Japanese and Koreans in Real History
Most of Japanese are angry with the South Korean Government as it has virtually launched a diplomatic war against Japan.
South Koreans think their status in the US will be promoted higher as they are blaming Japan for matters in and before WWII.
Put simply Koreans could not modernize and Westernize their society between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, while Russians were trying to invade and occupy any part of the Far East. Even China, or Qing Dynasty, which was a suzerain state for the then Korean Kingdom, was powerless before modernized Russian troops.
Without military strength of the Empire of Japan in the Far East at the time, Russians could have colonized Manchuria, North China, and the Korean Peninsula.
So, to build a defense line against Russians, the Empire of Japan helped Koreans get independent from the Chinese rule and modernize its society. But to the eyes of some Imperial politicians of Japan, Koreans were not effective or wise in this effort. Though there were some strong objections inside the political community of the Empire, Tokyo decided to integrate Korea as part of the Japanese Empire which had already put Taiwan and some Pacific islands under its rule.
This annexation of Korea in 1910 was achieved through official diplomatic procedures between Tokyo and the Korean Government. It was based on a treaty endorsed by politicians of both the countries. And, no large-scale armed resistance occurred in Korea on this annexation.
Nonetheless, it is a big shame for Koreans. They had once enjoyed rich culture, especially, in terms of Buddhism and Confucianism. More than 1000 years ago, Japan welcomed Korean immigrants with some cultural skills. They fled the war-torn Peninsula to the Japanese Archipelago to survive. Japanese welcomed them and lived peacefully with immigrant Koreans. Even today there are local places whose names are Korean origin since Korean immigrants settled various parts of Japan (especially a region west of Tokyo is notable in this context).
But as time went by, the Korean society came to become rigid society due to extreme influence of Confucianism. As China was the homeland of Confucianism, Korea got subject to China religiously, culturally, and politically. It was a situation not found in Japan. Japan cut an official diplomatic tie with China in the 9th century, though cultural and commercial ties were maintained. But Korea actually became a tributary of China.
So, when Western Powers, such as the UK, France, the US, and Russia, expanded their overseas activities to build more colonies in Asia in the late 19th century, three major countries in the Far East, namely Japan, China and Korea, were put in trial. China was partly colonized. Korea had no strength and means to prevent Western invasion, being destined to be colonized soon. But Japanese carried out reformation of the state and society (called the Meiji Restoration), advancing to modernization and Westernization. And Japanese could finally achieved their own version of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century. The gap of national power between Japan and Korea was ever increasing since then. And finally, Japanese politicians decided to annex Korea to the Empire for efficient modernization of the Korean society.
(And the Empire of Japan invested more into Korea before WWII than it exploited Korea so as to make Korea a strong part of the Empire and also a reasonable market for Japanese industry.)
This is another face of the so called colonization of Korea by the Empire of Japan. And it is very unfair for the US to neglect it when it shows any compassion to Korean people.
In fact, many old South Koreans who lived the era before WWII and after WWII admitted that the Japanese rule had some reasonable bases. Without the Empire of Japan, South Korea today must be part of North Korea at best.
So, South Koreans living in the US must not try to harm friendly relationship between Japan and the US by telling Americans a lie about special types of Korean women who served Imperial troops of Japan while Korean men opted to get money in exchange rather than to keep their women.
In May 1910, the Minister of War of Japan, Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904 and theJapan–Korea Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectivelyannexed Korea with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 signed by Lee Wan-yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese Governor-General of Korea.
The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. The treaty stipulated:Anyway, it was an era when the US colonized the Philippines, the UK colonized Part of China, Malaysia, Burma, and India; France colonized Vietnam; and the Netherlands colonized Indonesia without expecting that.their rule in Asia would someday end, though it was ended with the Pearl Harbor Attack so successfully and bravely carried out by the Imperial Navy of Japan in 1941.
Article 1: His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.
Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule#Japan.E2.80.93Korea_annexation_treaty.2C_1910
Refer to the following posting:
http://eereporter.blogspot.jp/2010/07/he-sighed-and-saith-unto-him-ephphatha.html
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Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.