Korea under Japanese rule

Korea was under Japanese rule as part of the imperialist expansion of Japan during 35 years from August 22, 1910 to August 15, 1945, or formally September 2, 1945 that occurred the Surrender of Japan (Victory over Japan Day), until the Japanese defeat in World War II in 1945. Korea was occupied and declared a Japanese protectorate in the 1905 Eulsa Treaty, and officially annexed in 1910 through an annexation treaty. Japan's involvement in the region had begun with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa during the Joseon Dynasty and increased with the subsequent assassination of Empress Myeongseong (also known as "Queen Min") in 1895. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.

In Korea, the period is usually described as a time of Japanese "forced occupation" (Hangul: 일제 강점기; Ilje gangjeomgi, Hanja: 日帝强占期); other terms used for it include "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangul: 일제시대, Ilje sidae, Hanja: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" (Hangul: 왜정, Wae jeong, Hanja: 倭政). In Japan, a more common description is "Japanese rule" (日本統治時代の朝鮮, Nippon Tōchi-jidai no Chōsen).

Background

In the late 19th and early 20th century, various Western countries were competing for influence, trade, and territory in East Asia while Japan sought to join the modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea, then in the sphere of influence of China's Qing Dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese satellite in order to further their security and national interests.

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat diplomacy to pressure Korea to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa, which was regarded as an unequal treaty, that granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry.

Imo Incident

In 1882, followers of Heungseon Daewongun, the de facto ruler of Korea who had been forced into retirement by the supporters of Empress Myeongseong, staged a coup against the Empress and her alleged Japanese allies. Daewongun's forces, or "old military", killed Japanese officers in charge of training the new Korean Army and attacked the Japanese legation. Japanese diplomats, policemen, and students and some of Min clans were also killed during the incident. Daewongun was restored to power, only to be forcibly taken to China by Chinese troops that were dispatched to Seoul to prevent further disorder. In August 1882, stipulated that the Korean government would send a mission to Japan and agree to the stationing of Japanese troops to guard the legation in Seoul.

Gapsin Coup

The struggle between followers of Daewongun and Empress Myeongseong was further complicated by an independent faction and a conservative faction, the former seeking Japan's support and the latter China's. On December 4, 1884, a Korean independence group, assisted by the Japanese, attempted a coup and established a pro-Japanese government under the reigning king, dedicated to the independence of Korea from Chinese suzerainty. However, this proved short-lived, as conservative Korean officials requested the help of Chinese forces that had been stationed in Korea. The coup was collapsed by Chinese troops, and the Korean mob killed both Japanese officers and Japanese residents in retaliation. Some leaders of the independence faction, including Kim Okgyun, fled to Japan, while others were executed.

Donghak Revolution and protests for democracy

The outbreak of the Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward Korea. Korea had negotiated with Russia to counterbalance Japan's growing influence. So Chae-pil and Protestant missionaries introduced Western political thought to Korea. Protesters took to the streets, demanding democratic reforms and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. The Meiji leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan sent its own troops to Korea. Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War, and China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea," thus ending Korea's protectorate relationship with the Chinese Qing dynasty and led to the proclamation of Korean Empire in 1897.

Eulmi Incident

On October 8, 1895, Empress Myeongseong (referred to as "Queen Min") was assassinated by Japanese agents. The Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Goro orchestrated the plot against her. In 2001, Russian reports on the assassin were found in the archives of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. The documents including testimony of King Gojong and several witnesses of the assassination and Karl Ivanovich Weber're report (Вебер К И ) to Lobanov-Rostovsky (Лобанов-Ростовский А.), the Foreign Minster of Russia. Weber was the chargé d'affaires at the Russian legation in Seoul at that time. According to a Russian eyewitness, Seredin-Sabatin (Середин-Cабатин) who was a employee of Korean King, a group of Japanese agents along with Hullyeondae army entered the royal palace, killed Empress Myeongseong and then desecrated her body in the north wing of the palace. She was forty-three years old at the time of her assassination.

Reacting to the murder of the Queen/Empress, father of King Daewongun returned to the royal palace on the day. On February 11, 1896, King Gojong and his crown prince moved from the Gyeongbokgung palace to the Russian legation in Seoul, from which they governed for about one year, an event known as Korea royal refuge at the Russian legation.

On the road to annexation

The strategic rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, won by Japan. Under the peace treaty signed in September 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.

A separate agreement was signed in secret between the United States and Japan at this time, and this subsequently aroused anti-American sentiment among Koreans decades later. The Taft-Katsura Agreement exchanged what amounted to a lack of interest and military capability in Korea on the part of the United States (Japan was given a free hand in Korea) for a lack of interest or capability in the Philippines on the part of Japan (Japanese imperialism was diverted from the Philippines). Given the diplomatic conventions of the times, however, the agreement was a much weaker endorsement of the Japanese presence in Korea than either the Russo-Japanese peace treaty or a separate Anglo-Japanese accord.

