Korea and Japan History

Before the Split

Joseon Dynasty

1. Yi ha-eung (1863 - 1874)

   1. Asian rules chosen by previous rulers

   2. Title: Heungson Daewongun - regent for King Gojong

   3. Works to insulate Korea from rest of world

      1. No western influence

      2. “War” on missionaries - created Christian martyrs

2. King Gojong → Emperor Gojong

   1. Last King & First Emperor

      1. Wanted to unify Han Kingdom under one empire (The Empire of the Great Han)

         1. Unified in 1897 under one ideal, lasted till 1910

         2. Korea used to be “Han”, we Americanize to Korea

         3. Seoul (not yet capital) had more of the temples

         4. Pyeongyang (capital of empire) was more prosperous and had more business

      2. Gwangmu Reform

         1. Modernize and & Westernize Five Things:

            1. Military

            2. Economy

            3. Land system

            4. Education system

            5. Industry

Meiji Restoration (1868 to 1890 smths)

1. Under Emperor Meiji (1868 to 1912)

2. End of Tokogawa Shogunate

   1. Shogunates has military leaders (shoguns) that were generally more powerful than the emperor

   2. At peak, Tokogawa Shogunate controlled everything at Eto

   3. Coup against Tokogawa to take them down and put Meiji (more western ideals) in power

   4. Feudal system:

      1. Emperor - head, little legal power

      2. Shogun - really more powerful than emperor

      3. Daimyo - owned a prefecture/area for the shogun

      4. Samurai - protected the Shogun

      5. Peasants/farmers - given a lot of autonomy, had advanced techniques like crop rotation and irrigation’

   5. Hokkaido one of the first islands Japan takes

   6. After Commodore Perry, Japan sends delegation to US & brings back industrialization, colonization, and slavery

   7. Prioritized education over military in this time period

Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

1. Battle of Tsushima Strait (May 27 - 28, 1905) - showing that there are Asian military/naval powers

2. Portsmouth Peace Treaty (1905)

   1. Brokered by Roosevelt (who won a noble peace prize)

   2. Gives Korea to Japan even though they didn’t participate and are unable to resist

3. Eulsa Treaty - taken to Gojong to rubber stamp signing over of Korea, who denies it (1905)

   1. In response, Japan forges signatures on the 1905 Protectorate with help of government officials

   2. Hague 1907 - Korea tries to present a case to nullify Eulsa that fails

4. Nov 17 - Day of National Disgrace

   1. Japanese troops move into Korea

5. Gojong forged to abdicate 1907 and his son, Sunjong, ascends the throne as Japan’s puppet ruler (educated by Japanese)

6. Sunjong done in 1910 when Japan fully annexes Korea and disbands military

Japan Under Korea

1. Righteous Army (ex-military personnel, kids, all volunteers) only resistance to Japan - 1907 to 1912 before bloody end

2. First time we see Korea used ?? FIX THIS

3. Koreans are considered Japanese subjects, but are treated as less than actual Japanese

4. Japan sets up warlords as it marches in (August 29, 1910) - overall sentiment: “I will whip them with scorions”

5. Koreans lose rights to everything - civil liberties (press, speech, private schools)

6. Nullified clans’ land claims and land seizure protests are met with execution

   1. People migrated to Manchuria or stayed with family members who still had land

7. Gojong Dies (1919)

   1. Declare independence March 1, 1919 as an act of defiance

      1. Declaration written by Choe Nam - Son

      2. Didn't have rights to practice or assemble, but did it anyways

   2. Starts first attempt at revolution:

      1. Called March 1st movement

      2. Over 2 million marched for independence

      3. 1500 different locations around Korea - spread globally (including Philadelphia March 20, 1919)

      4. Led by college students

      5. 7000 killed

      6. 15000 - 16000 killed

      7. 46000 end up at Seodaemon Prison, Seoul or similar prisons

Japan’s Cultural Rule (1920s)

