Resident-General and Resistance

General control of Korea by Japanese began in 1906. The Resident-General was invested with full authority in regard to Korea's diplomacy, military affairs and almost entire domestic administration. Through the Council for Improvement of Korean Administration, he pressed the Korean government to accept Japan's aggressive policy in the fields of finance, banking, agriculture, forestry, mining, transportation and education. Internal security, local administration and even the royal household fell to the hands of Japanese.

In order to cover up their coercive actions, the Resident-General sent an American adviser, named D.W. Stevens, to the United States to advance Japanese propaganda. Upon his arrival in San Francisco, Stevens, who was said to have received several tens of thousands of dollars from the Japanese, made a false statement that the Korean people in general welcomed the Korea-Japan treaty. Infuriated by this canard, Korean emigrants Jang In-hwan and Jeon Myeong-un assassinated him in March 1908.

When Emperor Gojong dispatched an emissary to the Peace Conference at the Hague in June 1907 and exposed to the world Japan's aggressive policy, the Office of the Resident-General forced the monarch to abdicate. The third Korea-Japan Agreement of July was forced upon Korea, which provided a legal basis for Japan's appropriation of Korea. A large number of Japanese officials penetrated the executive and judicial branches of the Korean government, accelerating the Japanese scheme of complete Korean overrule. In a secret memorandum attached to the Korea-Japan agreement, it was stipulated that Korean military forces would be dissolved and that courts, newly constructed prisons, and the police would be turned over to Japanese management. This enabled the Japanese to assume actual judicial and police authority.

The Korean Empire was now a nominal one. The Japanese aggressors exerted armed pressure upon the government through their military forces and police. In June 1910, Japan instituted a military police system by appointing the commander of the Japanese military in Korea to the concurrent post of superintendent for police administration.

While it was carrying out the war against Russia, Japan promoted a puppet society, the Iljinhoe. The people reacted with rage, and the Daehan Jaganghoe Club, the Hwangseong (Hanyang) YMCA and the National Education Research Association attacked the Iljinhoe vehemently. When Jang Ji-yeon, publisher of the Hwangseong Sinmun, assailed the protectorate treaty in an editorial, Japanese police arrested him and closed down his newspaper. Another newspaper, the Daehan Maeil Sinbo, published in Korean, Chinese and English, criticized Japan's aggressive and oppressive policies and served as a guide for Korean national resistance.

Many social leaders committed suicide in protest of the forced treaty, and many attempts were made to assassinate ranking Japanese and Korean officials who had cooperated each other in creating the aggressive treaty.

Emperor Gojong appealed unsuccessfully to both the United States and the Hague Peace Conference of 1907 for support in repudiating the treaty. Korean resistance to Japanese control intensified, but was ruthlessly suppressed by the Japanese military. Uprisings led by leading Confucian scholars flared in the provinces of Chungcheong-do, Jeolla-do, Gyeongsang-do and Gang-won-do.

Although the resistance fighters, mainly young peasants, were short of weapons, they fought bravely against the Japanese troops. The resistance assumed major proportions and developed into all-out war with Japan when the regular army joined in the fighting after its forced disbandment by the Japanese. Fighting spread to every part of the country, as not only farmers and soldiers, but also hunters and mine workers of northern Korea joined in the resistance. Commanders included Confucian scholars of the yangban class and a number of commoners.

Many pitched battles were fought between 1907 and 1909, but the resistance fighters were more active in guerrilla tactics. The Japanese army destroyed Korean villages in retaliation. F.A. McKenzie, the only foreigner who visited the volunteer soldiers in their battle areas and personally observed their activities, wrote:

"As I stood on a mountain pass, looking down on the valley leading to Incheon... I beheld in front of me village after village reduced to ashes. Destruction, thorough and complete, had fallen upon it. Not a single house was left, and not a single wall of a house."

