ABSTRACT
Korea Under Japanese Rule Korea was perhaps more brutally exploited than any colonial country in the world, under an exceptionally harsh Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945. Living standards, already dangerously low, fell sharply during this period as Japan milked Korea of much of its raw materials and food. Modern mines, railways, roads, postal service, and factories were built for the rst time, largely under the auspices of the
Japanese South Manchurian Railway, but most of the coal, iron, and food crops were shipped to Japan, and the forests were stripped. Public health measures and an enforced civil order led to a substantial population increase, but the people were increasingly impoverished. Koreans were told to take Japanese names; their language could not be used publicly or taught in schools. Most Koreans were denied even elementary education. Most nonmenial jobs, including even engine drivers, were lled by Japanese, while Koreans labored as near-slaves. A few found lower-level positions in the colonial bureaucracy, but Korean e orts at self-expression and movement for political reform and representation were ruthlessly suppressed; their supporters were jailed, killed, or driven out as refugees. By 1945, there were too few Koreans with the education or administrative experience to form a viable government. Many of those who were able were living outside Korea or entangled in ideological battles that prevented Korean unity at that crucial time.