1. Japan’s attempt to assimilate their cultures (really replace with Japanese culture)

2. Seoul - women in komonos, men in suits, crane in zoo, all signs in Japanese, forced to take Japanese middle names

3. Sunjong dies in 1926, end of Joseon dynasty

4. Sino-Japanese War (1937) because Korea is almost fully “Japanized”

   1. Mandatory for Koreans to enlist in Japanese Imperial military

      1. Even Park Chung-Hee had to enlist in Japanese army

5. Koreans in Japan

   1. Koreans increasing in Japan - slave laborers

   2. Spike in 1943 - need laborers (slaves) to replace men @ war

   3. Aso Yoshiku Ma Mine - Korean slaves & POWS worked as laborer (Kyushu, Japan 1933)

      1. Australians also worked

      2. Most infamous is Mitsubishi island

         1. Known for horrible conditions (water, food, humidity, etc.)

         2. 122 forced laborers died (disease, injury, suffocation, dronwing/accident, suicide, heart attack, etc.) → None say starvation

         3. Historians believe as many as 13000 died on this island

         4. Undersea coal mine during WWII

      3. Women taken as sexual slaves (“comfort women”) - about 200,000 women taken

         1. Never able to engage with life in Korea because they were looked down upon

         2. Go pregnant and had forced abortions or had their babies taken

         3. Started protesting later on in South Korea

            1. 2014 - statue of peace erected

WWII

1. Cairo Conference (1943)

   1. Chang Hai Shek, Roosevelt, Churchill meet

   2. Don’t meet with Stalin here (Chang Hai Shek and Stalin beef after Sino-Soviet split), meet w/ him in Tehran

   3. All wanted Japan to lose

      1. Punish Japan’s aggression

      2. Free Japanese colonies → free Korea

2. August 15, 1945 → Day of Light

   1. Europe closed in May, takes till August for Pacific to end

   2. But on August 10th, 1945 → 385h parallel created for spheres of influence

      1. Charles Bonesteel III & Dean Rusk designed plan for post-war Korea

      2. Soviet got Sphere in North → no trust of US
         US got sphere in South → defend Japan (now under US rule)

      3. Never meant to cut Korea in half, idea was that it’d be united one day

3. Hiroshima happened1 on August 6th, 1945

4. Nagasaki happened on August 9th, 1945

   1. Kind of unncessary

   2. Amphibious attack planned for 10th, never happened

Syngman Rhee

1. First president of Korea

2. Spent most time in China, US, or Honolulu

3. President of Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai (1919 to 1939)

4. Returned to Korea after WWII

5. Formation of People’s Committees

6. Voted as president of Korea - Sept. 6, 1945

   1. Declared it Korean’s People’s Republic

   2. Not legitimized by communists

Southern Development

1. 1947 - UN ordered assembly elections for a unified Korea (communists won’t participate)

2. 1948 - Rhee elected President of President of Republic of Korea (South)

   1. Constituent assembly elected

   2. Nation recognized by US & 30 other nations

   3. US & Allies remove troops

   4. Rhee assumes dictatorial powers

      1. Purged opposition and outlawed competition parties

      2. Had leaders of Nationalist/Populist party executed for treason

      3. Reelected 1952, 56, 60

      4. War years created downward mobility

   5. Jeju Massacre (Apr 3, 1948 - May 1949)

      1. Small island off of Korea with matriachal society

      2. Protested Rhee’s election and surpression of people

      3. 14000-15000 died (1 in every 3 or 4 people)

      4. Killed by Rhee’s forces (Koreans on Koreans)

      5. 2003 - president of the time apologizes

      6. Similar thing happened on Yeosu (October 1948)

Korean War

1. North Korea invades South Korea - June 25th, 1950

2. Official War Years: 1950-53

3. US Troops Come In:

   1. From Afghanistan - tired, ready to go home

   2. From South Pacific - lounging on beaches, itching for fight

4. Both almost took the whole country, bounced around 38th parallel

5. 1 in 6 Koreans will die during war years (Korean & WWII)

