Korea under Japanese rule

South Korea, 1910–1945. Draft, not yet reviewed

From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan as a colony under the name Chōsen, the Japanese reading of Joseon. After forcing Emperor Gojong to abdicate in 1907, Japan formally annexed Korea with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910. While Korea's economy grew under Japan, scholars argue that many of the infrastructure projects were designed to extract resources from the peninsula, and not to benefit its people. Beginning in 1939 and during World War II, Japan mobilized around 5.4 million Koreans to support its war effort.

Seat of power: Keijō

Rulers

Terauchi Masatake

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1910–1916

Terauchi was appointed to replace Sone Arasuke as the third and last Japanese Resident-General of Korea in May 1910. As Resident-General, he executed the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in August of the same year, and he thus became the first Japanese governor-general of Korea. The annexation of Korea by Japan and subsequent policies introduced by the new government was highly unpopular with the majority of the Korean population, and Terauchi employed military force to maintain control.

Portrait of Terauchi Masatake: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Hasegawa Yoshimichi

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1916–1919

From October 1916, he served as the second Japanese Governor-General of Korea. He was later criticized for his military approach to the Samil Independence Movement.

Portrait of Hasegawa Yoshimichi: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Saitō Makoto

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1919–1927

In September 1919, Saitō was appointed as the third Japanese Governor-General of Korea. Rising to the post right after the culmination of the Korean independence movement, he was subject to an immediate assassination attempt by Kang Woo-kyu, a radical Korean nationalist. He served as governor-general of Korea twice, in 1919-1927 and again in 1929-1931, implementing a series of measures to moderate Japan's policies on Koreans.

Portrait of Saitō Makoto: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Yamanashi Hanzō

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1927–1929

From December 1927 to August 1929, Yamanashi served as Japanese Governor-General of Korea. He followed the relatively lenient policies established by his predecessors, and there was little significant change in Korea under Japanese rule during his tenure. However, while in Korea, he became embroiled in a prominent corruption scandal in which he was accused of having accepted a very large bribe from a rice merchant who wanted to expand into the Korean market.

Portrait of Yamanashi Hanzō: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Kazushige Ugaki

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1927–1927

Ugaki accepted a posting as acting Governor-General of Korea, while Saitō Makoto was participating as plenipotentiary in the Geneva Naval Conference.

Portrait of Kazushige Ugaki: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Saitō Makoto

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1929–1931

Saitō held the position of Governor-General of Korea from 1919 to 1927 and again from 1929 to 1931.

Portrait of Saitō Makoto: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Kazushige Ugaki

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1931–1936

Having lost the support of his fellow officers, Ugaki resigned from the military in April 1931 and once again accepted a posting as Governor-General of Korea.

Portrait of Kazushige Ugaki: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Jirō Minami

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1936–1942

In 1936, Minami was appointed Governor-General of Korea, a position he then held until 1942. His tenure in Korea was marked by a more hardline approach than his predecessors, with a rolling back of various liberal reforms of the 1920s. In addition, Minami outlawed all but one of the Korean-language newspapers and strongly pushed for the soshi-kamei policy.

Portrait of Jirō Minami: Agence de presse Meurisse, Public domain, file

Kuniaki Koiso

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1942–1944

Koiso was appointed Governor-General of Korea, succeeding Jirō Minami, from May 1942 to 1944, during which time he gained the nickname The Tiger of Korea for his looks rather than his military prowess. Koiso continued his predecessor's hardline policies, such as imposing the highly unpopular universal military conscription on Koreans, which forced them to fight for the Japanese, on August 1, 1943.

Portrait of Kuniaki Koiso: 共同通信 / Kyodo News, Public domain, file

Nobuyuki Abe

Governor-General of Chōsen, 1944–1945

He was appointed the 10th and last Governor-General of Korea in 1944 and 1945. Abe was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Prime Minister of Japan, and the last Governor-General of Korea.

Portrait of Nobuyuki Abe: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Culture

These conditions led to the birth of the Korean independence movement, which acted both politically and militantly, sometimes within the Japanese Empire, but mostly from outside of it.
Under the pretext of the racial theory known as Nissen dōsoron, it began a process of Japanization, eventually functionally banning the use of Korean names and the Korean language altogether.
Hundreds of historic buildings, such as the Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung palaces, were either partially or completely demolished.
Koreans were subjected to a number of mass murders, including the Gando massacre, Kantō Massacre, Jeamni massacre, and Shinano River incident. Many women and girls were forced into sexual slavery as comfort women to Japanese soldiers.

Picture

The Seodaemun Prison History Hall is a museum and former prison in Seoul, whose construction Imperial Japan began in 1907.

Image: MonasteryInwang, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.