Association, a compulsory organization under the wartime command economy.
Cultural repressions
Censorship on Korean newspapers
Initially, the Japanese sponsored several Korean language newspapers to counter the strong anti-Japanese message of the chief Korean publication Hwangseong Sinmun (The Imperial news, 18981910). These papers included The Chosun Ilbo (1904).[55] The Korean language newspaper Maeil Sinbo (; ) continued its publication due to disposal by Japanese Government-General.[55][56]
12
13
Other means
Other means of cultural suppression included altering public monuments, including several well-known temples, palaces, scripts, memorials, and statues. Songs and poems, such as "Poem of celebrating for Kamikaze" written by Seo Jeong-ju, were re-written to adore the Japanese Empire. Carved monuments underwent alterations to the Chinese characters to delete or change part of their meaning. Japanese colonial authorities took many photographs of scenes of abject poverty in Korea, but did not take a single photograph of the main palace at Gyeongbokgung.[70] The primary building of Gyeongbokgung was demolished and the Japanese General Government Building was built in its exact location. The Japanese colonial authorities destroyed 85 percent of all the buildings in Gyeongbokgung.[71] Sungnyemun, a virtual symbol of Korea, was altered by the addition of large, Shinto-style golden horns near the roofs (later removed by the South Korean government after independence).
14
Starting in 1938, Koreans both enlisted and were conscripted into the Japanese military and the first "Korean Voluntary" Unit was formed. Among notable Korean personnel in the Imperial Army was Crown Prince Euimin, who attained the rank of lieutenant general. Some later gained administrative posts in the government of South Korea; well-known examples include Park Chung Hee, who became president of South Korea, Chung Il-Kwon (, ), prime minister from 1964 to 1970, and Paik Sun-Yup, South Korea's youngest general, famous for his defense of the Pusan Perimeter during the Korean War. The first ten of the Chiefs of Army Staff of South Korea graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and none from the Korean Liberation Army.[73][74] Recruitment began as early as 1938, when the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria began accepting pro-Japanese Korean volunteers into the army of Manchukuo, and formed the Gando Special Force. Koreans in this unit specialized in counter-insurgency operations against communist guerillas in the region of Jiandao. The size of the unit grew considerably at an annual rate of 700 men, and included such notable Koreans as General Paik Sun-Yup, who served in the Korean War. Historian Philip Jowett noted that during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Gando Special Force "earned a reputation for brutality and was reported to have laid waste to large areas which came under its rule."[75] During World War II, American soldiers frequently encountered Korean soldiers within the ranks of the Japanese army. Most notably was in the Battle of Tarawa, which was considered during that time to be one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. military history. A fifth of the Japanese garrison during this battle consisted of Korean laborers who were trained in combat roles. Like their Japanese counterparts, they put up a ferocious defense and fought to the death.[76][77] The Japanese, however, did not always believe they could rely on Korean laborers to fight alongside them. In Prisoners of the Japanese, author Gaven Daws wrote, "[O]n Tinian there were five thousand Korean laborers and so as not to have hostiles at their back when the Americans invaded, the Japanese killed them."[78] Starting in 1944, Japan started conscription of Koreans into the armed forces. All Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Japanese Army, as of April 1944, or work in the military industrial sector, as of September 1944. Before 1944, 18,000 Koreans passed the examination for induction into the army. Koreans provided workers to mines and construction sites around Japan. The number of conscripted Koreans reached its peak in 1944 in preparation for war.[79] From 1944, about 200,000 Korean males were inducted into the army. After the war, 148 Koreans were convicted of Class B and C war crimes, 23 of whom were sentenced to death (compared to 920 Japanese who were sentenced to death), including Korean prison guards who were particularly notorious for their brutality during the war. The figure is relatively high considering that ethnic Koreans made up a very small percentage of the Japanese military. Justice Bert Rling, 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
Korea under Japanese rule Japanese."[80] In his memoirs, Colonel Eugene C. Jacobs wrote that during the Bataan Death March, "the Korean guards were the most abusive. The Japs didn't trust them in battle, so used them as service troops; the Koreans were anxious to get blood on their bayonets; and then they thought they were veterans."[81][82] Korean guards were sent to the remote jungles of Burma, where Lt. Col. William A. (Bill) Henderson wrote from his own experience that some of the guards overlooking the construction of the Burma Railway "were moronic and at times almost bestial in their treatment of prisoners. This applied particularly to Korean private soldiers, conscripted only for guard and sentry duties in many parts of the Japanese empire. Regrettably, they were appointed as guards for the prisoners throughout the camps of Burma and Siam."[83] The highest-ranking Korean to be prosecuted after the war was Lieutenant General Hong Sa-Ik, who was in command of all the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps in the Philippines. In 2002, South Korea started an investigation of Japanese collaborators. Part of the investigation was completed in 2006 and a list of names of individuals who profited from exploitation of fellow Koreans were posted.[84] The collaborators not only benefited from exploiting their countrymen, but the children of these collaborators benefited further by acquiring higher education with the exploitation money they had amassed.[85] The "Truth Commission on Forced Mobilization under the Japanese Imperialism Republic of Korea" investigated the received reports for damage from 86 people among the 148 Koreans who were accused of being the level B and C war criminals while serving as prison guards for the Japanese military during World War II. The commission, which was organized by the South Korean government, announced that they acknowledge 83 people among them as victims. The commission said that although the people reluctantly served as guards to avoid the draft, they took responsibility for mistreatment by the Japanese against prisoners of war. Lee Se-il, leader of the investigation, said that examination of the military prosecution reports for 15 Korean prison guards, obtained from The National Archives of the United Kingdom, confirmed that they were convicted without explicit evidence.[86]
15
16
17
18
19
20
External links
Isabella Lucy Bird (1898), Korea and Her Neighbours: A Narrative of Travel, with an Account of the Recent Vicissitudes and Present Position of the Country (http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00142821& id=6vTaMHgHpTQC) Horace Newton Allen (1908), Things Korean: A Collection of Sketches and Anecdotes, Missionary and Diplomatic (http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01139077&id=ItkMAAAAIAAJ) Hildi Kang (2001), Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-7270-9 Toshiyuki Mizoguchi, "Consumer Prices and Real Wages in Taiwan and Korea under Japanese Rule" Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 13(1): 40-56 (http://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/rs/bitstream/10086/8017/ 1/HJeco0130100400.pdf) Toshiyuki Mizoguchi, "Economic Growth of Korea under the Japanese Occupation - Background of Industrialization of Korea 1911-1940" Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 20(1): 1-19 (http://hermes-ir.lib. hit-u.ac.jp/rs/bitstream/10086/7960/1/HJeco0200100010.pdf) Toshiyuki Mizoguchi, "Foreign Trade in Taiwan and Korea under Japanese Rule" Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, 14(2): 37-53 (http://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/rs/bitstream/10086/8007/1/HJeco0140200370. pdf) Kim, Young-Koo, The Validity of Some Coerced Treaties in the Early 20th Century: A Reconsideration of the Japanese Annexation of Korea in Legal Perspective (http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent. cgi?article=1002&context=young_kim) This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/krtoc.html).
21
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/