The situation of the volunteer army was extremely difficult, in that it had to supply itself as best it could with weapons and other necessities to fight against Japan, while the Japanese army and police could easily obtain war supplies from their country. The Korean armed resistance gradually grew weaker, and Japan reported that the Korean volunteer army had ceased to exist in November 1910 or in March 1912 with its last operation in Hwanghae-do province. McKenzie reported, however, that the volunteer army's resistance might have continued until 1915. At home the resistance took the form of underground organization, while many patriots crossed the Amnokgang and Duman-gang rivers into Manchuria, where they organized the Korean Independence Army with its stronghold in Gando, Manchuria. This army became the main force in all subsequent struggles against the Japanese.

The population of the Gando district as of 1909 consisted of 83,000 Koreans and 21,000 Chinese. The Resident-General, in order to destroy the Korean independence movement there, set up a branch office and stationed military and civilian police forces in Gando. A corps of Korean independence fighters under the leadership of Hong Beom-do had already moved to Gando, but Japan sought to oppress Korean residents in the district by demanding that China recognize Gando as Korean territory under Japanese control.

There was a change of policy, however, as a result of China's concession authorizing Japan's Southern Manchurian Railroad Company to lay branch lines and exploit mining resources in Manchuria. In return, Japan concluded a treaty with China on September 4, 1909, recognizing Chinese territorial rights over Gando.

Nevertheless, the Japanese consulate general newly established in Gando continued to exert pressure against Korean independence activities. The resistance culminated when a young Korean patriot, An Jung-geun (1879-1910), assassinated Resident-General Ito Hirobumi at the Harbin railroad station on October 26, 1909.

Under an annexation treaty concluded on August 22, 1910, and proclaimed a week later, Japan gave the coup de grace to the Korean Empire and changed the Office of the Resident-General to that of Government-General. The proclamation of the treaty had been preceded by severe suppressive measures, including the suspension of newspaper publication and the arrest of thousands of Korean leaders. The capital in particular was guarded tightly by Japanese combat troops.



Economic Exploitation Before Annexation

Between 1905 and 1908, Japan controlled Korea's currency with the rapidly growing volume of Daiichi Bank notes. Supported by generous loans from their home government, Japanese merchants could easily expand their activities and invade the Korean market. The number of Japanese residents in Korea in 1908 totaled to 126,000, and by 1911 the number had risen to 210,000.

The number of Japanese residents engaged in farming also grew rapidly as Japan's seizure of Korean land gathered momentum. Korean farmers controlled by the usurious Japanese capital became an easy prey to expropriation. The Office of the Government-General enacted a series of laws concerning land ownership to the decided advantage of the Japanese.

In the meantime, large Japanese capitalists coercively purchased land, mainly in Jeolla-do and Chungcheong-do provinces, during the period between 1905 and 1910. The Honam Plain in Jeolla-do province, long known as the Korean granary, was rapidly becoming a Japanese farm, and such land seizures quickly spread to other provinces. Intruding into fertile and well-irrigated lands on a nationwide scale, the Japanese advanced toward the north, occupying first the Daegu and Jochiwon areas along the Seoul-Busan railway and the Hwangju area along the Seoul-Sinuiju railway.

In order to carry out land expropriation on a broader and more systematic scale, the colonial government began the practice of distributing to Japanese farmers unclaimed land and military farms of the Korean government. Having worked out a plan aimed at resettling Japanese farmers in Korea, Japan established the Oriental Development Company in 1908 and seized Korean land, reducing the royal property and its finance.

The Japanese plan called for the seizure of state-owned unreclaimed land, military farms cultivated by troops, and the mobilization of Korean laborers for their reclamation. Within a year, the company had seized 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) of military farms and unclaimed land. By means of usurping the Korean government's control over its own financial management, the Japanese also removed property from the royal household. This policy was aimed at preventing Emperor Gojong from raising resistance funds.



Educational Change

While Japan intensified its aggressive scheme, Korea's Independence Club advocated modern reform, raising popular awareness of political participation. Schools founded by Christian missionaries introduced Western style, modern education to Korea. In the face of intensifying Japanese encroachment, the government worked toward improving education. It promulgated edicts for the Hanseong Normal School, foreign language institutes and primary education in 1895, and those for medical colleges, middle schools and commercial and technical schools in 1899, thereby laying the foundation for modern education. In 1904, commercial and technical education expanded to include agricultural schools. Foreign language institutes for Japanese, English and French came into being in 1895, for Russian in 1896, and for Chinese and German in 1900.

