During over three decades of Japanese colonization, the
Korean citizens experienced much hardship and struggle. For the men, the Japanese government forced then
to be laborers and soldiers, fighting and risking their lives for Japanese
causes. Japanese women suffered a worse fate as they were forced to serve in
military brothels and live a life of servitude for the Japanese men. Socially, the Korean identity was lost and
replaced with ideals and beliefs of the Japanese.
When Japan entered World War II,
they needed more soldiers to fight their war and more laborers to keep up their
workforce. As such, it was estimated
that about “450,000 forced laborers were sent to Japan” to perform hard work with minimal
pay. For the farmers, Japan confiscated their land and forced them off
the premise, only to give the acres to Japanese citizens who immigrated to Korea.
The Korean women also became victims of the Japanese as they were used as the
so-called “comfort women”
who served in Japanese military brothels. Modern historians estimated between
10,000 and 200,000 of comfort women were used by the Japanese. What made the act more appalling was that, according
to testimonies, there were numerous cases where Japanese officials and local
collaborators kidnapped the women for these jobs. Furthermore, recruiting poor rural women for sexual slavery
under the guise of offering factory employment was rampant under the Japanese
rule.
Perhaps what made the Japanese
colonization more atrocious was the destruction of evidence. Even in modern day, Japan is notorious for their role
in changing history books in order to alter their actions/behaviors during
various wars throughout history. With
that said, during their colonization of Korea, the Japanese government
intentionally destroyed official records regarding comfort women. Japanese
inventory logs and employee sheets on the battlefield showed some documentation
of government-sponsored sexual slavery. In one instance, names of known comfort
women were traced to Japanese employment records. Currently, the South Korean
government is investigating hundreds of cases on these lists. (3) As evidenced, during the reign of the
Japanese rule, Korean people lost their most basic rights and suffered while
serving the mother country.
Oppressed people, naturally, will
find the courage to unite against their oppressors. Thus, after years of suffering, some groups
began to revolt against Japanese Imperialism. In March 1919, an Anti-Japanese
demonstration attracted so many supporters and became so chaotic that the
Japanese national and military police could not contain the crowds. The army and even the navy were called in to
quell the revolution. What ensued were several reports of Japanese atrocities.
In one incident, the Japanese police in the village of Jeam-ri Hwaseong
herded everyone into a church, locked it, and burned it to the ground. They
even shot through the burning windows of the church to ensure that no one made
it out alive. Many participants of the March 1st Movement were subjected to
torture and execution.
These outrageous and merciless
events deeply affected the Korean people’s livelihood. For the women, the
memories of serving as ‘comfort women’ and of sexual abuse left them psychologically
traumatized. Though the physical pains could be cured, the psychological
nightmares casted a shadow and many could never completely restore their lives.
Yet despite these unfortunate
consequences, Japanese colonization did leave some positive imprints onto the
Korean culture. Most notably was the
laying the infrastructure and raising the literacy rate among citizens as the
Japanese constructed schools and hospitals.(4) These foundations could possibly
influence the Koreans’ strong beliefs in education, a belief that is still
prevalent in the Korean society today.