Japan Korea conflict paper

1. Throughout the history of East Asia, there have been countless conflicts from which
lessons for the future can be learned. One of the most notable, in my opinion, is when Japan
sought to take over and integrate Korea into part of Japan. This whole event was a big mistake
that had significant implications for the future. Japan’s takeover of Korea decimated the Korean
people and culture and changed the landscape of Korea forever. It also showed us the strength of
people, the power of unity, and how modernization can affect a country. Thus this event brought
out both the best and worst traits in people and although it came about with much bloodshed, it
led to the economic advancement of a nation.
Japan took over Korea with the blessing of the United States in exchange for Japan
recognizing that the US had hegemony over the Philippines. During this time, Japan immediately
forced Korea into signing the Eulsa Neukyak, which made Japan the protectorate of Korea. This
was humiliating to the people of Korea. Japan then established a dark period where they
suppressed all of Korea's culture and politics. They made it illegal for groups to meet without
police permission and all nationalist protest was met with execution and arrests. This was the
event that began the process of modernizing Korea, which until then had been a mostly
agricultural society. This process was done in a fairly hostile way. Many Japanese soldiers
burned Korean churches and texts. All Korean people were made to adopt the Shinto lifestyle
and it was declared that all major texts be written in Japanese. Eliminating the native Korean
culture made it clear that the Japanese were seeking to take over by making the Korean people
become Japanese. The Japanese wanted to make the Korean people submit my any means. One
example is when in response to nationalist protests, Japanese soldiers decided to send a message
by locking up many Korean people in a church, setting it on fire, and incinerating all who were

2. locked inside as well as those in other neighboring villages. The Japanese were trying to get
people to conform through fear.
During world war II they sent many Korean women to the female's worker corps where
they became comfort women, which was a sex slave for the Japanese army. The Japanese army
even went as far as to push pregnant women to be sex slaves. The number of victims of this
practice is thought to be around 200,000 women, making this event one that has echoed
throughout history. This event has caused much tension between Korea and Japan because Japan
has been so resistant to admit these war atrocities in the past. When Japan finally admitted to this
wrong deed, they established a fund with donations collected by the Japanese people. Many have
debated the fact that the amount given was not enough and that the money should have come
directly from the Japanese government, rather than the Japanese people. The people of Korea
wanted Japan to understand and acknowledge that the events that unfolded with the comfort
women separated many Korean families and took many women away from Korea, thus changing
the makeup of Korean society.
After world war II, Korea was given back its own ability to self govern. At that point
being under the rule of the Japanese, they wanted their freedom back. The Korean people
developed two factions, the cultural faction that wanted to battle Japanese Imperialism
peacefully, using education, literature, and unity to win back their country. The west and other
western socialists heavily influenced this approach. The other faction was the radical nationalists,
that advocated taking back Korea by force and using military might. This second approach was
much harder and more dangerous because the radicals risked being labeled nationalist and
getting charged with collaboration, which was a crime that many were being put to death for by

3. the Japanese. This split within Korea is what lead to the division known now as North Korea and
South Korea. Korea is split into two territories to this day. Japan’s actions served to permanently
de-unify and split this country, despite the many efforts of Korea’s people to remain as one.
Later, the Japanese decided to take a different approach to the way they colonize Korea,
this time collaborating with Korea. The Japanese men put away their swords and started sharing
more technologies with Korea. During this time we see a period of economic growth with higher
annual Economic growth rates in both agriculture and manufacturing in Korea that is often
attributed to the age of Japanese modernization; however, many East Asian historians would also
say that Japan did not contribute to Korea's natural modernization path. It would seem the
economic boost had more to do with the foreign aid that Korea got from the united states. The
lesson that can be learned from this example is that it may be more beneficial for a country to
ally with another country rather than to take it over. Perhaps if Japan had shared technology with
Korea in the beginning and collaborated with them, rather than taking them over, they would
have had a better result and gained more profits. The two countries could have both benefitted as
allies and lives could have been saved.
One theme that we can see throughout this event concerning the Korean people is unity.
The Korean people did not sit quietly as all of this was taking place; they fought hard to maintain
their way of life. Many lost their lives to fight for the Korean nation. Even after mass burnings in
churches, the Korean people continued to protest. For example, although there was much mass
killing by the Japanese, the Korean people continued to fight. They established a provisional
government in China in order to support resistance operations. From there they were able to have
a safe place to send out information to the resistance.

4. Throughout the history of man, we have found that diplomacy and cooperation have been
more effective tactics than fighting. When examining this historical account see that aggression
is being met with peace, diplomacy, and unity of the Korean people. Every March 1st, the
Korean people would go out and march in the streets showing unity as the people of Korea, even
after these peaceful attempts lead to public executions and mass killings, they continued to be
strong and in unity with one another. This is a trend that is repeated over time even outside of
East Asia when Britain took over India as a means of exploiting the land for the spice trade they
took using the East India company which seized a large portion of land from India. In the case
of India, Gandhi led the Indian resistance to British colonial rule through peaceful protest and
fought for their rights.
This theme of a hostile take over by a foreign power is something that is all too familiar
in our society. One of the best-known examples in the western world is the story of Columbus
and how he tried to take over early America from the Native people using force, including the
raping, pillaging, and mass killing of the indigenous people, as a show of power in the hopes that
the people will submit. Throughout our history, we have found that diplomacy and cooperation
have been more effective tactics than fighting. This is clearly seen in the case of Japan's hostile
takeover of Korea. Korea did not merely lay down. They remained unified, and many people
were killed in order to maintain their culture and possession of their country. Korean society was
forever divided by Japan's actions. One can only imagine what would have happened if they had
used collaboration, information sharing, and an attempt to ally with Korea rather than to take it
over and assimilate the people. From this example, we learn that that the method of hostile
takeover clearly does not work. People are resilient and strong. The idea of hostile takeover also

5. teaches us that people have a great sense of culture and nationalism that they will fight or at all
costs.
Work Cited

6. The Creation of the Oriental Development Company: Japanese Illusions Meet Korean Reality
Author(s): Karl Moskowitz Source: Occasional Papers on Korea, No. 2 (March 1974), pp. 73-
121 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41490392
Accessed: 14-05-2019 00:02 UTC
Shultz, E. J. (1990). David I. steinberg, "the republic of korea: Economic transformation and
social change" (book review). Korean Studies, 14, 191. Retrieved from
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Jun, B., & Kim, T. (2017). Non-financial hurdles for human capital accumulation:
Landownership in korea under japanese rule. Cliometrica, 11(1), 63-92.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11698-015-0138-x
Uchida, J. (2013). The Public Sphere in Colonial Life: Residents’ Movements in Korea Under
Japanese Rule. Past & Present, 220(1), 217-248.
Uchida, J. (2013). The Public Sphere in Colonial Life: Residents’ Movements in Korea Under
Japanese Rule. Past & Present, 220(1), 217-248.