Two months later, Korea was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate. Thereafter, a large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but by then Japanese dominance in Korea was a reality.

In June 1907, the Second Peace Conference was held in The Hague. Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives, commissioned to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates who alleged the legality of the protectorate convention. Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Jun, committed suicide at The Hague.

In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On July 19, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as the regent. The Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong or Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, which had been founded in 1392.

Annexation of Korea

Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty

In May 1910, the Minister of the Army of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after previous treaties (Japan-Korea Protocol of 1904 and Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On August 22, 1910, Korea was effectively annexed by Japan with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed by Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.

The text was published one week later and became effective the same day. The treaty stipulated:

• "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."

Both the protectorate and the annexation treaties were declared void in the 1965 Basic Treaty between Korea and Japan since both were: 1) obtained under threat of force, and 2) the Korean Emperor, whose royal assent was required to validate and finalize any legislation or diplomatic agreement under Korean law of the period, refused to sign the document..

Liberation movement

Upon Emperor Gojong's death, anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide, most notably the March 1st Movement of 1919. A declaration of independence was read in Seoul. It is estimated that 2 million people took part in these rallies. The Japanese violently suppressed the protests: according to Korean records, 46,948 were arrested, 7,509 killed and 15,961 wounded; according to Japanese figures, 8437 were arrested, 553 killed and 1409 wounded. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, about 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers during the 12 months of demonstrations.

After the suppression of the uprising, some of the aspects of Japanese rule considered most objectionable to Koreans were removed. The military police were replaced by a civilian force, and limited press freedom was permitted. Two of the three major Korean daily newspapers, the Dong-a Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo, were established in 1920.

However, objection to Japanese rule over Korea continued, and the March 1st Movement was a catalyst for the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea by Korean émigrés in Shanghai on April 13, 1919. This Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is considered by the modern South Korea government to be the de jure representation of the Korean people throughout the period of Japanese rule.

In military terms, although the Japanese occupation of Korea after annexation was largely uncontested by the numerically smaller, poor armed and poorly trained Korean army, many former soldiers and other volunteers left the Korean peninsula for Manchuria and Primorsky Krai in Russia. Koreans in Manchuria formed resistance groups known as Dongnipgun (Liberation Army) which would travel in and out of the Korean-Chinese boundary, fighting with guerrilla warfare tactics against Japanese forces. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932 and subsequent Pacification of Manchukuo deprived many of these groups of their bases of operation and supplies. Many were forced to either flee to China itself, or to join with the Communist-backed forces in eastern Russia.

Within Korea itself, anti-Japanese rallies continued on occasion, most notably the nationwide student uprising of November 1929, which led to the strengthening of Japanese military rule in 1931, after which freedom of the press and expression were curbed. Many witnesses, including Catholic priests, reported that Japanese authorities dealt with insurgency severely. When villagers were suspected of hiding rebels, entire village populations are said to have been herded into public buildings (especially churches) and massacred when the buildings were set on fire. In the village of Cheam-Ni near Suwon, a group of 29 people were gathered inside a church which was then set afire to burn them alive. Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government.

World War II

On December 9, 1941, shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, under the presidency of Kim Gu, declared war on Japan and Nazi Germany. The Provisional Government banded together various Korean resistance guerilla groups as the Korean Liberation Army, which participated in combat on behalf of the Allies in various campaigns in China and parts of South East Asia. More tens of thousands of Koreans volunteered for the National Revolutionary Army and the Peoples Liberation Army. Outside of the control of the Provisional Government was the communist-backed Korean Volunteer Army (KVA), which was established in Yenan, China from a core of 1000 deserters from the Imperial Japanese Army. After Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, the KVA entered Manchuria, where it recruited from the ethnic Korean population and eventually became the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

On the other hand, Togo Shigenori (Park Shigenori) was the most prominent ethnic Korean serving Imperial Japan, as a Minister of Foreign Affairs and as a Minister of Greater East Asia during World War II. And Korean general Hong Sa-ik (Kou Shiyoku) served as an Imperial Japanese Army General.

Following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese occupation. American forces under General John R. Hodge arrived at the southern part of Korea on 8 September. Colonel Dean Rusk proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency meeting to determine postwar spheres of influence during this time.

However, as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea lacked widespread international diplomatic recognition, its representatives were not allowed to participate in the San Francisco Peace Conference, nor was the Provisional Government a signatory to the Treaty of San Francisco.

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