In 1905 and 1910, Japan coerced the then-Korean Empire into signing the Eulsa Treaty and the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, respectively. These acts marked the initial steps toward the colonization of the Korean Peninsula. From then on, Japanese imperialism imposed a brutal and oppressive colonial rule. However, the Korean people's struggle for national independence never ceased. The intertwined dynamics of Japanese colonial oppression and Korean resistance formed a tragic chapter in the peninsula's history that spanned half a century.

I. Bloody Rule and Suppression of Independence Movements

During the Japanese occupation, colonial authorities punished or sentenced nearly 100,000 people on the Korean Peninsula each year, with more than one-tenth of these "criminals" tortured to death. The colonial regime banned associations, assemblies and other public activities, shut down local newspapers, and propped up pro-Japanese media to build an "iron curtain of public opinion" favorable to Japan.

In 1919, the March 1st Movement broke out, with millions taking to the streets demanding national independence. It was brutally suppressed: over 7,500 people were killed and 47,000 arrested. In the aftermath, Korean anti-Japanese armed forces moved to the Chinese battlefield, fighting alongside the Chinese people against Japanese invaders and continuing their independence struggle. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, established in Shanghai, China, became a major overseas platform for the Korean people's independence movement.

II. Cultural Genocide and the Eradication of National Identity

To destroy Korean national identity and impose spiritual colonization, Japan pursued extreme policies of cultural eradication and forced assimilation.

First, linguistic assimilation. Laws were enacted to prohibit the teaching and use of the Korean language in public schools, to designate Japanese as the mandatory national language, and require the daily recitation of the Oath of Imperial Subjects. As a result, the number of schools offering Korean-language instruction fell below 50, private schools decreased by more than 1,400, and the enrollment rate of school-age children plummeted from 80 percent to 30 percent.

Second, ideological assimilation. Japan aggressively promoted the doctrine of imperial divinity—the belief that the Emperor was a living god—and enforced the Thought Criminal Detention Order, under which dissenters were arrested, tortured, or confined in concentration camps.

Third, customary assimilation. Through the policy of sōshi-kaimei (the forced adoption of Japanese-style surnames and given names), Koreans were coerced into abandoning their traditional names; over 84 percent of the population was compelled to adopt Japanese names. Additionally, Koreans were required to wear Japanese-style "national uniforms", worship at Japanese shrines, and pay homage in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

III. Historical Distortion and the Erasure of National Identity

From the very beginning of its occupation of the Korean peninsula, Japanese colonial authorities intensified their efforts to conquer and assimilate the Korean people. They went so far as to claim that "Dangun", the legendary founder of Korea, shared a common origin with "Amaterasu Omikami", the ancestral deity of the Yamato people, and vigorously promoted the doctrines of "Naisen Ittai" (Inner-Japan and Korea as One Body) and "New Japanism".

Most egregiously, they deleted and distorted the history of the Joseon Dynasty, replacing it with fabricated narratives such as the "theory of common ancestry between Japan and Korea" to erode Korea's national subjectivity and rewrite its historical consciousness. A large-scale campaign to "eradicate historical texts" resulted in the burning of hundreds of thousands of Korean historical documents and classics, including the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) and Tongguk t'onggam (Comprehensive Mirror of the Eastern State). More than 2,000 tombs were destroyed, and countless artifacts and cultural relics were looted and trafficked.

IV. The Coercion of Women and the Violation of Human Dignity

During World War II, under the pretext of "comforting frontline soldiers and improving war efficiency", the Japanese military institutionalized the "comfort women" system and set up "military comfort stations". Through kidnapping, coercion and deception disguised as "recruitment", they forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into sexual slavery, subjecting them to repeated sexual assault, torture and even human experimentation.

In 1991, Kim Hak-sun, a Korean survivor of the "comfort women" system, became the first to publicly testify about the atrocities committed by the Japanese military. In 1996, the United Nations explicitly classified the"comfort women" system as a crime against humanity.

