World War II: How did it affect Korea?

By Anna Kang and Ella Lee

Introduction
We are Anna and Ella, two form 3 KTJ students. We were studying about the big events of World War 2 in our history class, such as Pearl Harbour and Germany’s attacks in Europe. As the term went on, we started thinking about how normal people were effected by these big events. So we decided to research on how our country, Korea, went through the war. 

Actually, Korea's war started long before the official outbreak of World War 2. Korea was declared a Japanese protectorate because of the Eulsa Treaty of 1905, and on 22 August 1910 it was added into Japanese borders after the Japan-Korea  Annexation Treaty.

A tense relationship

Relationships between Korean and Japanese occupiers were tense and there were a number of rebellions and reprisals. For example, Japan killed 7,000 people during the uprising of 1919 and after the Gwangju Students Anti-Japanese Movement of 3 Nov 1929, many of the freedoms were limited by the Japanese government.

Japanese troops

Family impact: Anna’s family
Anna's great-grandfather was involved in the independence movement working with a famous independence activist, Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, who established the Shinminhoe. The Shinminhoe was a community designed to fight the Japanese occupation of Korea and to educate Koreans about their traditional culture and national spirit. This organisation was repressed by the Japanese armed forces.

Anna’s mom said, “Your grandfather bought a sword by himself
and headed to Manchuria to fight against the Japanese. Unfortunately he was caught and arrested by the Japanese soldiers. But due to complications from imprisonment under harsh conditions, inhumane torture and severe internal illness, he passed away after he was released from jail."

Many independence movements occurred before and during WW2. The “Man-Se” movement was a famous example which was waving Korean flags and reading the Declaration of Independence made by 33 people representing Korean activists. This protest was a trigger to the independence movements. Gwangju Students Independence movement and establishment of Shanghai provisional government in 1919 followed. Anna's grandfather, who was a student, also participated in Gwangju Students movement. 

Dosan Ahn Chang Ho

Conditions in Korea
Punishments were often harsh and inhumane to Koreans under control of Japanese occupiers. Atrocities that were well known to Anna's grandmother at the time and she talked about beatings and murders of Koreans, as well as taking away of women and girls to Japan for sex or slave labour. These women were called Comfort Women. Understandably many Koreans were afraid of being implicated in resistance activities.

Anna's mom said, “My mother was afraid if it would affect her son, so she burned all the letters that grandfather received from Ahn Chang Ho and buried the sword on the mountain. That was why my grandfather couldn’t even get a certificate after the war because the evidence that he fought for independence was not enough.”

Comfort Women

After the War
After World War 2, many Korean people suffered from poverty and illness as Korea struggled after years of occupation. Anna's mom told Anna, “Your great grandmother suffered because she had to raise two daughters and one son alone".

Clearly there was some ill feeling between members of Korean society, with claims and counter-claims about who had supported the Japanese occupation.

"My father also had a tough childhood without a father. In many cases the activists’ families weren’t properly compensated by the government. On the other hand, pro-Japan collaborators who were wealthy and stable educated their children well to make their families thrive.”

Whilst there were many cases of the Korean ruling classes being purged of Japanese influence after the war, there were many cases of civil servants being re-employed as the allies tried to re-establish an independent,s elf governing Korea.

Ella’s grandfather
Ella’s grandfather was a scholar, journalist, and independent activist. At the time, TV, radio, news and newspapers were used for propaganda and breaking news. 

Ella’s grandmother said, “He made newspapers and distributed to people free of 

charge to dream of independence. It was a campaign to regain the people who had already lost their country and lost their spirit." 

Ella's grandfather and others like him attempted to fight the Japanese propaganda and pushes towards the universal adoption of the Japanese language and culture, over Korean ones. “As he lived in Seoul, he began to work harder as a national activist. He also traveled through various schools in Korean villages and lectured on Korean history and inspired independent thought.”

Ella’s grandfather should have used Japanese because, Japanese was the native language and Korean was the informal language that only some of the Koreans used.

Korean Comfort Women photographed at the end of World War 2.

Conclusion: Our thoughts
We believe that people, who worked and sacrificed for our country should have been treated better. In the early times after the independence, many pro-Japanese people remained in power as the US military that governed Korea needed civil servants. We feel that those that fought for independence should be recognised more and their families supported.