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Today, August 15, is the 75th anniversary of the Liberation Day, when Korea gained independence from Imperial Japan at the end of WWII after 36 years of occupation.
This post is my brief summary of what those years were like. https://askakorean.blogspot.com/2019/08/korea-japan-and-end-of-65-system-part-i.html
This post is my brief summary of what those years were like. https://askakorean.blogspot.com/2019/08/korea-japan-and-end-of-65-system-part-i.html
Despite being every bit as bad as their Nazi allies, Imperial Japan's colonization of Korea is not well known in the English speaking world. In this thread, I'll highlight some basic facts.
1. Imperial Japan's crimes during WWII tend to get the most highlight, but Korea's case is more complicated because the annexation happened in 1910. Korea's case is a combination of 20th C imperialism, ending with WWII. This makes Korea's case different from, say, Indonesia.
The closest European analogue of Korea's colonization might be a combination of Austria and Poland. Imperial Japan justified the colonization based on a similar idea as Nazi's lebensraum: if they didn't take Korea, other powers will, and use it as a springboard to attack Japan.
2. Imperial Japan is also unique because it was not a European power colonizing a different continent filled with a different race of people (hence the comparison to Nazi's annexation of Austria.) Imperial Japan's ideology was also racist, but in a slightly different way.
Imperial Japan thought the white Europeans were about to overrun Asia, and Japan as the leader of the Asiatic race had to protect the continent. By colonizing Korea, China and SE Asia, Imperial Japan (ludicrously) believed they were engaged in a humanitarian mission.
3. Korea's experience was also unique relative to other colonies, which were typically occupied for nearly a hundred years to a point that local language and customs would be displaced. Korea's 36 years was not quite as long, although it was long enough to leave a shadow.
4. Korea's colonization went thru 3 phases. From 1910 to 1919, there was violent suppression and conquest. From 1920 to 1931 was a period of quiet oppression as Imperial Japan attempted to absorb Korea culturally. Then from 1931 to 1945, total exploitation for WWII efforts.
5. The initial stage of conquest was some of the worst colonial violence in the 20th century, right up there with King Leopold's abuse of Belgian Congo, according to Prof. Alexis Dudden at UConn. Over 2700 guerrilla battles took place between 1907 and 1909 https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/south-korea-and-japan:-a-relationship-in-turmoil/11465502
6. Even in the second period where the oppression didn't quite rise to the level of mass murder, Korea suffered through continuous exploitation. For example, Imperial Japan took so much food from Korea that Koreans' avg height steadily decreased. http://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20161205/81664223/1
7. Colonization meant Koreans were suddenly and violently plugged into the international system. Much of the Korean diaspora around the world is the result of this period, with millions of Koreans fleeing the country to find refuge away from Imperial Japan.
8. Ironically, this process meant that Koreans were sometimes the foot soldiers of Imperial Japan's colonization in other parts of the world, especially in Manchuria. Like South Asians in Africa, some Koreans found opportunity in serving the empire and helping its conquest.
9. Resistance was constant. After being annihilated in 1919, Korea's independence fighters continued the fight overseas in China and the US. To this day, both Koreas - North and South - trace the legitimacy of their governments to the independence movement.
10. After a period of lull, Imperial Japan's oppression reached a new height starting in the 1930s as it began a full-scale war against China and eventually WWII. Imperial Japan's war crimes committed during this time are every bit as bad as the Nazis'. Just a few highlights:
- Rape of Nanjing, Dec 1937. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Massacre At least 200k people massacred in a span of two weeks, combined with mass rape.
- Comfort Women, ~200k women conscripted as sex slaves at rape stations established along the front lines. https://twitter.com/AskAKorean/status/1294639873303941121
- Comfort Women, ~200k women conscripted as sex slaves at rape stations established along the front lines. https://twitter.com/AskAKorean/status/1294639873303941121
- Unit 731, at least 10k prisoners killed through live human experimentation of chemical and biological weapons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
- Bataan Death March, at least 18k prisoners killed while being forced to march in summer without food or water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March
- Bataan Death March, at least 18k prisoners killed while being forced to march in summer without food or water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March
- Approx. 100k Koreans were conscripted to be wartime slave labor. They were usually sent to mines and airfields in the South Pacific, and were the first to die in an attack.
- In all, Imperial Japan killed over 30m in WWII, surpassing Nazi's killing of 25m.
- In all, Imperial Japan killed over 30m in WWII, surpassing Nazi's killing of 25m.
11. As to what happened between South Korea and Japan after the liberation, please read my six-part series on post-war Korea-Japan relations: http://askakorean.blogspot.com/1998/02/korea-japan-and-end-of-65-system-series.html /end
