Changes

The first objective of Japanese rule in Korea was to consolidate power and attempt to eliminate the ability of the people to mount effective resistance. Among the steps taken towards this objective were the establishment of Japanese in advisory posts within the Korean army, followed by the downsizing of the army and its eventual dismantling in [[1907]], at which time the best Korean officers were then incorporated into the Japanese army. Peattie compares the resulting mutinies amongst Korean soldiers to the [[1877]] [[Satsuma Rebellion]], in which samurai rose up against the destruction of their elite warrior class; both were powerfully and successfully suppressed by the Imperial Japanese Army. Other major objectives in the earliest stages included the establishment of telegraph lines, railroads, a postal system, and telephone lines, integrating Korea into the Japanese domestic communications and transportation systems.<ref>Duus, 141.</ref>

The first objective of Japanese rule in Korea was to consolidate power and attempt to eliminate the ability of the people to mount effective resistance. Among the steps taken towards this objective were the establishment of Japanese in advisory posts within the Korean army, followed by the downsizing of the army and its eventual dismantling in [[1907]], at which time the best Korean officers were then incorporated into the Japanese army. Peattie compares the resulting mutinies amongst Korean soldiers to the [[1877]] [[Satsuma Rebellion]], in which samurai rose up against the destruction of their elite warrior class; both were powerfully and successfully suppressed by the Imperial Japanese Army. Other major objectives in the earliest stages included the establishment of telegraph lines, railroads, a postal system, and telephone lines, integrating Korea into the Japanese domestic communications and transportation systems.<ref>Duus, 141.</ref>

Japanese rule in Korea continued to inspire Korean resistance, which led to open rebellion in [[1908]] to [[1910]]. The assassination of Itô Hirobumi in [[1909]] by activist [[An Jung-geun]] spurred Japanese authorities to move forward with the culmination of plans already underway to formally annex Korea; this they did the following year, marking the end of Korea as "protectorate" and the beginning of Korea as "colony." A formal treaty, signed on August 29, 1910,<ref>Yokoyama Manabu 横山学, ''Ryûkyû koku shisetsu torai no kenkyû'' 琉球国使節渡来の研究, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (1987), 7.</ref> ended the [[Korean Empire]] and the monarchy, and established the Governor-Generalship of Korea. Numerous placenames were officially changed, including referring to Korea as ''Chôsen'', [[Pyongyang]] as Heijô, and Seoul as Keijô.

Japanese rule in Korea continued to inspire Korean resistance, which led to open rebellion in [[1908]] to [[1910]]. The assassination of Itô Hirobumi in [[1909]] by activist [[An Jung-geun]] spurred Japanese authorities to move forward with the culmination of plans already underway to formally annex Korea; this they did the following year, marking the end of Korea as "protectorate" and the beginning of Korea as "colony." A formal treaty, signed on August 22, 1910,<ref>Gallery labels, Gonnyeonghap Hall, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36580196645/in/photostream/]</ref> ended the [[Korean Empire]] and the monarchy, and established the Governor-Generalship of Korea. Numerous placenames were officially changed, including referring to Korea as ''Chôsen'', [[Pyeongyang]] as Heijô, and Seoul as Keijô.

==Colony (1910-1945)==

==Colony (1910-1945)==

Peattie describes the administration of the first [[Governor-General of Korea]], [[Terauchi Masatake]], as "iron-fisted," as the full power of the Japanese military was deployed to violently suppress further rebellions with "savage reprisal[s]."<ref name=peattie1718/> As throughout the empire, the scale and pervasiveness of military might, used to enforce obedience to Japanese authority, was a key element of the Japanese colonial operation in Korea. After 1920, two of Japan's best divisions were stationed in northern Korea, and numerous ''[[kenpeitai]]'' (military police) units were distributed throughout the peninsula.

