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Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea

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Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea is complex and multi-faceted. Anti-Japanese attitudes in the Korean Peninsula can be traced back to Japanese pirates raids and the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598), but are largely a product of the period of Japanese rule in Korea from 1910-1945 and subsequent education.

Effect of Japanese rule in Korea

See also: Korea under Japanese rule

Korea was ruled by the Japanese Empire from 1910 to 1945. Japan's involvement began with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea and increased over the following decades with the Gapsin Coup (1882), the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) , the assassination of Empress Myeongseong at the hands of Japanese agents in 1895, the establishment of the Korean Empire (1897), the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), the Taft-Katsura Agreement (1905), and culminating with the 1905 Eulsa Treaty, removing Korean autonomous diplomatic rights, and the 1910 Annexation Treaty, both of which were eventually declared null and void by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965.

Cultural Assimilation

The Japanese colonization of Korea has been mentioned as the case in point of "cultural genocide" by Yuji Ishida in February 23, 2004. The colonial government put into practice the suppression of Korean culture and language in an "attempt to root out all elements of Korean culture from society"."Focus was heavily and intentionally placed upon the psychological and cultural element in Japan's colonial policy, and the unification strategies adopted in the fields of culture and education were designed to eradicate the individual ethnicity of the Korean race."

After the annexation of Korea, Japan enforced a cultural assimilation policy. The Korean language was removed from the required school subjects in Korea in 1936.　 Japan imposed the family name system along with Civil law (Sōshi-kaimei) and Shinto religion. Koreans were forbidden to write or speak the Korean language in schools, businesses, or public places under penalty of death. However, many Korean language movies were screened in the Korean peninsula.

In addition, Koreans were angry over Japanese alteration and destruction of various Korean monuments including Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁, Gyeongbokgung) and the revision of documents that portrayed the Japanese in a negative light. This methodical alteration process was done by the Editing Agency of Korean History (조선사편수회, Joseonsa Pyeonsuhoe).

Independence Movement

On March 1, 1919, anti-Japanese rule protests were held all across the country to demand independence. About 2 million Koreans actively participated in what is now known as the March 1st Movement. A Declaration of Independence , patterned after the American version, was read by teachers and civic leaders in tens of thousands of villages throughout Korea: “Today marks the declaration of Korean independence. There will be peaceful demonstrations all over Korea. If our meetings are orderly and peaceful, we shall receive the help of President Wilson and the great powers at Versailles, and Korea will be a free nation.” Japan repressed independence movement by military power. In one well attested incident, villagers were herded into the local church which was then set on fire. The official Japanese count of casualties include 553 killed, 1,409 injured, and 12,522 arrested, but the Korean estimates are much higher: over 7,500 killed, about 15,000 injured, and 45,000 arrested.

Comfort Women

Though estimates vary, Korea states that thousands of Korean women were kidnapped and coerced by the Japanese authrorities into military prostitution, euphemistically called "comfort women" (위안부, wianbu). Some Japanese historians, such as Yoshiaki Yoshimi, using the diaries and testimonies of military officials as well as official documents from Japan and archives of the Tokyo tribunal, have argued that the Imperial Japanese military was either directly or indirectly involved in coercing, deceiving, luring, and sometimes kidnapping young women throughout Japan’s Asian colonies and occupied territories.

Contemporary Issues

In South Korea, collaborators to the Japanese colonial government, called chinilpa (친일파), are generally recognized as national traitors. In 2006, The National Assembly of South Korea formed a Committee for the Inspection of Property of Japan Collaborators. The aim was to reclaim property inappropriately gained by cooperation with the Japanese government during colonialization. The project was expected to satisfy Koreans' demands that property acquired by collaborators under the Japanese colonial authorities be returned.

Japanese Textbook Revisionism

Main article: Japanese history textbook controversies

Anti-Japanese sentiment is also due to the Japanese government's textbook revisionism. In June 26, 1982 the textbook screening process in Japan came under strutiny when the media of Japan and neighboring countries gave extensive coverage to changes required by the Ministry of Education. Experts from the ministry had set out to soften textbook references to Japan's aggression before and during World War II. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937, for example, became an "advance." Passages describing the fall of Nanking put forward the point that Japanese atrocities had been provoked by stiff Chinese resistance. Pressure applied by China succeeded in getting the Ministry of Education to adopt a new authorization criterion - the "Neighboring Country Clause" (近隣諸国条項) - stating: "textbooks ought to show understanding and seek international harmony in their treatment of modern and contemporary historical events involving neighboring Asian countries."

In 2006, Japanese textbooks wrote that the Liancourt Rocks is Japanese territory. Therefore, the head of the South Korean Ministry of Education, Kim Shinil, sent a letter of protest to Bunmei Ibuki of the Minister of Education in Japan on May 09, 2007. In a speech marking the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun called for Japan to correct their school textbooks, with the controversial topics ranging from "inhumane rape of comfort women" to "the Korean ownership of the Liancourt Rocks".

