A picture is worth a thousand words.
- Korea in 1880 – 1900 (Korea, before Japan)
- Japan in 1860 – 1900 (Japan)
- Korea in 1910 – 1945 (Korea, after Japan–Korea Annexation)
Korea in 1880s – 1900s (before Japan)
The economic and political situations in Korea are terribly bad. People in Korea have been exploited by the privileged class (Yangban) like bureaucrats or aristocrats of its dynasty. Some of them tried to modernize Korea with the help of Japan. But then they had to struggle with people sticking with the old regime. In the end, they couldn’t change their country.
Many changes which were instructed by Japan could seem valid and effective, if only they would be just implemented properly. However it seems impossible to modernize Korea by Koreans themselves.
I would like Americans who are interested in the history between Japan and Korea, to read this book first in order to have a better understanding about two countries’ history. I’m afraid some recent books might be biased.
I would also like readers to read the book entitled “ The New Korea” , which was written in 1926 by Alleyne Ireland.
You can read the book online or get PDF and Kindle book from here. Or my excerpts.
Japan in 1860 – 1900s
Japan should have left Korea behind … but Japan was too kind… and helped Korea. Japan was praised by the western countries and journalists at the time though.
Korea (after Japan–Korea Annexation) in 1910s – 1945
The books by Professor Alleyne Ireland and Professor Atul Kohli make it clear that the common perception in the West — the Japanese invaded Korea, exploited Korean people and committed atrocities — is a myth. If Japan is to annex North Korea right now, kick out Kim Jong-un and liberate majority of the North Koreans, wouldn’t they welcome Japan’s annexation with open arms? That was exactly what happened in 1910.
“The New Korea” by Professor Alleyne Ireland
Today, Koreans claim Japan is absolute evil and Japan has done nothing but evil thing to Korea. Japan enslaved Koreans, you say? As pictures (and many historical accounts) show, Japan saved Koreans from enslavement by the Korean King and Yangbans.
I feel sorry for the US because, today, the US has to deal with and take care of Korean problem – both South and North. And also, watching Korean peninsula causing all kinds of troubles, I kinda understand why my ancestors felt they needed to take control of the peninsula. North is exactly the same as Korea (pitiful people suffer under the King – now Kim Jong-un) in 100 years ago – pain in the ass.
History tells us that “Today’s Koreans are telling lies” and “Stay the heck away from Korea”. Korea will blame you and hate you for helping Korea later saying you interfere Koreans. If you won’t help Korea, Korea will blame you for not helping Korea in the future.
A Japanese on Korea 
Horrified after reading the conclusion of your article, I have decided to leave a comment to inform you that your conclusion – the Japan during the first half of the 20th century just gave help to a struggling neighbor, Korea out of goodwill – is OUTRAGEOUSLY RIDICULOUS. You should not beautify Japanese Imperialism in Korea for what it did to Koreans nor manipulate readers by omitting information you present in your article. The information you have shared in your article is only partial. Because you have left out very crucial information about the modernization in Korea during the Japanese occupation, I will address the rest for you here and prove to you how RIDICULOUS your conclusion is.
In response to your comment on Korea before 1900s, I agree with you in that Korea was unpleasantly regressive. While Japan succeeded in its transformation into a centralized modern state by ending the feudal Tokugawa shogunate, Korea during the 19th century failed to save itself from the outdated feudalism and the ruling class’s corruption. As a result, the ruling class of Yangban continued to prosper at the sacrifice of the common class until 1900s. However this does not mean that Koreans lacked willingness or capability for social reformation. Koreans made several attempts such as Donghak Peasant Revolution from 1894 to 1895 and the Gapsin Coup in 1884 to end the feudal Jeosun dynasty and to change Korea into a modern democratic state. The attempts failed due to the intervention of neighboring countries like JAPAN and China.
Although it is somewhat true that the Japanese occupation in Korea marked the start of the modernization in Korean, it was not for Koreans. It was for the Japanese military expansion into Manchuria and mainland China during the first half of the 20th century. In order to invade Manchuria and mainland China, Japan needed supplies for war so it built railroads, mines, factories, power stations, radio stations and so on in Korea. An interesting fact is, if Japan had held any true philanthropic interest for Korea like YOU SAID, it would have willingly taught Koreans Western engineering knowledge and skills. But when it came to sharing information with Koreans, Japan was always either very reluctant or unwilling. This is the reason why many modern facilities like factories built by Japan in Korea were left abandoned and un-operating after the Korean independence in 1945. Koreans knew how to turn on and off machines manually in a factory. But because Japanese engineers never shared any mechanisms of the machines, Koreans were not able to run the factory without them.
Speaking of the Japanese occupation, Japanese colonial ambition towards Korea became evident since the second half of the 19th century, specifically after the Ganghwa island incident in 1875. The incident was a form of gunboat diplomacy by Japan to open Korea. Japan dispatched a warship, the Unyo, to survey the Korean coastal waters without even asking for permission from Korea. While surveying the Western coast of Korea, the Japanese boarded on the ship landed on the island, Ganghwa, and demanded water and provision from Koreans. Koreans refused to take the demand and, the both parties engaged in a battle shortly afterwards. Korea lost the lives of 35 innocent Koreans whereas Japan only had the minor injuries of 2 soldiers.
