Introduction
The
first half of the twentieth century was a time of great political activity
around the world, a struggle of disproportionate ideologies, on the one hand the idea of an egalitarian
totalitarianism incarnated in the figures of Lenin and Stalin; was presented on
the other hand, the fascism was advancing around the world to an overwhelming
pace in the victories of Germany and imperial Japan in particular. A continuous
agitation to which Korea was not immune.
The
object of this essay is to analyze the various conditions that had the Korean
nation during this time, putting into play various social, economic and
cultural aspects during the Japanese occupation of the country, a period
commonly called the Chosen era[JD1] .
This
period was very complex, due to the accelerated historical processes and the
simultaneity or ambivalence of historical positions that have been taken on
respect to the action of the Japanese colonial authorities, positions ranging
from scathing criticism facing the political repression, to deep admiration that
face the important technical development that characterized those years[JD2] .
The
vastness that characterizes these three and a half decades has been studied in
a very cursory way, this is due to many different historical interpretations that
are biased by political or patriotic views, in other words, linked to a feeling
not on a rational way[JD3] .
In
any case, the Japanese colonial period is a watershed between two eras, it
involves the incorporation of this country into a global industrial market, a
product of modernity, besides being a prelude to the many challenges faced by Korea
during the World War II and even after it.
Development
One
of the main aspects of the colonization of Korea was the technical
modernization that was promoted by the Tokyo government who was concerned to
provide port facilities, improve the backward road network and installed the
first radio receivers for public use, however modern infrastructure investment
did not result in the improvement of living standards of the working classes of
Korean society of the time.
The
patriotism that swept over the second decade of the twentieth century is a
central element to understand the spirit of debate that existed among some
liberal sectors of the country, expressed most clearly in the mass protests
against the imperial authorities made in Seoul on the first of March 1919.
The
massive nature of the protests of spring 1919, achieved to relax the strict
military repression rules that were being implemented by Chosen authorities, this
showing early signs of militarism, which will have its climax to the winter of
1941, in the development of the second world war.
The
release of political preasure sponsored by Taisho democracy was reflected in a
flourishing of the arts and literature in the Korean peninsula, with an
exponential increase in traffic and publication of magazines and newspapers,
which together with a wide campaign literacy of the population, the cultural
life in cities such as Busan and Pyongyang lived a noticeable boom[JD4] .
This
strong interest in providing the cosmopolitan and progressive spirit to Korean
cities had as its ultimate goal to
archive the full integration of Korean people in Japanese lifestyle, although
this goal was achieved only partially because the Korean nationalist feeling
never disappeared entirely, plus the Korean representatives at the imperial
Diet accounted for only 1% of total membership.
On
the other hand, Korean domestic citizens never enjoyed full equality to their
Japanese peers[JD5] , because they were not able to aspire to the
most important bureaucratic positions, creating a malaise that further stoke
the fires of nationalism and discontent for Korean people against the Japanese not
legal occupation.
If
cities show an increase in living standards and an accelerated growth in the
level of welfare of its people, the countryside will experience a progressive
impoverishment of the population; this is particularly important because to
1940 more than two thirds of the population were established in rural areas[JD6] .
The
fertility of the lands and Korean plains, made of Chosen an excellent place for
extensive cultivation of basic grains, mostly rice for export to the Japanese
market, which required large quantities of food due to a lot of demographic pressure that was experiencing,
and the limited agricultural resources of their own soil.[1]
The
productive needs of Japanese leaders drastically changed the economic relations
linked to land ownership and agricultural production. Traditionally, the best
lands were held by a small but proud old aristocracy of landlords and
landowners. Who in turn rented the plots to journeymen in exchange for a
fraction of the harvest, which was exchanged in the domestic market for
manufactured products and consumer goods.
By
taking ownership of the land, the new Japanese proprietors moved the local
landowners, who became subsidiaries agricultural workers from the new
employers, which resulted in an extended local underdevelopment peasantry and
therefore an appropriation of surplus value of rural work in Nipponese imperialist hands.