Special schools were established to provide various government agencies with skilled workers. They offered curricula in such fields as mining, law, postal service and electricity. There were many other schools founded by private citizens and missionaries to encourage Korean nationalist consciousness. The Cheongnyeon Hagwon, founded in 1904 and operated by pastor Jeon Deok-gi, provided education for young men in close liaison with the activities of the Sinminhoe, an independence movement organization. Its membership included prominent intellectuals and patriotic leaders. However, the school was forced to be closed by the Japanese in 1914.

Through the Office of the Resident-General, Japan assumed actual power over Korean education. The Japanese attempted to bring all schools under government management, reduce the number of schools, subordinate the content of education to their colonial policy, and retard Korean education by lowering the level of academic content. Through the decree for private schools promulgated in 1908, the Japanese strengthened their control over private schools and shut many of them down.

Schools for Korean refugees were, however, continuously established in the Maritime Province of Russia and in the Gando district across the Duman-gang river where rapidly increasing number of Koreans moved in. In 1919 the number of Korean schools reached 130 in Manchuria. Like their colleagues at home, patriotic leaders in exile in Manchuria laid emphasis on education as a prerequisite for the independence struggle.

In 1905, Ju Si-gyeong made a proposal to the government concerning studies of the Korean language and compilation of a dictionary. As a result of his efforts and those of the National Language Research Institute established in 1907, a new system was introduced for the national script. Under this system, the exclusive use of Chinese characters in official documents and communication was replaced by the mixed use of Chinese characters and Han-geul.

Newspapers and books used the new writing system. Knowledge of Western culture and systems spread rapidly among the populace. Through his work on Korean grammar and phonology published in the years 1908-1914, Ju Si-gyeong exerted a profound impact on scientific research of the Korean language. He also taught that language and script were the foundation of national spirit and culture.

On the basis of a modern understanding of the national language, a new literary movement began, aimed at arousing national consciousness among the masses. New-style poems, novels and travel accounts were published in Han-geul. These creative literary achievements were made possible by the translation and imitation of European and American literature, from the latter part of the 19th century to the 1910s. This early stage of the enlightenment movement provided a basis for the development modern literature from the 1920s.



Further Moves Against Japanese Rule

The Japanese Government-General was constantly sensitive to the public awareness and education of Koreans. Thus, in a nationwide search conducted in 1910 for books on Korean history and geography, 200,000 to 300,000 volumes were confiscated and burned. Included in the proscription were Korean readers, biographies of national heroes of earlier centuries, and Korean translations of foreign books relating to independence, the birth of the nation, revolution, etc.

The Japanese also re-interpreted Korean history for their own purposes. Historians employed at the Research Department of the Southern Manchurian Railroad Company were ordered to distort Korean history. The Historical Geography of Manchuria, Historical Geography of Korea, and Report of Geographical and Historical Research in Manchuria are products of such historiography. In The History of the Korean Peninsula (1915), the Japanese limited the scope of Korean history to the peninsula south of Amnok and Duman-gang Rivers, severing it from relations with the Asian continent. They denied findings and theories of Korean historians.

This Japanese attempt to annihilate the Korean national consciousness was particularly evident in their educational policy. The Educational Act promulgated in September 1911 was geared mainly to secure manpower for the operation of the colonial establishment. The Japanese also tightened their control of traditional as well as private schools. More than 90 percent of school-age children were denied the opportunity to learn, thereby keeping them illiterate. The 12 years between 1910 and 1922 saw a spectacular decrease in the number of private schools, from more than 2,000 to about 600. Such was the dire effect of the efforts of the Japanese colonial masters to extinguish Korea's national consciousness.

Early in 1907, when resistance against the Office of the Resident-General was at its height under the leadership of the "righteous armies," the Sinminhoe came into being. The aim of this secret organization was to regain independence. Led by An Chang-ho, the association continued to grow, and by 1910 had a membership of more than 300, with supporters active in all provinces.