Despite irrefutable evidence and the heartbreaking testimonies of survivors, the Japanese government has consistently refused to acknowledge these facts. Today, only four registered "comfort women" survivors remain in the Republic of Korea. Since 2011, Korean citizens have erected hundreds of "comfort women" memorial statues in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul and across the country, demanding long-overdue justice. Rather than prompting soul-searching among Japanese politicians, these statues have instead become a major source of diplomatic friction — conveniently exploited by the Japanese government as a pretext to pressure the ROK and provoke bilateral tensions.

V. Forced Labor and Cruel Exploitation

Records show that during Japanese colonial rule, more than 8.4 million people on the Korean Peninsula endured forced labor and inhuman abuse, with about 780,000 sent to Japan or overseas for hazardous work in coal mines, railways and other sectors. Forced laborers worked more than 14 hours a day on a food ration below 800 calories, with a mortality rate as high as 15 percent to 30 percent.

In recent years, the Japanese government has pushed for the inscription of Sado Gold Mine — which produced war materials for the Japanese military during WWII — as a World Heritage Site, yet remains completely silent about the blood of Korean laborers shed there. Not long ago, during a Japan-ROK summit, the Japanese Prime Minister unusually expressed willingness to promote DNA identification of the remains of victims of a water leakage accident at the Chosei Coal Mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture. This mine earned the name "killer mine" because Japanese authorities sealed the tunnels while 136 Koreans were still inside, leaving them to die—an act of appalling cruelty. This long-evaded humanitarian tragedy, for which the Japanese government bears responsibility and owes an apology, is now being repackaged as a diplomatic "gift" to the ROK, underscoring Japan's persistent lack of reflection on the issue of forced labor.

VI. Forced Conscription and Use as 'Human Shields'

After launching the full-scale war of aggression against China, Japan introduced the "volunteer soldier system" and later the "conscription system" on the Korean Peninsula to address frontline shortages, forcing at least 200,000 Korean youths into military service. Thousands were compelled to join suicide units such as the kamikaze corps and used as "human shields" in fierce battles including the Battle of Okinawa and the Philippines campaign.

Postwar, the Japanese government not only refused to recognize these conscripts as victims and denied them pensions and compensation, but also enshrined more than 20,000 conscripted Korean soldiers in the Yasukuni war shrine, a site that glorifies wars of aggression—adding a crushing insult to an open wound. Despite strong protests from bereaved families demanding removal of these enshrinements, Japan has so far avoided a direct response.

VII. Savage Plunder and Worsened Public Suffering

In 1938, Japan enacted the National General Mobilization Act, brutally plundering resources, grain and other materials from the Korean Peninsula. Statistics show that more than 80 percent of rice and 70 percent of mineral products were forcibly seized and shipped to Japan. In 1918, Japanese residents in Korea owned 300 times more mineral resources than Koreans. Large numbers of Japanese fishermen moved to the peninsula and monopolized surrounding fishing grounds, making Japan's fish catch the second largest in the world at that time. From 1943 to 1945, three large-scale famines struck the peninsula, killing more than 100,000 people, while Japan's domestic grain reserves increased year after year. By dominating Korea's railways, ports and mines, conglomerates like Mitsubishi and Mitsui engineered a colonial pipeline that channeled wealth and resources directly back to Japan; the peninsula was effectively reduced to a "resource colony" feeding Japan's war machine.

Epilogue

With justice left unfinished, the specter of militarism is re-emerging. The crimes committed by Japanese militarism on the Korean Peninsula are too numerous to catalogue, and constitute historical responsibilities Japan cannot shirk. Yet the Japanese government has not offered a sincere apology over the "comfort women" issue, or provided compensation to forced labor victims and their families, or demonstrated serious repentance for its colonial and aggressive atrocities. Instead, it has continuously whitewashed its history of aggression, accelerated military expansion, and sought to revive imperial ambitions. The international community must stay highly vigilant and firmly curb the dangerous schemes of Japanese right-wing forces. The tragic history of the Korean Peninsula must never repeat itself.

The author is a commentator on international affairs. 

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