The
increasing mass of landless peasants created a growing body of internally
displaced people who were accommodated in many cities in Korea and Japan with the
growing Korean light industry, which was in the maximum expansion, creating
many high quality products that were destined for Japan, while the domestic
market was satisfied with a lower quality products.
All
these circumstances were ideal breeding ground for the development in an
illustrated political opposition, educated at universities in Japan cities like
Hiroshima and Osaka, where they were in contact with the ideas of libertarian anarchism,
as well as the principles of Leninism.[2]
All
these economic and social changes allowed the that Japanese authorities to open
spaces to the most talented Korean people, with the blessing of the governor
general governor in Chosen, some restrictions to start up a business with capital of Korean
people; that is why Korean the best franchises expanded all over Asia at the
pair of Japanese military conquests.
With
the creation of the state of Manchukuo and the importance to the metropolitan
country it had this territory was to redirect a Korea based policy on heavy
industry. Korea had great advantages to achieve this goal; in the northern part
of the peninsula there are large deposits of coal, zinc and lead as well as
several hydroelectric plants and geotermic potential to increase the energy
production to industrial use.
Manchuria
was a source of opportunities for Korean investors, because, as Leon Manriquez ponts this new land border points attracted
many farmers, bureaucrats and soldiers, who in 1939 had nearly a million and a
half people. While heavy industry for 1937 reached 28% of industrial production,
occupying half a million workers, a figure that more than tripled in 1945.[3]
With
the advent of World War thousands of Koreans residents were forced or were enrolled voluntarily in the imperial
army, or to assist in the war effort, thus creating the start of an internecine
conflagration that confronted Koreans who fought for or against the colonial government[JD7] .
Concluding remarks
As
a final point to this essay worth highlighting the conditions that shaped
Korea's entry into the modern era, in the past, the Choson dynasty enabled the
construction of a robust national state, governed under the ideas of
Confucianism which gave them a own national identity.
Faced
with the weakening of central power due to strong pressure from imperialist
countries like the United States, Russia and Japan[JD8] , which weakened the sovereign position of
Korea, and inevitably led to the annexation during the summer of 1910.
The
thirty-five years of colonial rule, into the country became it through a huge process of modernization onthe
political and the educational systems, pushing an agrarian economy to one where
an industry was formed that although fledgling revolutionized the national
economy.
But
this brought several adverse effects on one hand the overall decrease in rural
population to the detriment of the living conditions of the population in
general. Added to this the breakdown of national identity marked by organizing
various patriotic resistance movements, of very different political
orientation, whose heterogeneous vision prevented the formation of a united
front against Japan dictarorship rule.
For
this reason we can say that the Korean liberation after World War in 1945 was
caused by external forces from the Soviet Union and the United States, to
delimit zones of influence behind the 38th parallel.
This
new correlation of political forces, coupled with political turmoil and unrest
created by the departure of the Japanese, the growing number of partners and
political chaos by the new authorities. This process created a constant tension
gave way to the first conflict of the Cold War,
However
the expierence of Korean colonial times can explain some origins of nowdays
Koreas, major changes were made during this time and acient social basis were
forced to collapze in order to bring new waves of change, in a fraught battle
between a new and old Korean society, that was in a breaking point on its
national historic path.
[1] Beasley W, G. Japanese imperialism 1894-1945, Oxford university
press, Oxford UK. 1987 p.88
[3] See Jose Luis Leon Manriquez
et al. Historia Minima de Corea, COLMEX, Mexico City, 2009 P. 95
[JD1]Chosen is the Japanese pronounciaton of Choson . In Korea, this is usually called the colonial
periodo r the period of Japanese occupation.
[JD2]Good.
[JD3]So true.
[JD4]Good.
[JD5]Good.
[JD6]Yes.
[JD7]Yes.
[JD8]And internal problems.
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