A Presentation on the key points regarding the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula and the lead up to it.

1. Japanese Occupation of the
Korean Peninsula: Key Points
Graeme H. Watkins

2. Japanese Colonialism
‘…Japan held Korea tightly, watched it closely,
and pursued an organized, architectonic
colonialism in which the planner and
administrator was the model, not the
swashbuckling conqueror; the strong, highly
centralized colonial state mimicked the role
that the Japanese state had come to play in
Japan…’
-Korea's Place in the Sun by Bruce Cumings
(Via Han 2012)
Fig 1. Map detailing Japanese colonisation

3. Timeline; Law, War & Protest
Treaty of Ganghwa
• 1876
• Japanese navy – (unfair
)gunboat diplomacy
Sino-Japanese war I
ends
• April 17th 1896
• Korea recognised as
independent by China
Japan-Korea
Protectorate treaty
• Nov 17th 1905
• Korea made a
of Japan and given control
of trade

4. The Hague Secret
Emissary
• 1907
• Emperor Gojong sends
emissaries to Hague second
peace conference, denied
as Japan took control of foreign
policy in 1905
Abdication of Emporer
Gojong
• July 18th 1907
• Due to Hague conference
intervention forced to abdicate
to son- Sun Jong
• Sun Jong rules for three years
prior to Japan’s official
annexation (1910)
Japan-Korea treaty of
1907
• July 24th 1907
• Gave power of Korea’s internal
affairs
• Only eight days after Sun Jong
was given the title of emperor

5. Korea-Japan Annexation
treaty
• 1910 Aug 22nd
• New treaty renders Korea a
colony of the Japanese Empire
• August 29th treaty is put into
action
March 1st Movement
(1919)
• Group of Korean students
publish a statement asking for
freedom from colonial rule
• Peaceful protest conducted by
reading out the Korean
Declaration of Independence
Great Kanto Earthquake
• September 1st 1923
• During time of chaos many
Koreans accused of robbery,
and assassination
• Casuing Japanese officicals to
massacre an estimated 6-10
thousand Koreans in the Tokyo-
Yokohama area

6. June 10th Movement
• June 10th 1926
• Many people protest
after the death of
Emperor Sunjong
• Korean flag and flyers
printed
• Many captured by
Japanese military
• All but 7 released
• Jail time ranging from 1-
3 years
Soshi-Kaimei
• January 1st 1939
• Governor-general of Korea
created the act of Soshi-
Kaimei
• This put pressure on Koreans
to change their first and last
names to Japanese names
Victory over Japan
day
• August 15th 1945
• After the subsequent
bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, and
Japanese official
surrender Korea was
finally liberated
• A declaration of
independence was
announced
• Day referred to as

7. Japanese occupation
Quick facts
• Countless Korean cultural
treasures stolen
• Items related to the previous
dynasties destroyed or stolen
• Korean rice industry used to
subsidise Japan’s food needs
• Rice imported from Manchuria
(North of NK)
• Korean beef exported
• Nationalistic newspapers and
literature suppressed
• Korean language supressed
• Koreans treated very poorly
amongst Japanese colonials

8. Seikanron Debate (1873)
 Yoshida Shoin advocates for capture of Korea as
means of uniting the Japanese people, giving
them a foothold in the Asian continent and
protecting them from foreign threats
 Saigo Takomori agreed, and wished to direct
internal chaos created from the Meji restoration
and hastey modernisation outward at Joeson
Korea
 Debate saw Japan leave Korea alone for the
time being
Painting dated 1877 (3 years after debate)

9. What was life like for Korean’s in a Japanese
occupied Korea?
Post Annexation (1910-45)
 Koreans seen as ‘Japanese subjects’ but also a conquered
people
 Peaceful protests as part of March First saw Japan become
more lenient toward Korean people
 Korean print news was not allowed till 1921 and then later
supressed in the lead up to the second Sino-Japanese war and
the success of militaristic politics in Japan
US Library of Congress (1990)

10. Assassination of Ito Harabumi & what it
meant for the Korean people
 Japan’s first Prime Minister
 October 6th 1909, Railway station in Harbin, Korean Nationalist
Ahn Jeung-geun assassinates Harabumi
 Ahn hanged a year later after Japan took colonial rule of Korea
 Ahn hailed as a hero in modern day South Korea and China.
With the opening of a memorial to Anh in South Korea (Japan
Times)
 In Japan the death of Harabumi was treated as a criminal case
and worsened relations between Japan and colonial Korea

