Kyung Moon Hwang is a professor of history at the University of Southern California and the author, most recently, of “Past Forward: Essays in Korean History.”The discontent had been building for some time. Even before the Japanese annexation in 1910, Koreans had endured five years as a forced Japanese protectorate, the result of Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Then, in the first decade of colonial rule, Japan placed stifling restrictions on Koreans’ public lives in the name of security.
The Birth of Korean Nationhood
The Birth of Korean Nationhood
The March 1 Movement, born a century ago, set in play the forces that would foster and then divide the nation.
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Sid Guttridge
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Re: The Birth of Korean Nationhood
Hi Gorque,
Korea had existed as a nation long before then. I seem to remember that several hundred years earlier a Korean admiral had created iron-armoured "turtle ships" that destroyed a Japanese fleet and thwarted an earlier Japanese invasion. I suggest you are referring to a "re-birth" of Korean nationhood.
Cheers,
Sid.
Korea had existed as a nation long before then. I seem to remember that several hundred years earlier a Korean admiral had created iron-armoured "turtle ships" that destroyed a Japanese fleet and thwarted an earlier Japanese invasion. I suggest you are referring to a "re-birth" of Korean nationhood.
Cheers,
Sid.
Re: The Birth of Korean Nationhood
Good morning Gorque and Sid,
Two matters must be mentioned to fully understand what was going on:
1. The 20th century saw northeast Asia become a "shatter belt", the term in geopolitics referencing a conflict area of the Great Powers because the ingredients for conflict were present in the area (whether eg valuable natural resources present eg petroleum, gold, spices or trade routes or eg historical claims to area, etc).
2. The "Taft - Katsura 'Agreement'" of 1905; Antecedent to the 1905 Japan-Korea protectorate. SecWar Taft met with Foreign Minister Katsura and "discussed" Korea. Depending on the political bloc represented, some historians call these talks an "agreement", other call it just "discussions", and so forth. The US just acquired sovereignty in the nearby Philippines. Both Japan and the US did not want China's presence on the Korean peninsula.
At the time of the 1840 Opium War, China cataloged the Korean peninsula as part of its territory as per the Chinese "Unequal Treaties". the term to become famous a few decades later. China's 1840 map also showed claims to Sakhalin Island, a large area north of the Amur River (Aigun Treaty of 1858 [considered an "Unequal Treaty"]), Ryukyo (Ja and PRC use different names for the islands south of main Japan and Taiwan) Islands, ... that were later occupied by Japan in 1910 AND Taiwan (Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895).
Secretary of War Taft's meeting was with a rep of a nation that lost WWII. Everyone involved knew that problems would continue. Whether the problems would be lethal was discussed and discussed and ... as recently as 20 years ago, ... let's not take the AHF research vessel on a cruise to the area.
~ Bob
eastern Virginia, USA
Two matters must be mentioned to fully understand what was going on:
1. The 20th century saw northeast Asia become a "shatter belt", the term in geopolitics referencing a conflict area of the Great Powers because the ingredients for conflict were present in the area (whether eg valuable natural resources present eg petroleum, gold, spices or trade routes or eg historical claims to area, etc).
2. The "Taft - Katsura 'Agreement'" of 1905; Antecedent to the 1905 Japan-Korea protectorate. SecWar Taft met with Foreign Minister Katsura and "discussed" Korea. Depending on the political bloc represented, some historians call these talks an "agreement", other call it just "discussions", and so forth. The US just acquired sovereignty in the nearby Philippines. Both Japan and the US did not want China's presence on the Korean peninsula.
At the time of the 1840 Opium War, China cataloged the Korean peninsula as part of its territory as per the Chinese "Unequal Treaties". the term to become famous a few decades later. China's 1840 map also showed claims to Sakhalin Island, a large area north of the Amur River (Aigun Treaty of 1858 [considered an "Unequal Treaty"]), Ryukyo (Ja and PRC use different names for the islands south of main Japan and Taiwan) Islands, ... that were later occupied by Japan in 1910 AND Taiwan (Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895).
Secretary of War Taft's meeting was with a rep of a nation that lost WWII. Everyone involved knew that problems would continue. Whether the problems would be lethal was discussed and discussed and ... as recently as 20 years ago, ... let's not take the AHF research vessel on a cruise to the area.
~ Bob
eastern Virginia, USA