1910 – 1945
- 일제시대 -
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Since 1897, The
Korean Peninsula
was ruled by
emperor Gojong and
his empress Queen
Min. The peninsula
was called the
Greater Korean
Empire.
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Modernization took place
in the empire. The
emperor started wearing
Prussian-style royal attire
and western suits. Then
later onwards, all Korean
soldiers and policemen
wore western uniform.
Modern infrastructures
were built as well and
introduced public
electrical lightning
network and an electric
streetcar system was
introduced.
In 1902, the first longdistance public phone was
installed.
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After Japan won the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, Russia
acknowledged through the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan’s interest
in Korea.
The Taft-Katsura agreement between U.S. and Japan recognized
Japan’s interest in Korea in return of recognizing U.S.’s interest in
the Philippines.
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Then two months later, Korea was forced to become a Japanese
protectorate by signing the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905
So in the summer of 1907, the Second peace Conference was held
in The Hague, Netherlands and the emperor sent a few
representatives to tell the problem of the country to the world.
However, they were denied to access the public stage.
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On 19 July 1907, the emperor was
forced to give up his throne to the
Crown Prince. This emperor known
has King Sunjong became the last
king of Korea.
On 22 August 1910, Japan annexed
Korea with the Japan-Korea
Annexation Treaty.
The treaty became effective the same
day and was published one week
later. The treaty demanded:
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.
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After emperor Gojong’s death, a few anti-Japanese movements
were triggered such as the March 1st Movement in 1919. This was
to declare the independence of Korea from Japanese rule and
somewhat 2 million people participated in it. However, the
Japanese responded violently and killed about 7509.
This rise caused to create the Provisional Government of the
Republic of Korea on April 1919.
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After the Pearl Harbor attack, on December 1941,
the Provisional Government declared war on
Japan and Nazi Germany.
After U.S bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on 15
August 1945, which ended the 36 years of
Japanese occupation.
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American forces arrive and occupy the
southern part of Korea on September
8, 1945 and the Soviet Union occupies
the Northern part of Korea. They later
decide to split the peninsula at the 38th
parallel line to help redevelop the
country post colonization by
establishing provisional government.
However, the Soviet Union refused to
cooperate with the United Nations
plans to use free democratic elections
although the elections were
scheduled. Therefore, the Northern
Korea permanently remained a
communist state while the Southern
Korea remained a capitalist.
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The economy of the country developed and
modernized under the Japanese rule because
they wanted to extract raw materials like
timber so built transportations and
infrastructures.
Most Koreans at the time could only get a
primary school education as restricted by the
Japanese, which stopped from developing the
noble class. And most firms and factories , like
94% were owned by the Japanese.
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During the colonization, the landowners were
mostly Japanese and the Koreans were
workers. Also, the Japanese taxed the Koreans
harshly that the country suffered from famine.
Due to World War II, many Japanese males
were sent to war and were short of labor. So by
1942, the Japanese decided to extend the labor
provisions to Korea as well and about 670,000
Koreans were taken to Japan. However, due to
inhumane and harsh conditions, about 60,000
were found to be killed.
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During the annexation period, Korean culture and
the use of Korean language, Hangul was strictly
forbidden and suppressed by the Japanese.
The Japanese took control of several newspapers in
Korean to counteract the anti-Japanese
newspapers. They altered public monuments such
as well-known temples and statues. The imperial
palace of the Korean monarchy called
Gyeongbokgung was destroyed and the Japanese
General Government Building was built instead.
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During the colonial rule, many Koreans became victims of physical brutalities by
the Japanese and this includes forced labor and summary executions.
Many Koreans were inhumanely sacrificed in Japan’s experiments on the human
body in Unit 731. The Japanese wanted to test out different weapons and study the
effects. They even performed vivisection of the human body without anesthesia
and amputated legs and arms to study blood loss.
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"Korea (historical Nation, Asia) :: Korea under Japanese Rule -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 30 May 2011.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/693609/Korea/35021/Korea-under-Japanese-rule>.
"Korea under Japanese Rule." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 May 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule>.
"Unit 731." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731>.