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  [The Dawn of Modern Korea] (360) Settling Down


By Andrei Lankov

We are used to thinking about Korea as a mono-cultural, mono-ethnic society. However, this was not always the case. One of the most striking features of the Korea of 1895-1945 was the presence of a large Japanese community.

To some extent, colonial Korea was reminiscent of apartheid-era South Africa. It had two distinct communities ¤Ñ Japanese and Korean. They lived side by side, but were unequal and remained largely segregated. The Japanese settlers formed a privileged ¤Ñ even over-privileged ¤Ñ minority. The wall between the rulers and ruled was high ¤Ñ although, perhaps, not as high as some nationalist-minded Korean historians want us to believe nowadays.

The first Japanese migrants began to arrive in Korean cities in the early 1880s, but their numbers remained small until 1900. The situation changed when, in 1905, Korea was occupied by the Japanese army. From that time on, Japanese governments began to actively promote migration to Korea. In 1908, the Japanese government decided ¡°to concentrate overseas migration in Manchuria and Korea¡±.

Japanese newspapers and booklets made it clear that a move to Korea would be different from, say, migration to the United States (a very popular option in the Japan of the early 1900s). Those Japanese who moved to the United States could expect to find only low-level manual jobs. Those who chose Korea were to form the privileged colonial elite. As a book for prospective migrants frankly said: ¡°In Korea one can carry on an independent enterprise with oneself as master, freely able to employ Koreans at low wages and tell them what to do¡±. A colonizer¡¯s dream, indeed¡¦

In 1900, only 15,000 Japanese resided in Korea. By 1907, their number had reached 125,000. Seoul had 13,000 Japanese residents. The largest Japanese settlement was in Pusan, where they counted 18,000. In Pusan, then as now the major centre of Korean-Japanese trade, the Japanese comprised some 40 percent of the city¡¯s population. Large Japanese communities also existed in Incheon, Mokpo, Wonsan, and other major Korean ports.

The traditional image of the Japanese as colonial bureaucrats or military officers is not quite correct. In 1907, only about 12 percent of all Japanese residents were officials or government employees. Neither were they all rich businessmen. Indeed, one third of the Japanese migrants were employed in commerce, but among them a vast majority consisted of clerks and petty capitalists looking to make a quick yen.

A majority of the Japanese migrants did not come from the privileged classes. For many a misfit adventures in a new colony looked like an attractive proposition. However, not all the newcomers were losers. In the 1900s and 1910s, Korea also was an attractive market for Japanese skilled labour. The Koreans provided cheap unskilled labour for a number of projects undertaken by the colonial administration, but they worked under supervision of the Japanese clerks and foremen. The number of Koreans who had modern technical skills was minimal, and the Japanese artisans and craftsmen enjoyed good wages. Around 1909, a shoemaker would earn on average 0.75 yen daily in Japan, but in Korea his average wage would be twice as high (about 1.4 yen) while the costs of living would be much less.

Most of those men were bachelors or moved to Korea without their families, so the country attracted a number of Japanese full and part-time prostitutes. In 1907 there were 4,253 women whose official occupation was politely described as ¡®geishas¡¯ or ¡®waitresses¡¯. Their arrival marked the introduction of the mass-oriented sex industry in Korea (for earlier Korean courtesans, known as kisaeng, did not perceive the sex-for-cash component as major part of their vocation ¤Ñ and their services, sexual or otherwise, were too expensive for the average commoner).

The Japanese usually did not want to mingle with the Koreans, and lived in segregated Japanese quarters. In Seoul the Japanese initially tended to settle in Yongsan where the Imperial Army established its large base (now used by the US forces). Another Japanese district was to be found near Namdaemun Gate. Myongdong, the major shopping area of the Korean capital, once was the heart of this Japanese neighbourhood.

In 1910, Japan formally annexed Korea. This was a major impetus for the growth of the colonial Japanese community. In 1920, the number of the Japanese residents reached 327,000. They created their own community, with its own traditions, culture, and lifestyle. But that is another story¡¦

03-23-2006 18:09


 
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