History Analytical Paper (Modern Asia) - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The years that followed saw the Japanization of Korea until the conclusion of the Second World War. Evidently, history reveals that at the end of the Japanese colonial system, Korea had become the second most innovative and developed country in the region. However, the advances made in Korea occurred at a price. From 1910-1945, Koreans did not know freedom, and this is the price they paid for the economic and societal advancement. Apparently, the price was too heavy to pay in exchange for economical projects that favored the Japanese. Therefore, I disagree with the statement that freedom is a small cost to pay to reap the benefits of colonialism. Many authors tackling the issue of Korean colonization have highlighted that it proved beneficial. This has led to a heated debate on the issue, with thorough analysis showing that the Korean nation underwent massive transformation because of the colonial era. After Japan took control of Korea, the emperors sought to silence the voice of Koreans. This is evident from the recorded narrations from 51 different authors as presented by Kang (21). Kang interviewed different members of the Korean society in order to build a picture of the real experiences of the Koreans. For example, Kang’s father-in law related his memories. The Korean people lost their freedom in every sense. The Korean Communist Party platform reveals how gross the loss was for the Korean people. They lacked democracy, and they remained a people unable to govern themselves freely. The Japanese colonial empire exerted a ruthless form of control on the people, and they complied. The most productive lands belonged to the Japanese emperors whereas the Korean people worked under submission to the Japanese control. Apparently, it was not simply submission they exhibited but rather, they faced exploitation. Workers earned meager earnings, and the working conditions were highly unfavorable for the Korean people. For example, Ch'oe P’anbang experienced injustice in his workplace where others received stipends, except him because he was Korean (Kang 34). The working conditions did not reflect any respect or accord for human dignity. The Korean workers lacked opportunities to rest after laboring an entire week. There were no labor laws to protect the welfare of Koreans workers. Those who failed to comply faced imprisonment and incarceration. In the industrial setting, there were minimal sanitary working conditions, a factor that rendered the work environment highly unsafe. Moreover, there was an evident difference between the treatment of Japanese workers and Korean laborers. The peasantry industry that had defined the livelihood of the Korean people prior to the colonial period started to die down as the Japanese emperors grabbed all the productive lands. For example, Chong T’ae’ik explains how some colonialists compelled Korean farmers to eat insanitary things such as worms. His had retarded Korea’s economic activities (De, Bary468). The Japanese emperors introduced a monopoly system that made it impossible for Korean investors to register any profits. This serves to illustrate the level of exploitation experienced by the Koreans as evident from the Korean communist party platform recorded in the five documents of Korean communism. In addition, the colonialists had taken over traditional industries and sought to convert them into larger industries ...Download file to see next pagesRead More