On December 27, 1910, Governor-General Terauchi was to attend a ceremony dedicating the railway bridge over the Amnokgang river. On a false charge that Sinminhoe members had engaged in a conspiracy to assassinate him on his way to the ceremony, the Japanese arrested more than 600 of the society members and their sympathizers, of whom 105 leading members, including Yun Chi-ho, Yang Gi-tak, An Tae-guk and Yi Seung-hun were convicted under severe torture. Some were beaten to death.

This Japanese fabrication was exposed by foreign missionaries as H.G. Underwood, G.S. McCune and S.A. Moffet. P.L. Gilette, Secretary-General of the Korean Young Men's Christian Association, went to China and declared to the world that the incident was a fabrication. The same disclosure was made in a booklet entitled "The Korean Conspiracy Case" by A.J. Brown, Secretary-General of the Presbyterian Missions in Foreign Countries, at the request of the missionaries organization in Korea. Brown criticized Japan's colonial policy, calling Korea "a well-regulated penal colony."

After Terauchi's plot to dissolve the Sinminhoe, commanders of the "righteous armies" organized the Independence Army Headquarters in 1913 under the leadership of Im Byeong-chan with the aim of redirecting popular opinion to the cause of restoring national sovereignty. The objectives of the Korean Sovereignty Restoration Corps, originally organized at Aniram, a Buddhist monastery in Daegu in 1915, included independence agitation through direct action and through diplomatic channels, and the supplying of military funds to the Provisional Government of Korea in Exile in Shanghai. The corps planned assaults on Japanese military police stations in 1919, mobilizing thousands of villagers.



Land Survey and Other Forms of Oppression

As soon as the colonial government was established, the Japanese embarked on land surveying for the consolidation of their colonial economic system. They concentrated all of their administrative resources on this project, mobilizing both military and civilian police forces.

Prior to this, in order to reorganize its financial administration in 1898, the Korean government had launched a land survey, and the Office of Land Survey of the Ministry of Finance issued land certificates in 1901 to farms that were surveyed. The project was not completed and in 1905 Japan forced the Ministry of Finance to carry out a land survey to document the Korean government's revenue sources, paving the way for seizure of land.

In 1908, the Japanese forced the Korean government to establish a land survey office to ascertain the amount of real estate owned by the royal household. On the basis of this survey, all immovables owned by the king, except the palaces, the royal mausoleum and royal tombs, were listed as government property. In 1912, the Government-General promulgated laws requiring real-estate owners to make reports on their land within a prescribed period of time, empowering the Japanese financial office to further endorse their ownership of land.

The land survey which took eight years, from 1910 and cost 20,400,000 yen laid the foundation for Japan's expropriation of the nation.

By utilizing the results of the survey, the Oriental Development Company was able to expand its ownership of land to 154,221 hectares. The number of tenant farmers subordinate to the company exceeded 300,000.

The number of disputes concerning land ownership which arose in the course of the survey amounted to 34,000 cases. Most of these disputes came from Koreans who were deprived of their land by the survey, or by false accusations from Japanese. The Government-General resolved the disputes by the application of the "enforced conciliation law."

In 1911 the Government-General enforced measures to provide the Japanese freedom to fell trees, and the authority of Japanese lumbering companies in Korea was expanded. In May 1918, the Japanese promulgated the Korean Forestry Ordinance, forcing forest owners to register with the colonial office. Through a survey separating state and private forests, the Japanese used the pretext of nationalization to transfer the ownership of 1,090,000 hectares of village forests and 3,090,000 hectares of cemetery forests to Japanese lumbering companies. Excessive felling of trees by the Japanese brought about devastation of Korean forests, and extensive erosion followed in the denuded mountains.

To help Japanese firms in their competition with Korean companies and to deter the creation of new Korean businesses, the Company Ordinance was issued in December 1910. This ordinance empowered the government to grant charters, resulting in great hindrance to the development of Korean capital. Even chartered companies were subject to suspension or dissolution by the Government-General at will, and heavy penalties were stipulated for violators. The reduction of Korean capital was accompanied by rapid growth of Japanese investment in fundamental industries.

