The industrialization of the Korean Peninsula began with the Joseon Dynasty, when Korea was still independent, but accelerated considerably under Japanese occupation. The rapid growth of the Korean economy under Japanese rule, which, as historians note when analyzing South Korea`s subsequent economic success, cannot be ignored, continues to be the subject of controversy between the two Koreas and Japan. While the growth is undeniable, North and South Korea point to the alleged long-term negative effects caused by how the acceleration of industrialization was achieved under Japanese occupation, including the use of industrialization solely for the benefit of Japan, the exploitation of the Korean people, the marginalization of Korean history and culture, and the environmental exploitation of the Korean Peninsula. Although the military government was hostile to the left from the beginning, it initially tolerated the activities of left-wing political groups, including the Communist Party of Korea. However, this period of reconciliation did not last long. In a short time, the military government actively disempowered the popular organizations that received public support and eventually banned them. The justification was the USAMGIK`s suspicion that they were allied with the communist bloc, although they took a relatively moderate stance towards the current Communist Party of Korea, which was also banned. Kim Il Sung leads his guerrilla army with Chinese soldiers during an attack on a Japanese garrison in Manchuria, 1933 (North Korean painting) Many Japanese settlers showed interest in acquiring farmland in Korea even before Japanese land ownership was officially legalized in 1906. Governor General Terauchi Masatake facilitated colonization through land reform, which initially proved popular with most Korean populations. The Korean land ownership system consisted of absentee landowners, partial owners, and tenants with traditional ownership (but without legal proof).
The new Terauchi Survey Office conducted cadastral surveys that established the property on the basis of written evidence (deeds, titles and similar documents). The system denied ownership to those who could not provide such written documents; it turned out that they were mostly high-class and impartial owners who had only traditional verbal culture rights. Japanese owners included both individuals and companies (such as the Oriental Development Company). As a result of these developments, Japanese land ownership skyrocketed, as did the amount of land taken over by Japanese private companies. [32] Many former Korean landowners as well as agricultural workers became tenants who had lost their claims almost overnight because they could not pay for land reclamation and irrigation improvements imposed on them. [33] To increase the economic burden on the Korean peasantry, the authorities forced Korean peasants to perform long days of forced labor to build irrigation systems; Japanese imperial officials made peasants pay for these projects in the form of high taxes, impoverishing many of them and causing even more of them to lose their land. [34] Although many other subsequent developments increasingly weighed on Korean farmers, the shortage of rice in Japan in 1918 was the greatest catalyst for difficulties. During this shortage, Japan turned to Korea to increase rice cultivation; However, when Korean farmers began to produce more for Japan, the amount they ate sharply decreased, causing a lot of resentment among them. [35] As a result of the war, large numbers of people were displaced and many families were separated by the restored border.
In 2007, an estimated 750,000 people remained separated from their immediate family members, and family reunification had long been a diplomatic priority. The Japanese army disarmed by American forces. FmkoreaCanian troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula have been disarmed by U.S. forces. fmkoreaSin citizens applaud with the fighters for the independence of Seodaemun prison as well as the liberation. 15 August 1945. fmkoreaA crowd from Seoul Station Square and Namdaemunno applauds the liberation of the country. 15 August 1945.
fmkoreaHarbor from Jinsen (Inchon), Korea, photographed by a USS Intrepid (CV-11) aircraft as Allied forces land there to begin the occupation of South Korea on September 8, 1945. .