11. Yu Gwansun – A Korean Joan of Arc
 “In Cheonan, Yu Gwan Sun (17) planned demonstrations for
independence, and on March 31, 1919, Yu is remembered for
lighting 24 torch beacons on Mt. Maebongsan, which inspired
about 4,000 Cheonan citizens gathered at Aunae Marketplace to
protest Japanese occupation shouting, “Long live Korean
Independence!”
 Often compared to the French Military leader Joan of Arc has a
pivotal place in the Korean memory of Japanese occupation and is
used by nationalists as a tool for reinforcing disparity among Korea
and Japan

12. Massacre of workers during and post WWII
 It was common place for Koreans killed after being used as foreign labourers; especially during waring
periods where the construction of certain landmarks might have been sensitive information for the Japanese
Empire.
 Example case
 Matsushiro, Outside Nagano, Tunnels built into Mt. Zou, large part of the work force was made up by
Korean conscripts. Koreans being seen as a lower than Japanese were given more arduos tasks and had
lower caloric intakes. Many starved. Official number of dead counted at around 300 but Korean numbers
estimate around 1000, and believe mistreatment or torture may have been involved.

13. Japanese Imprisonment of Koreans
 Seodaemun Prison
 Used to imprison anticolonial; later
moved to a different facility
 Accommodated around 500 people
 Tunnels were often used in Japanese
colonial prisons to remove the corpses
of malnourished, mistreated and
tortured individuals

14. Unit 731; The Japanese Holocaust
Focus on Korean POWs
 Manchruia-based Kwantung Army’s department of Epidemic Prevention
and Water Supply Department
 Unit used to develop biological weapons from 1930s onwards
 Was set-up with approval from Imperial and Army authorities by Ishii
Shiro
 Facilities set-up in Harbin (Manchuria) just above NK
 Human experimentation carried out by units 731 and 1644
 Used to infect Soviet water supplies with typhoid and drop smallpox
virus on Chinese villages to weaken resistance
 Also airdropped supplies rife with fleas infected by the plague (killed
106)
 Attempted to pack bombs with diseases and pathogens

15. Via Nie et al (2013)

16. Korean involvement in the 2nd Sino-Japanese
War/ World War II
 Comfort Women
 Young Korean Volunteers (1938) in 2nd Sino-
Japanese War
 Later Korean Conscripts (1943) in World War II
 Dictation at Korean schools to be taught in
Japanese
 Shinto shrines built throughout Korea
 Supreme belief in the Emperor and his
connection to Shinto Origins to be taught in
schools and paid lip-service in general

17. Reparations, Policy, Education and Japanese
public opinion
 Reparations for Atomic bomb survivors, comfort women and other forced
labourers were reluctant and often not perceived as unnecessary by the
Japanese government
 Korean and Japanese textbooks share mixed views on Korean occupation or
make no mention of it
Japanese textbooks still claim the Ogasawara islands (Dokdo Islands) are property of
the Japanese Empire despite having lost most of its territories at the end of WWII

18. Reference List
 Columbia University. (2009). KEY POINTS IN DEVELOPMENTS IN EAST ASIA 20th CENTURY: Korea as a Colony of
Japan, 1910-1945. Available: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_koreaimperialism.htm. Last accessed
9th Oct 2015.
 Kyodo, AJ. (2014). Korean who assassinated Japan’s first leader honored in China. Available:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/20/national/korean-who-assassinated-japans-first-leader-honored-in-
china/. Last accessed 19th Oct 2015.
 Nie JB, Guo N, Selden M, & Kleinman A (2013).Japan's Wartime Medical Atrocities: Comparative Inquiries in
Science, History, and Ethics Asia's Transformations. London: Routledge. p23-31.
 Ponzio, R . (2009). The Peaceful Protests of Yu Gwan Sun: Korean Heroine. Available:
http://hardcorepainting.blogspot.jp/2009/06/peacful-protests-of-yu-gwan-sun-korean.html. Last accessed 12th
Oct 2015.
 Sa, ES 2009, 'Development of Press Freedom in South Korea since Japanese Colonial Rule', Asian Culture and
History, vol. 1, no. 2 (2009), pp. [*PAGES REQUIRED*].
 U.S. Library of Congress. (1990). Korea Under Japanese Rule.Available: http://countrystudies.us/south-
korea/7.htm. Last accessed 8th Oct 2015
 Wang, A & Zheng, S . (2014). Korea Colonisation Timeline. Available: https://prezi.com/ihto1g7kqrv0/korea-
colonisation-timeline/. Last accessed 18th Oct 2015..
 Yamasa Institute . (2013). WWII Imperial Headquarters - Matsushiro.Available:
http://yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/nagano/tunnels.html. Last accessed 19 Oct 2015 .