Korea’s Assimilation into Japan

In 1910, Korea officially became a colony of Japan and was to be called a new name. This new name was the Japanese name, Chosen. By the 1930’s Japan took extreme measures to assimilate Korea into Japan. To do this, Korean culture was to be almost completely eliminated, with the end goal being to turn Koreans into Japanese. The education system was revised to include more hours in Japanese language instruction, with eventually all classes being taught in Japanese. Along with this, the teaching of the Korean language and history of Korea were no longer being taught. To further eliminate the Korean language, Korean was no longer allowed to be used in any public office, and businesses were forced to maintain all documents in Japanese only.

Koreans were also required to pledge allegiance to the emperor and country of Japan through reciting a pledge at all public events. The Japanese also wanted to enforce their religion, Shintoism, on all Korean people by forcing them to attend services at shrines. The punishment for not complying with these demands was severe, and included prison, torture, or not receiving one’s food ration.

Another disagreeable action carried out by the Japanese was the forcing of all Koreans to relinquish their Korean name and choose a new Japanese one. This was the boldest move by the Japanese, as giving up one’s name means forgoing their own individual identity and culture and moving to a new one. This made many Koreans indignant, but even so, around 84 percent of Koreans chose a new name (1).

 

1. Schoppa, R. Keith. East Asia: Identities and Change in the Modern World, 1700-present. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. 275.