6. Entire peninsula reduced to rubble

   1. Temples destroyed

   2. Guerilla tactics from Soviets

7. Armistice signed July 27, 1953

   1. Signed at Panmunjom

   2. Not peace treaty

   3. Legally still at war

8. Roughly 2 million lives lost

9. Education system split - each side blames it on the other

10. New armistice line drawn around 38th parallel

11. As a whole poorer than Guatemala and/or Zimbabwe

    1. Straw buildings, no word for “garbage'“ because they want to use everything

12. Picasso - 1951:

    1. Meant to humanize, showing how defenseless people were getting killed by soldiers on both sides

South Korea

Path to Democracy

1. Outside businessmen coming in to take advantage of cheap labour

2. 1950s - Wigs fashonable in West

   1. Wig merchants bought hair for American dollars right off the street

   2. Manufacturers set up factories in Guro, Seoul

   3. Cheap female labor washed, sewed, shaped, and packaged wigs

   4. By end of 1960s, wigs were 10% of South Korean exports

   5. By late 1970s, 3rd most exported product

3. 2nd Republic of South Korea

   1. 1960 - Syngman Rhee steps down

   2. Yun Posun elected but under new parliamentary system

      1. Less power than Parliament

Military Coup

1. Puts Park Chung-Hee in power

2. Post war economics (1960 to 1990)

   1. Rapidly industrailizing

   2. Move from rural to urban areas

   3. Advances in standard of living (diet, health, well being)

   4. Ambition, drive = improved lives → Korean dramas told stories of “We used to all be poor together” narratives

3. General Park proclaims Third Republic

   1. Intense focus on education

   2. National campaign for industrial development begins

      1. Known as economic miracle outside, really just blood, sweat, and tears

   3. Creation of chaebols (family companies supported by state)

      1. Three foci: concreate, steel, autos

      2. Hyundai one example, Samsung, SK, Kia, LG others

      3. Chaebols involved in building schools, manufacturing, production

   4. Seoul Busan Expressway

      1. Korea without freeways before

      2. Hyundai: If you build in under 3 years, you get all state contracts

      3. 9 million workers going day and night, 700 deaths

      4. Finished 264 mile freeway in 2.5 years at tenth of the cost of similar size freeway in Japan

      5. “Outcome of the blood, sweat, and tears of our people” - Park

      6. When finished, Park Said: now we need cars → new task + company added to chaebols

4th Republic of South Korea

1. 1972 - Park increases his powers with new Yushin Constitution (4th republic) & martial law

2. 1974 assasination attempt kills wife

3. 1979 Assassinated by Kim Jae-kyu friend/director of Korean CIA for harsh crackdown on student protests and skyrocketing oil prices

4. Civilian acting president Choi Kyu-hah –promises to halt torture of political prisoners

   1. Kim (assassin) and collaborators are tortured and executed

   2. Martial law declared, National Assembly disbanded, public meetings banned (except funerals), political speeches and gatherings banned

5. General Chun Doo-Hwan seizes power Dec. 12, 1979

   1. Arrests 30 fellow generals and accusing them of complicity in Park’s assassination

Gwangju Massacre - May 1980

1. Tens of thousands of students & protests pour into streets of Gwanju, protesting martial law—closing universities & newspapers, banning political activity

   1. Police sent to homes of pro-democracy leaders and student organizers to arrest

   2. 100,000 students march for reform = harsh restriction by Chun and army set

   3. 200 students at University gate met by 30 paratroopers (trained to fight N Koreans)

      1. Students throw rocks, civilians join march

   4. 700 paratroopers sent in response to students throwing rocks at Chonnam University; bludgeon students and others

