Introduction
This paper is mainly focusing on the Japanese colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945. Japan tried to colonize the Korean people for some reasons and they justified the policy at that time. There are still some Japanese people who justify the colonization and even claim that the policy was really necessary even for the Korean people. This paper is looking at how Japanese government colonized Korea in that period at first, and then focus on how Korean people were thinking about the policy. This issue of the colonization of Korea has been still very controversial between both Japan and Korea, and there are various opinions about that. This paper should be very neutral so that it can provide the truth without biased ways of remembering the period. The main goal of this paper is to encourage the readers to deeply think about the history and what they can do in the future so as not to repeat the same thing.
A brief explanation of Japanese colonization of Korea
The colonization of Korea started in 1910. Japanese government declared that they would start the annexation of Korea. They used the term, “annexation” to justify their policy. The period might be divided into three different periods.[1]
The first one which witnessed so much violence against the Korean people by Japanese military is said to have started from 1910 to 1919. The second one started from 1920 to 1931 in which Japanese authority allowed the Korean people have liberty of opinion in public to some extent in response to the March 1st movement in the previous year. The third one was from 1931 to 1945, and Japan restarted to strengthen the policy again and forced Korean people to obey Japanese own rules. Japanese government tried to make Korean people to behave as Japanese. For example, Japan forced them to adapt Japanese culture, Japanese names, and Japanese customs. That means Korean people were forced to abandon their own culture which they were used to.
The various opinions among Japanese people, which are about the colonization, might be categorized into two. Some people consider the colonization was cruel and it totally derived the Korean of liberty. On the other hand, others justify the colonization and they even claim that the policy of Japan did Korea good in some ways. However, they are the opinions of Japanese. There is a necessity to look at the side of Korean people in those days.
What the colonized Korean people have thought about the colonization
Next let’s look at how the Korean people felt and thought about the colonization of Japan. Some Japanese people strongly claim that the colonization dramatically improved the economic situation of Korea and modernized the social structure in a good way. Some of them even state that Japan don’t have to apologize for that at all, because they did a good thing.[2]
However, the reality which the Korean people experienced during the period is totally different.
Of course what kind of feeling they have had toward the issue might be very different from person to person. However, it’s very necessary and worthwhile looking at what they actually experienced from their own perspective. During the colonial period, a large number of Koreans were tortured by Japanese police or military. The number of the people who were maltreated like that is said to be more than 200.000 during the first decade of the period.[3]
They were totally suppressed and had no choice but do what they were forced to do by Japanese authority. They lost liberty of culture, liberty of language, and liberty of opinion. Korean people were in crisis of losing their own identity as Koreans.
The situation dramatically changed on March 1st, 1919. Some young Korean people proclaimed the independence of Korea at a park in Seoul that day.[4]
They went to police and had them arrested, but their action really encouraged Korean civilians to protest against Japanese colonization. The sequence of protests is called “the March 1st movement”. Soon after Korean people had heard of the movement, they stood up together and claimed their liberty and independence. The movement became stronger and larger among the people. Japanese military and police tried to make them under control and tortured those who had participated in the movement in an incredibly cruel way.
A Korean guy, who was a small child when the movement broke out, remembers about when Japanese police came to his village and killed many of the Korean villagers, especially those who agreed with the movement. The police stabbed the victims and even cut their legs down. He has such a recollection of bloody violence against the Korean people by Japanese authority. Another Korean also has a recollection of Japanese merciless treatment of Korean people. One day his father and grandfather were taken to some place by Japanese police and they were kept in custody for a few days. These examples show how Japan “annexed” Korean people from a perspective of Korean people who actually experienced the period.[5]
Conclusion
Those who try to justify the policy of the colonization must have no idea what the colonization was really like or they must just ignores the truth. Taking it into consideration that Japan made Korean people suffered so much physically and mentally, it’s impossible to justify the policy. Japan decided to colonize Korea neither because of Korean prosperity nor because Korean wanted Japan to annex them. It’s just because Japan pursued their own profits and expansion of the land and political power. This is the history people mustn’t repeat in the future. Japan didn’t annex Korea, but they colonized.