The Japanese Colonial Legacy in Korea 1910-1945

There are various views on Japanese colonial administration in Korea in 1910-1945. Most Koreans believe, "Because of Japan, Korean modernization was delayed", "Under the Japanese, many Koreans were tortured and forced into labor", or "Koreans were brainwashed and we had to change our names to Japanese names"… Many Koreans label the Japanese colonial period as the cruelest, most atrocious, and the darkest period in Korean history. But is this so? 

George Akita (Emeritus Professor at the University of Hawaii) and Brandon Palmer (Adjunct Professor at Coastal Carolina University) have researched into the issue and published Japan in Korea: Japan’s Fair and Moderate Colonial Policy (1910-1945) and Its Legacy onSouth Korea’s Developmental Miracle (Tokyo: Soshi-sha, 2013). I introduce some points from the book below.

(The English version, The Japanese Colonial Legacy in Korea, 1910-1945, will be available on amazon.com on October 30 this year.)

*******************

Colonial policy of Japan (p.61-66, Akita & Palmer, 2013)

First of all, the basic colonial policy strongly held by the leaders of the Japanese government since the Meiji era (1868-1912) was first presented by Yamagata Aritomo, which was inherited by following leaders. Although Yamagata’s policy was originally concerned with Ryukyu, which became Okinawa in 1897, this progressive and moderate policy was later applied to Taiwan and Korea.

The principle was, first, reflecting on the reality of the fierce territorial fight among the great powers in the 19^th century, to defend Japan from foreign invasion. This corresponds to the belief of the Western leaders that, for the purpose of security and safety, their own nation and areas under their administration must be defended at all cost.

The second principle was sound economy: Yamagata believed that vibrant, productive economy was closely related to making the newly acquired territory function as Japan’s stronghold (policy of increasing wealth and military power). He further pointed out that economic power of a nation / territory depends on whether it can rely on production of goods utilizing the geographic features characteristic of the nation / territory. And he emphasized that sales of such goods should benefit both Japan and the newly acquired territory, which shows that the Japanese colonial policy was based on the principle of reciprocity. 

The policy of reciprocity was expected to additionally provide the native people with strong motivation of defending their own land and Japan, but when the native people have no tradition of military or have little sense of patriotism, this expectation would fail. The solution was to provide Japanese education; and here, Yamagata still emphasized the importance of moderation in education, as in conscription of soldiers. Yamagata’s stance was gradualism, which became the basic stance of the Meiji government regarding reform and colonial administration. The Japanese government decided not to take a radical approach for reforming its colonies. 

Education in Korea (p.174-182, Akita & Palmer, 2013)

Looking at modern education, the policy of the government of the native Yi Dynasty did not move forward. In the traditional Korean society, “Yangban” (両班), males of the patrimonially privileged class, went to Seodang (書堂), small private school, but its education was based on Confucianism and was not fit for the modern era. According to Professor Michael J. Seth at James Madison University, Virginia, in 1904, “school education was limited in the capital Seoul, which only had 7-8 primary schools”, and out of the population of 12 million in Korea, only 500 students attended modern public schools. 

However, the number of students attending public primary schools in Korea was 20,200 in 1910 when Japanese administration officially started, and increased 45-times to 911,209 in 1937. At the same time, the total number of students at all schools, excluding those at private Confucius schools, totaled 110,800 in 1910, and increased 11-times to 1,214,000 in 1937. Moreover, one fourth of the total students were female. 

These numbers show astonishing progress; yet, even with such progress, only one third of the children who reached the school age could attend school. In the middle of the Greater East Asia War / WWII, the Japanese administration had planned to introduce compulsory education system in Korea in 1946. In 1939, the number of students at colleges and teacher’s schools was 6,313, and in addition, 206 students attended Keijo Imperial University, the only university established in 1925 in Seoul (predecessor of Seoul University). Furthermore, several thousand Korean students attended schools in Japan. 

Education in Western colonies (p.174-182, Akita & Palmer, 2013)

When comparing with other colonies of the West, it can be easily seen that the educational achievement in Korea under Japanese administration belonged to the best category. Even though only one third of the children who reached the school age could attend school in Japanese-administered Korea, in Cambodia under French administration, in 1944, “less than one fifth of the male children who reached the school age could go to school”, and the percentage of female pupils was much lower than that in Korea. In Cambodia, there was no university, and by 1953, Cambodians with university diploma totaled only 144. Considering the fact that France had colonized Cambodia since 1863, we can only say that French took education for Cambodians lightly. 

In Vietnam under French administration, only one in ten children of school age could benefit from modern education. Children of colonizers and native people went to different schools, and schools for Vietnamese were of poorer quality than those for French. In Korea under Japanese administration, initially, the schools for Japanese and Koreans were separate due to significant difference in academic ability; yet, as Koreans increased their ability, the number of co-eds increased. At the time of 1945, the literacy rate of Koreans was slightly less than 50%. Though it was lower than the literacy rate of the Philippines under the US administration, which was over 50%, the literacy rate for Indonesia at the end of the colonial period was only 8%, and 10% in French Indochina.

Furthermore, looking at colonized Africa as one continent, the literacy rate was 15-20%. Portugal colonized Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique for over 500 years, yet there was no native doctor in Mozambique, and the average life expectancy in eastern Angola fell short of 30 years. In Congo under Belgian administration, the value of native human resources was neglected, and Belgians only focused on exploitation of local wealth. Belgians had the policy of not creating native elite groups, and neglected mid-level and university education, and as a result, at the time of Congo’s independence in 1960, the native degree holders was less than 20 out of the population of 13 million.

Japanese Investment for Korea (p.182-186, Akita & Palmer, 2013)

The Chosen Government-General, or the Japanese administration in Korea, was in constant lack of funding, and debts kept increasing; however, for development of Korea, it made huge investments on railways, industrial and agricultural development as well as on educational system, health system, police, judicial system, etc. The financial source of the Government-General was mainly borrowing, and in 1941, the debts reached over 1 billion yen. 

For 10 years between 1929 and 1938, the number of businesses in the modern industry increased from 484 to 1,203, with over 230,000 laborers. Including the industry, agricultural industry, manufacturing, and construction, 2.1 million Koreans were employed in 1938 in one or the other modern industry sector. Needless to say, the quality of life for Koreans had dramatically improved compared to that in the pre-colonization period. 

In India under British administration, for 5 years between 1874 and 1879, estimated 4 million Indians were starved to death; whereas in Korea under Japanese administration between 1905 and 1945, not one famine had occurred. 

Research by Hildi Kang – What Koreans experienced under Japanese (p.91-98, Akita & Palmer, 2013)

Hildi Kang, a white American woman married to a Korean-American, interviewed a total of 51 elderly Koreans who had lived through Japanese colonial rule before eventually moving to the United States. Ms. Kang put together details of these interviews in her book, Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, 1910-1945 (Cornell University Press; 2005). Some of the interviewees included those who were put into jail, persecuted, or discriminated against in promotion by Japanese, and thus were expected to tell the stories of suffering. 

While Ms. Kang admitted that there was a limit to use the small sample of 51 interviewees as the primary source, and that recollection of the interviewees could be accompanied by misconception or vagueness due to loss of memory, she let the interviewees tell freely their memories of the lives under the Japanese administration, without asking her prepared questions.

As the interviews continued, Ms. Kang observed that the family members of the interviewees smiled and chuckled when listening to the stories of their fathers. She then realized that the experiences that the interviewees told with a sense of nostalgia all happened “under the bitter era of Japanese administration”. Then she asked herself: “Why can’t I hear the stories of Japanese act of atrocity that I expected?”

The interviewees saw, in the Japanese-ruled Korea, complication, shadow, contradiction, as well as normality; and at times, they even accepted favorably Japanese people in general, including the police. The interviewees started their stories by saying, “I experienced nothing harsh…”. There were many who said, “Not much of bad things happened”, 

“I have not experienced anything hard”, 

“Most Koreans adapted to Japanese rules”. 

This means that quite a number of Koreans “lived normal lives”.

Furthermore, three elderly interviewees all mentioned, 

“we could live our lives more or less based on our own choice”. 

Another interviewee described the time of 3.1 movement when a significant number of Korean demonstrators clashed with the Japanese police and army. The police started to arrest the demonstrators, but “the police chief spoke politely” especially to the elderly, and “loosened the rope and allowed us to go home”. He further continued that “the most kind was the police”. 

Another interviewee told Ms. Kang that his father received higher education than that of Japanese leaders, thus, “the Japanese police chief who was the highest authority in town always bowed his head deeply whenever he met my father”.

Another said, “I have no memory of having been harassed by the Japanese police or government officer”. 

Ms. Kang’s research shows that the Koreans who lived under Japanese rules themselves deny “the worst colony in the history”. 

****************************

 

From the objective facts as well as the hearings from the Koreans who lived the time, we can see that the Japanese administration in Korea was basically fair, and that, even with huge debts, Japan dramatically developed Korea which had been suffering from the misrule of the native Yi Dynasty government. 

The Koreans who never cease to believe that Japan did the worst things to Korea should accept these facts in a matter-of-fact manner. 

How did Japan decide Korean annexation in what kind of the world? 

What was the situations in Korea before having been annexed by Japan? 

What was happening in other colonies around the world? 

By answering these questions, one can start to see the real picture of the Japanese-administered Korea. Koreans must have the courage to “know”. Emotional anti-Japan theory only increases hatred and leads their own country to a wrong direction. Japanese should also realize this, and should have enough knowledge and courage to raise voice to correct misunderstanding. Then, only then, we can start cooperating for the respective future.

If you want to have the objective knowledge on the issue, I strongly recommend you to read Japanese Colonial Legacy in Korea, 1910-1945 by George Akita and Brandon Palmer, available on amazon.com on Oct 30, 2014.