The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence activism on the peninsula was largely suppressed by Japan, many significant efforts were conducted abroad by the Korean diaspora, as well as by a number of sympathetic non-Koreans.
In the mid-19th century, Japan and China were forced out of their policies of isolationism by the West. Japan then proceeded to rapidly modernize, forcefully open Korea, and establish its own hegemony over the peninsula. Eventually, it
government in exile
.
After the outbreak of the
Korean Peninsula. Although China achieved agreement by the Allies on eventual Korean independence in the Cairo Declaration of 1943, continued disagreement and ambiguity about the postwar Korean government lasted until the Soviet–Japanese War of 1945 created a de factodivision of Korea
Until the mid 19th century, Qing China, Japan, and Joseon Korea all maintained policies of relative isolationism.[1][2] Around this time, Joseon was a tributary state of Qing.[3][4][2] The Opium Wars during the mid-19th century between China and various Western powers led to the Qing government being forced to sign several unequal treaties, opening up Chinese territory to foreigners.[5][6] Japan was also forced to open up by the United States via the 1853 to 1854 Perry Expedition. It then underwent the Meiji Restoration and experienced a period of rapid modernization. However, in 1866, Joseon was able to resist an American attempt to open it as well as a French attempt.[7][2]
It was Japan that eventually succeeded in opening Korea, when it forced Joseon to sign the unequal Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876. Japan then began a process of absorbing Korea into its own sphere of influence over the course of several decades.[8][9][2] According to Kirk W. Larsen, by 1882, Japan appeared to be the preeminent power on the peninsula, even over Joseon's formal suzerain, Qing.[10] Japan's hegemony over Korea was further cemented by the Japanese victory in the 1894 to 1895 First Sino–Japanese War. The Treaty of Shimonoseki that ended the war stipulated that Qing would relinquish Joseon from its influence.[11][2] The Russian Empire then attempted to put Korea in its own sphere of influence, but was soundly defeated in the 1904 to 1905 Russo-Japanese War. By this point, Japan was the unquestioned hegemon over Korea. In 1905, it made Joseon its protectorate, and in 1910, it formally absorbed Korea into its empire.[12]
Meanwhile, shortly after Korea's forced opening, Gojong, the King of Joseon, made efforts to reach out to the United States and various European powers via a number of treaties, foreign exchange student programs, and diplomatic missions. But these overtures often went ignored or forgotten, as the powers prioritized their own interests in Japan and China.[13] Koreans requesting assistance from foreign governments and being ignored became a frequent occurrence even until the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945.[14][2]
Following Joseon's forced opening, Japan continued to open more and more parts of Korea to exclusive Japanese trade, to the chagrin of the citizens of Joseon as well as Joseon and Qing officials.[7] In some areas of Korea and especially near the port of Wonsan, "small roving bands of Koreans" attacked Japanese people who ventured outside at night.[15]
In 1882, the Imo Incident occurred,[2] in which general anti-foreigner sentiment (especially anti-Japanese) amongst the Joseon Army and later the general citizenry led to the killing of both Korean government officials and members of the Japanese legation.
In 1894, the
Donghak Peasant Rebellion occurred. Like the Imo Incident, this rebellion was also generally anti-foreigner, with a focus on Japan. This incident is what sparked the First Sino–Japanese War.[2]
In April 1896,
Soh Jaipil and others established the Independence Club: the first political organization that advocated for Korean independence. Among other goals, the group advocated for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. While Gojong initially recognized and tolerated the organization, he eventually disbanded it in December 1898.[2]
Between 1905 and 1912, a number of volunteer guerrilla armies, called "
righteous armies" emerged among the Korean populace to fight the Japanese. Around 20,000 volunteers died in these confrontations, which ultimately did not stop the colonization of Korea.[16]
Under Japanese rule
resistance movements. By 1919 these became nationwide, marked by what became known as the March 1st Movement
.