      1. 29 yo deaf student bludgeoned to death

   5. Residents of Gwangju join protests, throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks

      1. 20 girls shot in high school, those trying to take wounded to hospital shot, student hands bound with barbed wire, on-the-spot-executions

   6. Additional 3000 paratroopers beat, stabbed, mutilated with bayonets, threw from high buildings, shot indiscriminately

2. Gov # was 200 killed, 2000 “missing” according to next census

5th Republic

1. 1980 - Chun elected by National Conference for Unification (NCU)

   1. NCU created to elect president without opposition (same way Park was “elected”)

2. Increasing shit towards high-tech and computer industry

3. New constitution limited presidential term to 7 years = 5th republic

4. 1981 - Martial law ends, Chun re-elected under new constitution

   1. Known as S. Korea’s last dictator “Butcher of Gwangju”

   2. Closer ties with anticommunist U.S. President Reagan; distance w/ N. Korea

5. 1987 constitutional reforms restored civil rights; national referendum approves:

   1. Reduction in presidential terms to 5 years

   2. Direct popular election of president

6th Republic

1. 1988 - General Roh Tae-woo elected President in democratic election

   1. First peaceful transition of power begins (6th republic, current)

   2. Grants greater degree of political liberalization

   3. Launches anti-corruption drive

2. 1988 - Olympic Games in Seoul

3. Northern Diplomacy policy established diplomatic ties with Soviet Bloc countries and Soviet Union in 1990 and China in 1992

President Soon Yuk Yeol (2022)

1. Election was called Squid Game

2. Campaigned on the platform that he would get rid of Ministry of Gender Equality → backed off this promise later

3. Insulted women taking part in Me 2 movement

4. Performed blood rituals on animals with shaman

5. Accused his opponent of being Hitler/Mousselini

6. Said he would get rid of corruption

7. Former prosecutor

   1. Convicted former president Park Geun-hye (daughter of General) → first women president of corruption

   2. Indicted top aide of President Moon Jae-in on fraud and bribery

8. No prior political experience

9. Moved office out of Blue House to military compound

10. Threatened preemptive strike with US missiles on North

11. Timeline

    1. Dec 3, 2024 - Yoon declares martial law and bans political activities, protests, party meetings, appointed chief of staff to oversee martial law → believes North Korean sympathizers in midst

    2. 11 PM same day - call for emergency parliamentary vote

    3. 11:45 - soldiers storm National Assembly building, perimeter made, people have to sneak in

    4. Dec. 4 - 190 vote to unanimously overturn martial law, Yoon lifts 3 hours later

    5. Right away, 6 opposition parties file for impeachment

    6. Dec. 7 - Yoon says he will declare martial law again if impeached, members of ruling party walk out - no quorum for trial

    7. Dec. 14 - 205 to 85 vote to impeach, by 7:30 he’s suspended from his duties as president

    8. Dec. 27 - constitutional court impeachment trial

    9. Dec. 31 - arrest warrant issued for not coming to testify in his trial, joint investigation for insurrection and abuse of power started

    10. Jan 3 - supporters and security have standoff with police (2700 extra police show up to help)

    11. Jan 15 - taken into custody, refuse to answer questions

    12. Jan. 26 - formally indicted

    13. Apr. 4 - Constitutional Court upholds impeachment - Yoon removed from office

    14. Lee Jae-Myung (liberal) elected June 3, 2025 in snap election

12. 9 presidents since 1980, 2 impeached, 4 charged with corruption and for Guangdong massacre, 3 pardoned + 1 suicide by jumping off cliff

North Korea

Kim Il-Sung

1. Joined Marxist underground organization (under Japanese) → jailed for months

2. 1931 - joined Chinese Communist Party; part of violent uprising in Manchuria resisting Japanese

3. Major in Soviet Red Army

4. Aug 1948 - Parliamentary Elections

   1. Deputies elected from N&S

   2. Korean Workers Party (won majority)

      1. Communist Party led by Kim

5. Immediately began building cult of personality

   1. “The Great Leader”

