9781422285961

Roots of a Forgotten War

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peninsula in the far northeast. Japan lies to the east, across the Sea of Japan. Throughout history, Korea has often been dominated by powerful neighbors. Competition for influence on the Korean Peninsula helped spark a war between Japan and Russia in 1904. Japan triumphed. In 1905, it made Korea a Japanese protectorate (a weak state that is protect- ed and partly controlled by a stronger state). Koreans didn’t particularly want that status. Many took up arms against the Japanese. Within five years, more than 17,000 had been killed. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea under a treaty it forced the Korean emperor to sign. Japan’s emperor, the treaty said, would reign over Korea “completely and forever.” The Japanese ruled the Korean colony harshly. They took a great deal of land from Koreans and transferred it to Japanese immigrant farmers or Japanese landlords. Many Korean families were plunged into poverty as a result. But it was Japan’s efforts to expand its overseas empire that would have the most wrenching consequences for Koreans.

In July 1937, Japan invaded China. Shortly afterward, the Japanese began tak- ing steps to suppress Korean culture and instill loyalty to Imperial Japan. These steps included compelling Koreans to adopt Japanese names, introducing Japanese textbooks into schools, and making stu- dents pledge allegiance to Japan’s emperor. In December 1941, Japanese forces attacked the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This pulled the United States into World War II. During the war, Japan’s treatment of Koreans became more brutal. Tens of thousands of young women were abducted and made to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. Korean men were forced to provide labor, often under appalling conditions, to support the

A Honolulu, Hawaii, newspaper reports the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. By crippling the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Japan was able to quickly conquer a large part of the Pacific and Asia.