The Regulations for Fisheries Associations of 1912 also enabled the Japanese to bring Korean fisheries under their control by enforcing joint sale of all that Korean fishermen caught. About 30,000 Japanese fishermen residing in Korea, and about 90,000 other Japanese fishermen, mostly poachers, operated in Korean fishing grounds which had been providing a livelihood for 200,000 Korean fishermen.

The Government-General controlled financial associations by means of usurious loans. In addition, the Oriental Develop-ment Company served as an agent of the Government-General in implementing a large-scale resettlement program that saw no fewer than 98,000 Japanese landowner-families settled in Korea prior to 1918.



March 1st Independence Movement

A nationwide uprising on March 1, 1919 in Korea was an outcry for national survival in the face of the intolerable aggression, oppression, and plundering by the Japanese colonialists. An apparent sudden change in the international situation in the wake of World War I stimulated Korean leaders to launch an independence struggle, both at home and abroad. Syngman Rhee, then in the United States, planned to go to Paris in 1918 to make an appeal for Korean independence, but his travel abroad was not permitted by the U.S. government, which considered its relationship with Japan more important. As an alternative, Rhee made a personal appeal to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who was in Paris at that time, to place Korea under the trusteeship of the League of Nations.

In December 1918, Korean students in Tokyo discussed how to gain independence and selected a committee of 10 members, including Choe Pal-yong, to put their plan into practice in January 1919. They convened a meeting of the Korean Student Association at the Korean Young Men's Christian Association building in Tokyo and declared Korean independence, but the students who gathered were dispersed by police after a brief clash. On February 23, they held a rally in Hibiya Park under the auspices of the Korean Youth Independence Corps, and staged demonstrations calling for Korean independence. Their aim was to stimulate independence resistance and make an appeal to the international society of nations.

The New Korea Youth Party was organized in China in 1918, and it was decided that Kim Gyu-sik would be sent to the Paris Peace Conference to appeal for Korean independence. The party broadened its contacts with leaders in China, the United States, Japan, Manchuria and the Maritime Province of Siberia to promote its cause.

At home, leaders of the Cheondogyo (formerly Donghak) movement, the most prominent among them being Son Byeong-hui, decided that the independence movement should be popular in nature and non-violent. Under the leadership of Yi Sang-jae and Bak Hui-do, who were directors of the Young Men's Christian Association, students rallied to the banner of independence. The leaders of the movement also opened contact with Yi Seung-hun. The contributions of Choe Nam-seon and Kim Do-tae were especially valuable in cementing ties between Cheondogyo and Christian leaders.

On the Buddhist side, Han Yong-un had been carrying out a reform movement to rescue Buddhism from its decline caused by Japanese policy, and he also called strongly for an independence movement. Receiving an offer of cooperation from the Cheondogyo leaders, he immediately responded. The Confucianists had been constantly expressing antagonism to Japanese aggression, and some of them led the volunteer "righteous armies" in direct engagements with the Japanese.

The independence movement was planned also in close liaison with various organizations which had been operating in secret. The climax came on March 1, 1919, when, during a period of public mourning for the recently deceased Emperor Gojong, the Declaration of Korean Independence was publicly proclaimed at Pagoda Park in Seoul. The aroused citizenry then demonstrated in the streets, shouting for Korean independence. This ignited a nationwide movement in which many people took part, regardless of locality and social status.

The Koreans who were arrested by the Japanese and brought to trial represented all occupations and educational levels. Whereas the Koreans had no weapons at that time, the Japanese had stationed in their colony regular ground forces of one and a half divisions, in addition to a 5,402-man police force in 751 stations and a military police force nearly 8,000 strong. By mobilizing these armed forces, the Japanese perpetrated atrocities in their effort to suppress the peaceful demonstrations of the Korean people. The Japanese side reinforced its police by throwing six infantry battalions and 400 military police troops into the suppression campaign. These forces killed about 7,500 unarmed Koreans and wounded nearly 16,000.