Japanese rule was oppressive but changed over time. Initially, there was very harsh repression in the decade following annexation. Japan's rule was markedly different than in its other colony,
Formosa. This period is referred to as amhukki (the dark period) in Korean historiography and common parlance in Korea. Tens of thousands of Koreans were arrested by the Japanese colonial administration for political reasons.[17] The harshness of Japanese rule increased support for the Korean independence movement. Many Koreans left the Korean Peninsula for Manchuria and Primorsky Krai in Russia, some of whom formed resistance groups and societies in Manchuria to fight for Korean independence. Koreans also carried out armed struggles against Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea. In 1919 and 1920s, Korean independence army units engaged in resistance activities in Manchuria, which traveled across the Korean-Chinese border, using guerrilla warfare to fight against the Japanese army. Some went to Japan, where groups agitated clandestinely. There was a prominent group of Korean Communists in Japan, who were in danger for their political activities.[17]
Partly due to Korean opposition to Japanese colonial policies, this was followed by a relaxation of some harsh policies. The Korean crown prince married the Japanese princess Nashimoto. The ban on Korean newspapers was lifted, allowing publication of
Choson Ilbo and The Dong-a Ilbo. Korean government workers received the same wages as Japanese officials, though the Japanese officials received bonuses the Koreans did not. Whippings were eliminated for minor offenses but not for others. Laws interfering with burial, slaughtering of animals, peasant markets, or traditional customs were removed or changed.[18]
After the Peace Preservation Law of 1925, some freedoms were restricted. Then, in the lead up to the invasion of China and World War II, the harshness of Japanese rule increased again.[citation needed]
World War II diplomacy
Although the Empire of Japan had
declared war on Japan in 1941, China became an Ally of World War II, and tried to exercise its influence within the group to support Pan-Asian and nationalist movements, which included stipulating a demand of the complete surrender of Japan and immediate independence of Korea afterwards.[19]
China tried to promote the legitimacy of the
National Military Council had also decided that "complete independence" for Korea was China's fundamental Korean policy; otherwise, the government in Chongqing tried to unify the warring Korean factions.[19]
Although there were many separate movements against colonial rule, the main ideology or purpose of the movement was to free Korea from the Japanese military and political rule. Koreans were concerned with alien domination and Korea's state as a colony. They desired to restore Korea's independent political sovereignty after Japan invaded the weakened and partially modernized Korean Empire. This was the result of Japan's political maneuvers to secure international approval for the annexation of treaty annexing Korea.[20][21][22]
During the independence movement, the rest of the world viewed what was occurring in Korea as an
anti-militarist, and an anti-Japanese resistance movement.[23] Koreans, however, saw the movement as a step to free Korea from the Japanese military rule.[23]
The South Korean government has been criticized as recently as 2011 for not accepting Korean socialists who fought for Korean independence.[24]
Tactics
There was no main strategy or tactic that was prevalent throughout the resistance movement, but there were stages where certain tactics or strategies were prominent.[25]
From 1905 to 1910, most of the movement's activities were closed off to the elite class or rare scholar. During this time, militaristic and violent attempts were taken to resist the Japanese including assassination. Most of the attempts were disorganized, scattered, and leaderless to prevent arrests and surveillance by the Japanese.[citation needed]
From 1910 to 1919, was a time of education during the colonial era. Many Korean textbooks on grammar and spelling were circulated in schools. It started the trend of intellectual resistance to Japanese colonial rule. This period, along with
March 1st movement of 1919, strikes became prominent in the movement. Up to 1945, universities were used as a haven and source of students who further supported the movement. This support system led to the improvement of school facilities. From 1911 to 1937, Korea was dealing with economic problems (with the rest of the world, going through the Great Depression after World War I). There were many labor complaints that contributed to the grievances against Japan's colonial rule. During this period, there were 159,061 disputes with workers concerned with wages and 1018 disputes involving 68,686 farmers in a tenant position. In 1926 the disputes started to increase at a fast pace and movements concerning labor emerged more within the Independence Movement.[23]
List of groups by type
There were broadly three kinds of national liberation groups: (a) the Christian groups which grew out of missionary efforts led by Western missionaries primarily from the United States prior to the Japanese occupation; (b) the former military and the irregular army groups; and (c) business and intellectual expatriates who formed the theoretical and political framework abroad.[citation needed]
Religious groups
Presbyterian missionaries followed in the 19th century starting off a renaissance with more liberal thoughts on issues of equality and woman's rights, which the strict Confucian tradition would not permit.[27]
The early Korean Christian missionaries both led the Korean independence movement active from 1890 through 1907, and later the creation of a Korean liberation movement from 1907 to 1945.[28] Korean Christians suffered martyrdoms, crucifixions, burnings to death, police interrogations and massacres by the Japanese.[29][30][31][32][33]
Amongst the major religious nationalist groups were:
List of militant Korean independence activist groups
Donghak Peasant Revolution: Donghak armies were spontaneous countryside uprisings, originally against corruption in the late Joseon dynasty, and later, against Japanese confiscation of lands in Korea.
Righteous army: Small armies that fought Japanese military police, cavalry, and infantry most intensely from 1907 to 1918, but which carried on till the end of World War II
Sun Yat-sen was an early supporter of Korean struggles against Japanese invaders. By 1925, Korean expatriates began to cultivate two-pronged support in Shanghai: from Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang, and from early communist supporters, who later branched into the Chinese Communist Party.
Little real support came through, but that which did develop long-standing relationships that contributed to the dividing of Korea after 1949, and the polar positions between south and north.
Royalist influence
The constant infighting within the
righteous army commanders were linked to the family but these generals and their righteous army groups were largely dead by 1918, and cadet
members of the families contributed towards establishing both republics post-1945.
^ abcdefLiu, Xiaoyuan. "Resume China's Korean Connection". Recast All Under Heaven: Revolution, War, Diplomacy, and Frontier China in the 20th Century. pp. 40–43, 45, 48–49, 51–52, 56–57.