National relations

Yasuhiro Nakasone discontinued visits to Yasukuni shrine because of China's requests in 1986. However, Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi resumed visits to Yasukuni Shrine, starting on August 13, 2001. He visited the shrine six times as Prime Minister, stating that he was "paying homage to the servicemen who died for defense of Japan." These visits drew strong condemnation and protests from Japan's neighbors, mainly China. As a result, China and South Korea refused to meet with Koizumi, and there were no mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese leaders after October 2001 and between South Korean and Japanese leaders after June 2005. President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun has suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan.　

Education

A large number of anti-Japanese images made by school children from Gyeyang Middle School, many of which depicting acts of violence against Japan, were displayed in Gyulhyeon Station as part of a school art project.

According to a survey conducted by Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center in 2006, 34.1% of the primary school students in Incheon region answered that "Japanese should be expelled from Korea" and the rate was considerably higher compared to Chinese (8.7%), black Africans (8.7%), East Asians (5.0%), black Americans (4.3%), and white Americans (2.3%).

Professor Park Cheol-Hee of Gyeongin National University of Education pointed out that there were many descriptions regarding other nations as inferior to emphasize the superiority of Korean culture, and Japan is consistently described as culturally inferior. 60% and 51% of middle and high school students in South Korea think that the descriptions about Japan and China in the current Korean history textbooks are biased, respectively.

References

  1. See Russian eyewitness account of surrounding circumstances at http://koreaweb.ws/ks/ksr/queenmin.txt
  2. ^ ""Cultural Genocide" and the Japanese Occupation of Korea". Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  3. Template:Ja icon Instruction concerning the Korean education Decree No.229 (1911) 朝鮮教育令(明治44年勅令第229号), Nakano Bunko.
  4. Cumings, Bruce G. "The Rise of Korean Nationalism and Communism". A Country Study: North Korea. Library of Congress. Call number DS932 .N662 1994.
  5. http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/Samil-2004.htm
  6. Dr. James H. Grayson, "Christianity and State Shinto in Colonial Korea: A Clash of Nationalisms and Religious Beliefs" DISKUS Vol.1 No.2 (1993) pp.13-30.
  7. Bruce Cummings, Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History, W.W. Norton & Company, 1997, New York, p. 231, ISBN 0393316815.
  8. Yoshimi Yoshiaki, 従軍慰安婦 (Comfort Women). Translated by Suzanne O'Brien. Columbia University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-231-12032-X
  9. Onishi, Norimitsu (2007-03-08). "Denial Reopens Wounds of Japan's Ex-Sex Slaves". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-03-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. "Assets of Japan Collaborators to Be Seized", The Korea Times, August 13, 2006.
  11. Murai Atsushi, "Abolish the Textbook Authorization System," Japan Echo, (Aug. 2001): 28.
  12. "Ed. Minister Protests Distortions in Japanese Textbooks", Chosun Ilbo, May.10,2007.
  13. "Roh Calls on Japan to Respect Historical Truth", Chosun Ilbo, Mar.2,2007.
  14. Template:Ja icon "小泉総理インタビュー 平成１８年８月１５日" (Official interview of Koizumi Junichiro on August 15, 2006), Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, August 15, 2006.
  15. Don Kirk, "Koizumi Move Sparks Anger In China and South Korea" International Herald Tribune, August 14, 2001.
  16. Template:En icon and Template:Ko icon "노무현 대통령, “고이즈미 일본총리가 신사참배 중단하지 않으면 정상회담도 없을 것” (영문기사 첨부)", Voice of America, 03/17/2006.
  17. "Children's drawings in the subway!, How cute", Jun 13 2005, "More children's drawings displayed in the subway., The second time is just like the first", Jun 18 2005, A passing moment in the life of Gord.
  18. Template:Ko icon "외국인들 “한국인 반일 감정 지나치다”", Daum, 2005-10-1.
  19. James Card "A chronicle of Korea-Japan 'friendship'", Asia Times, Dec 23, 2005, "The most disturbing images of the year were drawings on exhibit at Gyulhyeon Station on the Incheon subway line..."
  20. Template:Ko icon 초등생에 외국인 선호도 물으니…美·中·동남아·日 순, The Kukmin Daily, 2006.12.13.
  21. Template:Ko icon 인천지역 초등학생의 외국인 인식실태 및 다문화인권교육 워크샵개최, Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center, 2006-12-12.
  22. Template:Ko icon 초등교과서, 고려때 ‘23만 귀화’ 언급도 안해, The Kyunghyang Shinmun/Empas news, 2007-08-21.
  23. Template:Ko icon 초등 4~6학년 교과서, 단일민족·혈통 지나치게 강조, The Kyunghyang Shinmun, 2007/08/21.
  24. Template:Ko icon 중.고교생 60% "역사교과서 문제있다", Yonhap News, 2007/09/14.

See also

Categories: