Korea

Many other Asian countries have also seen the effects of imperialism in their societies. One notable example of this is Korea.

Imperialism in Korea differs from the previous examples of India and Latin America in a few key ways. Firstly, Korea was annexed during WWII, significantly after the Age of Exploration. Secondly, Korea was invaded by imperial Japan, not a European power.

Before the Japanese occupation, Korea was often subject to its neighbors’ influence, notably imperial China. However, Korea maintained a dynamic, independent culture and society until the late nineteenth century. Although Korea was a tributary of the Chinese empire, they managed to remain otherwise isolated from the outside world. However, the turn of the century marked the beginning of Japan’s Colonial period. The decline of the Chinese empire and increasing pressure from Russia and Japan led to an overall decrease in Korean autonomy, with Japan being the primary power on the peninsula. 

In 1910, Japan annexed Korea. For 35 years, Japan controlled the Korean peninsula. The Japanese regime in Korea was notoriously oppressive, depriving the Korean people of many fundamental rights. Another notable pillar of Japanese imperialism was its emphasis on assimilation. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, assimilation is “the process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society.” During later years of Japanese control, forced cultural assimilation reached its most extreme, resulting in the Korean language, history, and culture’s systematic destruction.

Japanese imperialism in Korea ended in August 1945 with the Japanese surrender. However, the period left many lasting consequences in Korean society.

Michelle Ma describes the profound impact of Japan on post-war Korea.

“When I was in middle and high school…we had maintained a Japanese system,” Ma said. “And many of the vocabulary words we used were Japanese words.”

Ma teaches Korean at the Looking Glass Korean School. She grew up in Korea and studied Korean history, at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and modern Japanese history, at Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya, Japan.

“After independence in 1945, the people who got well educated were actually the poor Japanese groups,” Ma said. “The descendants from poor Japanese groups are having a good life. But the descendants from independence movements like [Korean Freedom] fighters don’t have a good life.”

According to Ma, post-war Korea could not rid itself of Japanese influence since the Japanese occupied the ranks of the educated elites.

“The Korean government could not clear that [the Japanese] because well-educated people can be the bureaucracy of the Korean government,” Ma said.

Although it is not as common now, several decades ago, many Japanese used the term zainichi. Zainichi translates to “to stay in Japan,” and it is a term used to describe Korean-born Japanese people. After Japan surrendered in 1945, many Koreans still lived in Japan.

In 1998, while Ma was living in Japan, she knew someone born in Japan but had Korean ancestry. Because of this, the Japanese government refused to grant that person Japanese citizenship.

“She is one example of the modern effects of imperialism,” Ma said. “Up until 2008, they could not get Japanese citizenship… they didn’t have any voting rights, and they didn’t have any Social Security benefits.”