   2. Statues all over N. Korea

6. Determined to unite Korea under Communism

   1. Launched invasion of S. Korea (1980)

7. Post-war → Sino-Soviet conflict flip-flop

   1. Purged pro-Chinese, then pro-Soviets

8. By 1964, farming collectivized, industry nationalized

9. Juche - self-reliance, never get good at these goals, tower built in 1982

   1. Autonomy in ideology

   2. Independence in politics

   3. Self-sufficiency in economy

   4. Self-reliance in defense

10. State branded intelligensia

11. Economic development plans make gains

    1. Getting aid from USSR, China, E. Europe

    2. Cultural Revolution, Stalin’s Reign of Terror, E. European revolutions cause decline in aid

12. Economic plans fail to meet goals

    1. Heavy expenses on defense

    2. Low standards of living; food shortages ‘53 - ‘93

13. 1972 - constitution changed premier to president

    1. Appointed son to powerful party posts → makes him heir apparent

14. 1994 - dies with strong cult of personality

    1. Known as Great Leader, Son of the Nation, Ever-Victorious Brilliant Commander, and Eternal President

    2. 1994 - president written out of constitution

Kim Jong-Il

1. Kim dynasty begins

2. Slowly consolidates power

   1. 1997 - head of Korean Worker’s Party

   2. Kim Il-Sung posthumously given the title of eternal president

   3. Kim Jong Il chairman of National Defense Commission (highest office)

      1. 2009 - constitution added title “supreme leader”

3. Built dynastic cult of personality - Kims are like gods

   1. Dear leader

   2. Glorious General Who Descended from Heaven

   3. Guiding Star of 21st Century

1st Inter-Korean Summit

1. 1998 - S. Korean president Kim Dae-Jung pursues “sunshine policy” → openly meeting

   1. Offers unconditional aid to N. Korea

2. June 2000 Pyongyang Summit

   1. N stops broadcasting propaganda against S

3. August 2000 - Border liaison officers reopen at truce village Panmunjom

   1. S. Korean amnesty to 3500+ prisoners

   2. 100 N. Koreans met relatives in S

   3. Bombed offices in 2020

2nd Inter-Korean Summit

1. June 2007 - Joint Declaration to resolve nuclear issue on Korean peninsula and economic cooperation projects

2. October 2007 Pyongyang - no new diplomatic advancements

Kim #3

1. Kim Jong Il dies Dec. 17, 2011

   1. Given title of Eternal Leader

2. Kim Jong Un rises as new Supreme Commander

   1. 28 years old, not the oldest son, 3rd eldest

   2. Oldest was said to have hormone imbalance, too much like a girl, not fit to rule

   3. 2nd son deemed illegitimate because mother was a divorcee

Pyongyang

1. One of the only major urban cities in North Korea

2. Lots of villages

   1. More rural

   2. Some had no running water

3. Apparently have great education if you can get to school

3rd and 4th Inter-Korean Summits (April, May 2018)

1. 2018 - Kim Jong-Un becomes first N. Korean leader to enter S, meeting Pres. Moon Jae-in for talks at Panmunjom border crossing

2. Agree to end hostile actions, work to reduced nuclear arms on the peninsula

5th Inter-Korean Summit

1. September 2018 - Pyongyang

2. Pyongyang Joint Declaration - more cooperation and exchanges, reduced tensions along border

End of War

1. Agreed “in principle” to end Korean War

2. Precondition for formal talks was US removal of military bases

   1. Scared of power vacuum to be created if we remove our biggest base in Pacific

   2. North Korea fired multiple short-range missiles over previous year, have tested some long-range missiles

Small Conflicts

1. 2023 - US & S. Korea jets and carriers participate in exercises off S. Korean coast

   1. North Korea tests five missiles during “nuclear counterstrike tactical training”

2. One more joint simulation in South China Sea

   1. N. Korea fires two more missiles