Peattie describes the administration of the first [[Governor-General of Korea]], [[Terauchi Masatake]], as "iron-fisted," as the full power of the Japanese military was deployed to violently suppress further rebellions with "savage reprisal[s]."<ref name=peattie1718/> As throughout the empire, the scale and pervasiveness of military might, used to enforce obedience to Japanese authority, was a key element of the Japanese colonial operation in Korea. In 1919, Korean frustrations grew to a climax, exploding violently in the March First Movement, to which the Japanese colonial government responded brutally, against protestors and others who, most of them, had been relatively peaceful in their resistance. Following this uprising, martial rule was replaced by a fundamental policy of "cultural rule" (J: ''bunka seiji'') under Governor-General [[Saito Makoto|Saitô Makoto]], who served as Governor-General from 1919 to 1927 and again from 1929 to 1931.

Under Terauchi, the colonial administration was transformed into a powerful engine for change, aimed at reshaping entirely Korea's political, economic, educational and social systems, imposing Japanese values, and at eliminating or profoundly altering Korean national or cultural identity. By the 1930s or '40s, the teaching of Korean language or history was banned in the public schools, Koreans were obliged to use Japanese pronunciations for their surnames, and [[State Shinto]] was imposed upon the populace.<ref name=jansen77>[[Marius Jansen]], "Japanese Imperialism: Late Meiji Perspectives," in Peattie (ed.), 77.</ref> In 1919, Korean frustrations grew to a climax, exploding violently in the March First Movement, to which the Japanese colonial government responded brutally, against protestors and others who, most of them, had been relatively peaceful in their resistance.

While still trying to effect Korean compliance through pure military force, the colonial authorities from 1919 onward turned to efforts to gain Korean support through education and cultural efforts, in the hopes of turning them to seeing Japanese rule as a source of modernity, civilization, culture, order, and prosperity.<ref>Hye-ri Oh, "Invisible Surveillance: Photography as a Colonial Art and Cultural Rule," presentation at Association for Asian Studies annual conference, Washington DC, 22 March 2018.</ref> After 1920, two of Japan's best divisions were stationed in northern Korea, and numerous ''[[kenpeitai]]'' (military police) units were distributed throughout the peninsula. Yet, at the same time, the colonial administration was transformed into a powerful engine for change, aimed at reshaping entirely Korea's political, economic, educational and social systems, imposing Japanese values, and at eliminating or profoundly altering Korean national or cultural identity. By the 1930s or '40s, the teaching of Korean language or history was banned in the public schools, Koreans were obliged to use Japanese pronunciations for their surnames, and [[State Shinto]] was imposed upon the populace.<ref name=jansen77>[[Marius Jansen]], "Japanese Imperialism: Late Meiji Perspectives," in Peattie (ed.), 77.</ref>  

Japan's takeover of Korea came just at the time that a unified Korean national identity was emerging, making nationalistic, emotional opposition to Japan's rule all the stronger. What was for the most part acquiesced to by the Japanese public as necessary steps towards modernization was violently opposed by Koreans as being imposed by a foreign invader. While there were surely efforts to explain the goals and advantages of modernization, these were ignored or rejected (and quite understandably) as propaganda. Where Japanese had themselves negotiated and debated Confucian vs. Western values, and any number of other similar debates as to the character and direction of modernity, now, several decades later, the Japanese did not engage in any such discussions with Korean scholars or officials, but simply saw them as stubbornly conservative, and so, dragged the Koreans kicking and screaming, so to speak, into conformity with Japanese "modern" attitudes and practice without consideration for their feelings or desires, or intellectual opinions.

Japan's takeover of Korea came just at the time that a unified Korean national identity was emerging, making nationalistic, emotional opposition to Japan's rule all the stronger. What was for the most part acquiesced to by the Japanese public as necessary steps towards modernization was violently opposed by Koreans as being imposed by a foreign invader. While there were surely efforts to explain the goals and advantages of modernization, these were ignored or rejected (and quite understandably) as propaganda. Where Japanese had themselves negotiated and debated Confucian vs. Western values, and any number of other similar debates as to the character and direction of modernity, now, several decades later, the Japanese did not engage in any such discussions with Korean scholars or officials, but simply saw them as stubbornly conservative, and so, dragged the Koreans kicking and screaming, so to speak, into conformity with Japanese "modern" attitudes and practice without consideration for their feelings or desires, or intellectual opinions.