William Kasper

Overview of the Korean independence movement

The Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula took place between 1910 to 1945. Many ethnic Koreans saw their way of life being taken from them in many different ways. Between 1920 and 1925, three movements came about to address specific concerns brought to light in the issue of the national reconstruction of the Korean Peninsula. National reconstruction meant rebuilding the way of life for many Koreans, independent of Japanese influence that negatively affected Korean society. Responding to the colonial education system’s inequities led many Koreans to desire the formation of a national university organization, a centralized movement to raise funds for the Korean university. The movement addressed problems with the curriculum as it was viewed as discriminatory. A related movement focused on the Korean language in 1921. There was an effort to systematize and propagate the use of the common Korean language spoken among the Korean people. The largest movement mounted by moderates was the Korean production movement, which sought to stimulate the consumption of Korean-produced goods to demonstrate national unity and stimulate the development of native industry in competition with Japanese capitalism. Overall, the Korean independence movement caused a change in Japanese policy.

Understanding Korean nationalists

Korean nationalism can be described as an ideological movement and as a major source of anti-Japanese movements and had been running high ever since 1910.^[1]  They are the most famous movements as they strengthened the forces of Korean national identity. The Korean nationalist movement was based on the single issue of gaining an independent Korea.^[2] Korean nationalists were divided into two groups. One of the groups included radical nationalists who advocated social revolution against Japanese Imperialism. The other group included modern nationalists who advocated gradual solutions to independence. Under the Japanese occupation, many Korean nationalists could hardly be called political nationalists due to the colonial rules and regulations. To compensate, these Koreans became cultural nationalists with the goal of regenerating the national community by creating, preserving, and strengthening their people’s cultural identity as it was being threatened.^[3] The whole Korean independence movement was primarily made of three different movements. These three movements put into operation the ideology of reconstructing Korean national identity. There was the implicit goal of building on the gains made from the March First Movement (see below). The events of the early 1920s were a part of the cultural and intellectual activity that was taking place on the Korean Peninsula. Leaders of the three movements were also involved in a wide range of cultural pursuits. Creators of modern Korean culture viewed national reconstruction ambitions to unite Koreans in their fight against the Japanese colonizers as similar to their goals which included having a common language among the Korean people, improving education for Korean students, and having successful Korean industries compete with Japanese industries on the Korean peninsula.^[4] Many Korean officials turned to cultural projects that would ensure the development of an independent Korea as they were politically restricted by the Japanese occupation. The Japanese colonial government in Korea deregulated some Korean businesses and began to include more Koreans in government jobs.^[5] Access to quality education also expanded rapidly. However, the Japanese strengthened police control and expanded networks of spies and informers, more prisons, and more arrests for ideological enemies.

Japanese assimilation policies

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Japanese forced Koreans to adopt Japanese cultural aspects and give up their authentic Korean culture. Historical similarities that the Korean and Japanese shared strengthened Japan’s success with assimilation. Kita  Sodakichi, who was employed by the education industry for the colonial empire, reported that the Japanese and Korean peoples evolved from the roots of the Tenson people, who were descendants of Japan’s sun-goddess.It was claimed that the Japanese and Korean peoples evolved from similar roots, further justifying assimilation. A November 1919 editorial in Taiyō stated, “Korean blood runs through the veins of many Japanese noble families even these of the Imperial family”.^[6] Korean assimilation into Japanese culture was justified by the Japanese empire by claiming that the Koreans were not distinguishable enough from the Japanese. However, not all Japanese people supported the assimilation policies. Many Japanese people argued that prior to the annexation of the Korean peninsula in 1910, Korean society had its own customs and mannerisms. The Japanese father of Oriental history, Shiratori Kurakichi, argued that the Japanese lacked the ability to assimilate an entire ethnic group in that before the Japanese occupied the Korean peninsula, Korea was its own nation with its own culture and characteristics. Takekoshi Yosaburō, a journalist, wrote that the Korean people should only fill in the desired labor needed by the Japanese and that Koreans should not learn the Japanese language as Koreans would learn about other historic independence movements, such as the Irish independence and the French revolution movement, inspiring them to revolt against the Japanese authorities and believed that Koreans should learn to be farmers instead.^[7]

The March First movement

As early as the 1880s, the Korean government had sent selected scholars to Japan to see what Western customs the Japanese had adopted for their national needs, causing many Koreans to become enthusiastic advocates for some type of reform that would make Korea a more advanced society.^[8]. But the Japanese annexation of Korea prevented Koreans from mastering the new learning as the Japanese Empire became an obstacle for Koreans to be able to apply this new learning. Still, many Korean students continued to study in Japan after 1910, observing a rise of Japanese students, professors, journalists, and politicians forming a movement for Japan’s reconstruction from the current Japanese policies that did not reflect democracy and civil rights.^[9]These Japanese activists looked to reconstruct the government and economic policies to reflect democracy and civil rights for the Japanese people. Yoshiro Sakuzō, a professor at Tokyo University, began to publish works on democracy and civil rights and openly sympathized with Korean aspirations of achieving civil liberty and independence from the Japanese colonial empire.^[10] These Japanese movements inspired Korean students in Japan to focus on gaining independence and statehood for Korea. In the end, Koreans based in Japan, Eastern learning, and Christianity would be the basis of Korea’s new independent culture and its movements.^[11] The March First movement was a significant kickoff to the Korean Independence movement as this movement brought Korean citizens of different ages and occupations out into the streets. The Japanese were stunned by the enormity of the movement, and they responded by crushing the movement with brute force.^[12]. Kim Sunok stated, “Men walked in front waving Korean flags. Behind them came a crowd, pushing, shoving, shouting ‘mansei’.” ^[13] Pak Ching’gi was six years old when the movement occurred and  described what the movement was like as she states, “So we all climbed on the persimmon trees and shouted over the wall at the top of our lungs, ‘Mansei, mansei’.”^[14] The word “mansei” meant ten thousand years, meaning Koreans wanted their country to be an independent and thriving state for ten thousand years.

Post-March First movement

The March First Movement led some political leaders in Japan to call for a reform of the harsh regime in Korea, which also came along with a more liberal atmosphere in Japan. The victory of the more democratic Allied powers in World War 1, such as the United States and Britain, led to a call for a liberal democratic government for Japan. From the end of the March First movement till 1930, Japan adopted the “Taishō democracy”, which was a liberal and democratic trend in Japanese politics, economics, and culture. However, Japanese liberalism throughout the 1920s was very modest on the Korean Peninsula. The government issued a revised Organic Regulations of the Japanese colonial government of Korea in August of 1919, making a change in policy under the slogan “Harmony between Japan and Korea” (Nissen Yuwa).^[15] The new Governor-General of Korea from August 1919 made major changes to the policies of the Japanese Empire on the Korean Peninsula. Korean nationalists set off a bomb in Seoul Station the day of his arrival, expressing their discontent. The Governor-General then appointed his director-general of political affairs (Mizuno Rentarō)  to carry out his reform and assume the duties of the Director-General of politics. This included replacing the military police force with a regular police force. Japanese teachers and civil officials also stopped wearing military uniforms and carrying swords. Although many of these changes were symbolic, in other ways Koreans had more freedoms than previously under Japanese rule.^[16]

The rule of the Japanese Empire on the Korean Peninsula

The modern history of Korea was influenced by Japanese rule for 35 years as the Japanese Empire had control of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The Japanese Empire imposed the basis of education, economics, and governmental institutions.^[17] To emphasize their authority, Japanese officials would wear swords that hung from their belts while it was illegal for Koreans to own any type of weapon. Japanese colonial rule was top-down, centralized, direct, and intrusive. The  Government-General of the Japanese Empire on the Korean peninsula (Chōsen Sōtokufu in Japanese) was controlled by the governor-general (Sōtoku). The Government- General was the chief administrator of the Japanese colonial government and possessed enormous, and broad authority, such as the right to issue laws, ordinances, and regulations (Seth 285). The governor-general also had the power to appoint officials to the colonial regime. The colonial regime maintained Korea’s administrative division of thirteen provinces, which were subdivided into over 200 counties. These counties were then subdivided into specific villages, districts, and hamlets. The governor-general appointed all the provincial governors and appointed all the county superintendents, becoming a new authoritarian figure.^[18]. Even though Korea during the Joseon period (1392–1910) was a centralized state with a government that appointed officials down to counties, the Japanese colonial regime penetrated even further to the township and village level.^[19] The government-general commanded the military forces on the Korean Peninsula, controlling a police system that was highly centralized. The governor-general also appointed local officials who possessed legislative power and executive power. The first decade of colonial rule was very harsh as many Koreans have referred to it as the “dark period” (amhukiki) as there was harsh political repression that prevented the political and cultural practices of ethnic Koreans. The media was under tight control, police permits were required for any public gathering, and all Korean political organizations were banned. The most publicized incident took place in December 1910, when the Japanese discovered a plot to assassinate the new governor-general Terauchi Masatake.^[20] This plot was led by two young Koreans who had disdain towards the Japanese Empire. Many Koreans that were suspected of being a part of the plot were detained, arraigned, and convicted by the Japanese police. Tens of thousands of Koreans were arrested from 1910 to 1919 when the Korean independence movements were occurring. Many Koreans who remained to live in Korea during the colonial period were those who chose not to leave for China and Russia due to the economic growth that was occurring in those places.^[21]

Industrialization in Colonial Korea

Korea industrialized rapidly under Japanese colonial Rule. The Japanese Empire tried to use their colonies as markets for manufactured goods and as a stable source of raw materials for industrial production.^[22]. Under Japanese rule, Korea experienced a great amount of expansion in manufacturing and is often referred to as “the Korean Industrial Revolution.” Industrialization in Korea during the colonial period can be described as a result of the transplantation of large-scale mechanized firms between 1930 and 1945, started by the Japanese government.. When the Japanese annexed the Korean peninsula in 1910, the economy of Korea was mostly agricultural and manufacturing was pre-modern.^[23]. But as the years went on, manufacturing expanded rapidly throughout the Korean peninsula. Until 1930, the government-general of colonial Korea mainly focused on increasing agricultural production. The Japanese firms built their factories in colonial Korea to avoid the rigid regulation regarding production and prices in Japan. The traditional view is that Korean-owned factories were static and pre-modern throughout the colonial Period, whereas the Japanese-owned factories were more advanced and mechanized.  However, most analysts have criticized the traditional view as the number and size of Korean-owned factories also increased rapidly throughout the colonial period, making the nature of Korean industrialization in the colonial economy a duality between the Japanese and Korean industries.^[24] The traditional view involves the shift to industrialization from agricultural practices which involved the way in which Koreans switched over to working in industrial firms, the increase in Japanese capital from 1930 to 1945, and changes in government policies. It seems that many of the Korean producers were premodern at the beginning of the colonial period when Japanese firms introduced modern industrial production on the Korean peninsula, which caused this traditional view to come about.^[25]. From the mid-1910s to the late 1920s, Korean-owned factories’ productivity grew much faster than Japanese factories.^[26]. Human capital was high for Korean factories as more Koreans wanted their firms to outcompete the Japanese, giving them national pride. It seems that the industrial revolution involving Korean industries is very important in understanding the way in which Koreans fought for independence from the Japanese colonial rule as the success of these industries in outcompeting Japanese firms was vital to show that Koreans were capable of independence.

Conclusion

The colonial period changed the way in which Koreans viewed outsiders as they saw the Japanese as another outside attacker on Korean culture and society. The March First Movement helped Koreans fight for independence through mass demonstrations that involved all Koreans that were of different ages, jobs, and social statuses. After the March First Movement of 1919, Koreans were moderately free to speak of social, cultural, and political issues to a certain extent.^[27] Overall, it seems that the March First Movement had demonstrated the ambition of Koreans to run their own independent nation and to create their own national identity.

Bibliography

Caprio, Mark. Japanese Assimilation Policies in Colonial Korea, 1910-1945. Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10389912.

Kang, Hildi. Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910–1945. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/muhlenberg/detail.action?docID=3138542.

Kim, Choong Soon. A Korean Nationalist Entrepreneur: A Life History of Kim Songsu, 1891–1955. SUNY Series in Korean Studies. Albany: Suny Press, 1998. https://muhlenberg.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=5481&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Seth, Michael J. A Concise History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present. Blue Ridge Summit: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/muhlenberg/detail.action?docID=5915301.

Robinson, Michael Edson. Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920-1925. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/30826.

Wells, Kenneth M. “Background to the March First Movement: Koreans in Japan, 1905—1919.” Korean Studies 13 (1989): 5–21.