Japan’s colonial ambition towards Korea is completely realized by the Japan-Korea treaty of 1905 which deprived Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty and turned it into a Japanese protectorate. The treaty was not signed by the want of Koreans nor under a peaceful circumstance. It was signed under the Japanese military threat. Japan sent troops to occupy the Korean imperial palace and to station at strategic locations throughout Korea before it presented the treaty conditions to Korea.
I have so far proved how RIDICULOUS the conclusion of your article is. I have refuted some of your mini-claims and addressed some historical facts you have omitted in your article. It is true that Korea was regressive before 1900s. But Koreans put efforts to reform society and to make the best out of their circumstance. The consequence of their efforts were mostly disappointing and, Japan cannot get away from being blamed for contributing to their failure. As much as the corruption from the ruling class of Yangban in Korea, Japan stood in the way of Korean social reformation INTENTIONALLY by continuously using military pressure. OF COURSE, Japan did so because it wanted to colonize Korea and use Korea as means for expanding further into Manchuria and mainland China. The Ganghwa island incident in 1875 and the Japan-Korea treaty of 1905 clearly demonstrates Japan’s colonial ambition towards Korea. EVEN WHEN the modernization in Korea began under the Japanese occupation, Japan barely shared Western knowledge and skills with Koreans. So from any of the information I have presented here, I see no generosity nor goodwill from Japan towards Korea. All I see is GREED and NATIONALISM of Japan.
So here is a question for you: when you see your neighbor in a dire situation – presumably in need of help – do you go and rip him off his clothes, house and food first in order to help him or then help him? And can this act be called as help? Or be called to be from a purely empathetic and ethical motive? For me, it is not help. It is rather robbery even if your neighbor receives any sort of help from you after all. Because you rob your neighbor first before you help him, your act must come from a different motive too, perhaps something that is more realistic and beneficial to you.
So what do you think?
Joseon ‘s fiscal budget has already failed, he had made a huge debt from Russia.
Russia was looking for an ice-free port, so it must have been for expert tailoring.
Because, in 1904, from Manchuria to the Liaodong Peninsula, after finishing laying the track extending from the Siberian Railway,
The Russian troops have invaded the Korean peninsula. During occupation of Manchuria, Russia who had no hearing about Britain’s repeated requests
There is no reason to hear what the King of Korea does not have any armaments. Rather than saying, the King of Korea could not say anything.
The then Army of Russia was probably the largest army in the world and the Navy was the second navy in the world.
Currently there is a Korean Navy port at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, but Russia has also watched the good port.
At that time, it was Japan that raised my voice.
In 1904, only 37 years have passed since Japan came to the era of the general and finished the Meiji era.
If Japan was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, colored races in Asia and Africa would have lived in colonies today even in the 21st century.
Japan annexed Korea and made it to Japan, but it is not a colony.
In the 35 years that Japan ruled, we built more than 5000 elementary schools and made it to the university. Over 5000 kilometers of railroad is laid,
We planted 600 million trees and the population of Korea has nearly doubled. Recruiting started on the Korean Peninsula since 1944,
The war ended in the middle of training. Koreans and draft conscripts none of them are going to war.
It is a Google translation. Please acknowledge that it is hard to read.
materials produced by the inferiority complex . In fact, Japan did well to foreign countries to rationalize its colonies by selecting only what was lacking in Korea. Due to their inferiority in appearance, most of Japan’s past portraits were recently composed.It is sad to see Japan still making excuses for its war crimes.
Is this comedy?
In the US, some plantation owners treated their slaves better than others. No brutality, cared for the sick and elderly, etc. But at the end of the day, they were still slaves.
Same with Korea. Let’s not confuse modernizing the country with liberating Koreans.
I am Korean myself, living in the United States and I am in my early 20’s. I wanted to leave a comment because I personally have a lot of respect/admiration for Japan and its culture. Undoubtedly, you guys were very successful/modernized as a country way before many countries in Asia. However, you writing an article like this not only makes you look bad but your country as a whole. You guys may have “helped the start of modernization in Korea” ,but you guys definitely did not do that in order to solely “help” Korea. Honestly, what kind of country would actually use their resources and money to help a country? For what? There is always a price for everything. There are many Koreans who are still upset over the fact that you guys never officially apologized for the mistreatment of Koreans during the annexation, but personally, I don’t think Koreans should be so pressed about it. So what if they never apologize? If I could have a voice for the Koreans, I would rather know the fact that Japan is not sorry for their wrongdoings and use that as fuel to keep pushing to become a more powerful country/nation. Fuck sympathy. Fuck fake love. Forgive but NEVER forget.
Cakes, maybe because Korea was not Korea, but Japan (the same country). So the resources were just used to develop another region of the same country.
If you haven’t not reach the point to understand that, I don’t think you can get more complex topics. Just saying.
Peace.
Judging from the other posts, it’s all anti-Korea rhetoric. Funny how the author speaks of bias. This sentence got me “I kinda understand why my ancestors felt they needed to take control of the peninsula”. Japanese nationalism is alive and well…