History of Korea

Forced Assimilation of the Koreans to the Japanese social structure came in many forms, including education, language, religion, and names. The Japanese felt that in order to fully benefit from the manpower of Korea, the Koreans needed to be assimilated. The war effort and in order to build a strong colonial base, all contributed to the new policy to assimilate the Koreans. The goal was to erradicate all differences between the Japanese citizen and the Korean colonist so that the Koreans would assist in the building and maintenance of the Japanese empire.

Education was the key to changing the mentality of the Korean youth, the future of the colony. In 1934, Governor-General Ugaki changed the educational policies of the colony, by passing the new Rescript on Education. The edict revised the ciriculum of colonial schools by adding more hours spent on studying the Japanese language, ethics, and history. The next Governor-General, Minami, continued the reforms of education by adding the Pledge of Imperial Subjects, which all students were required to recite. Students were also required to learn and speak only Japanese and the study of Korean history and the Korean language were eradicated. This was extended to the general public later on, when government officials, businesses, and banks all adopted this exclusive use of only the Japanese language. Korean newspapers and magazines were eliminated, which might have contribute to mass resistance. Language depervation was a very effective means of elimilating the cultural and national identity of the Koreans, because it forced them to accept the dominant Japanese culture.

Another form of oppresive assimilation was the introduction in 1935 of forcing students and government officals to attend the Shinto ceremonies. Many from the Christian community objected to this by closing their churches and schools, which lead to their eventual expulsion and arrest. Koreans had to relinquish their right to freedom of religion. They had to accept the Emperor of Japan as their own, leading to further assimilation into the Japanese culture.

The Japanese government's plan was to bring all of its continental aquisitions together by assimilating them into Japanese society. The war effort was another way that the Japanese could accomplish this policy. Political mass organizations under the direction of occupational governments brought groups of laborers, tenant farmers, and intellectuals together in order to assist Japan's assimilation of Koreans. This policy began again from student groups. Japanese colonizers began by assimilating the population most susceptible to influences from the Island Empire. Youth and students were usually the first to be affected by the assimilation policy of the 1930's and 1940's.

Of all the edicts which attempted to assimilate the Koreans, the harshest one was implemented in 1939 with the Names Order. Koreans were forced to loose their lineage by taking a Japanese name and dropping their Korean one. All Koreans had to register with the government their new Japanese name. This was another attempt at assimilation in the Japanese hopes that their colonial empire would grow and prosper, by having the Koreans adopt the Japanese mentality through a change in names. This was especially damaging to the cultural identity of the Koreans who were loosing all which distinguished them as Korean.

Colonial Period