How Did Japan Colonize Korea

Beginning of the 1900s, Japan’s power began to grow rapidly and their influences spread further throughout Asia. However, the influence of Japanese was no greater in other countries than in Korea. From the victory of Russian-Japanese war in 1903 to Japanese’s successful manipulation of Korean Emperor Sunjong to sign Treaty of Annexation in 1910, Japan has for many times endeavored to sway Korea into one of Japan’s subject. When Japan successfully annexed Korea from 1910, diverse events and pressures from Korea to USA have swayed the Japanese’s colonial policies in Korea. From initial domestic intention to modernize Korea as a part of its empire to Japanese Empire implementing a full utilization of Korea for its own benefit, the colonial phases

Therefore, for the colonizers to convince themselves that Japan should colonize Korea, they viewed Koreans as an inferior people who needed to be guided for civilization. Aside from the hypocrisy of Japanese expansion for their own self-interest, the colonialists believed in the idea that Japan has a special mission of enlightening the decaying Asia and therefore should take a moral responsibility toward Korea. Japanese colonialist argued for implementation and benefits of modernization such as hospitals, railways, telegraph, and education, but under a careful scrutiny of authority. Therefore, from 1910 to 1919, Japanese began to implement draconian police system to pacify the Koreans. Freedom of press, public gatherings, and political parties were abolished under the strict rule of Japan. For education, Koreans were restrained to Japanese control on schooling for the purpose of making the children loyal and useful to the Japanese emperor. Although Japanese initially intended to fully inculcate Korean generation to assimilate for the benefit of Japanese empire, the increase literacy and variety of students traveling internationally led to exposure to radical political ideas, which was a part of impetus for later demonstration for independence. Therefore, the primary initiation for the transition of isolationist Japan to beginning of colonialism was a justification that Japan had a

Before the third phase, from the domestic pressures, Japanese authorities have already been skeptical of liberal policies. For example, when the rise of Communism from the radical intellectuals threatened the stability of Japanese power, Japanese authorities legislated 1925 Peace Preservation Law, which began to put greater domestic forces to the police. Just a year later, the funeral of last Choson monarch led to another widespread demonstration by Koreans known as June 10 incident. This resulted in further crackdown and greater control of Korean press and the society. However, the drastic change to the most repressive phase occurred when the Great Depression of 1930 severely affected Japan. As a result of country’s struggle, the previous Western liberal policies and politics that advocated for sovereignty and world trade began to diminish while the conservative and imperialist ideology and self-sufficiency within its empire began to backlash and dominate Japan. Furthermore, Japan began to be intimidated of the growing power and integration from Chinese nationalist forces and therefore, began a policy of utilizing and assimilating the subjugated colonies to strengthen the Japanese Empire. As a result, Japanese attempted to concretely