Defining any Korean taking part in the independence resistance as a criminal, the Japanese decided to cope with subsequent demonstrations by a policy of mass killing. A case at Suwon, Gyeonggi-do province, was typical. On April 15 that year, a squad of Japanese troops ordered about 30 villagers to assemble in a Christian church, closed all the windows and doors, then set the building afire. While the church burned for five hours, the Japanese soldiers directed a barrage at the confined civilians, killing all of them, including women and infants. The Japanese soldiers also burned 31 houses in the village, then set fire to 317 houses in 15 villages in the vicinity. Informed of the incident, F.W. Schofield, a Canadian missionary, and other American missionaries visited the scene of the incident on April 17, personally viewing the traces of Japanese brutalities, and informed the world of what they had seen.

The 33 signers of the Declaration of Korean Independence were taken before a Japanese court for trial, along with 48 others who worked in close cooperation with them for the independence movement. One of the prisoners, Han Yong-un, wrote "A Letter of Korean Independence," stating the reasons why the Korean people should be free. This writing ranks with the three-article Public Pledge attached to the Declaration of Korean Independence as one of the basic documents which laid the spiritual foundation of the 1919 independence movement. The Korean people in the course of the movement realized that they now need a government in exile which will direct armed resistance in and outside the country.



The Provisional Government of Korea

At the height of the independence movement, a provisional government of Korea was established in Vladivostok on March 21, in Shanghai on April 11, and in Seoul on April 21.

The provisional government in Seoul, a clandestine body with all 13 provinces represented, proclaimed Korean independence, asking Japan to repeal its colonial system and withdraw its occupation forces from Korea. It called upon the Korean people to refuse payment of taxes to the Japanese government, not to accept trials by Japanese courts, and to avoid employment at colonial offices. A direct challenge was posed by the Seoul government against the entire Japanese colonial system.

The National Council of Korea in Vladivostok, which was established first, integrated its activities with those of the Shanghai group. The latter then passed a resolution calling for integration with the Seoul provisional government. The first cabinet meeting was convened in Shanghai on November 4, marking the start of the functioning of the Provisional Government.

As a representative of the Korean people, and as their only independence organization abroad, the Provisional Government in Shanghai, despite financial difficulties and Japanese attempts at infiltration and suppression, led and coordinated Korean independence movements and did its best to fulfill its international obligations. It declared war on totalitarian Japan and provided close cooperation with the Allied Powers during World War II. For 27 years, until its return home on November 23, 1945, after the Japanese surrender, the Provisional Government strove to represent the Korean people.



The Independence Army

Various independence forces operating in Manchuria were unified and placed under the command of the Shanghai Provisional Government. The independence armies underwent frequent reorganization, however, owing to changes in the international situation and differences of opinion among leaders of the Provisional Government. A group of leaders met in Beijing in April 1921 to work out a plan for united military action, realizing that the most urgent task was to unite the independence armies active in Manchuria. The conference later developed into the all-inclusive Council of National Representatives that held its first meeting in Shanghai in January 1923. Armed resistance under the leadership of the Provisional Government was given a firm basis, and the Korean troops in Manchuria continuously engaged the Japanese army, sometimes with spectacular success.

	Men and women launching the Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule.		Yun Bong-gil (1908-1932), an Independence fighter.
		A painting of the scene of Korean leaders declaring the nation's independence on March 1, 1919.

In October 1920 at Cheongsan-ri, a gallant force of about 400 men, in a fierce four-day battle, dealt a crushing blow to a Japanese force of brigade strength. It was only in Manchuria that armed struggle continued against the Japanese army. During the Bolshevik revolution, a brief invasion by the Japanese army drove the Korean independence fighters from the Russian Maritime Province. A Korean army of 3,000 men was besieged by the Red Army in the "free city" of Braweschensk in June 1921, and several hundred Koreans were killed. The survivors were then ordered to abandon their weapons and were taken to Irkutsk to be absorbed into the Red Army.



Changes in Japan's Colonial Policy

The Japanese forced colonial-style education down to a minimum level. They banned the teaching of the Korean language and history while laying greater emphasis on the teaching of Japanese language and history. The deliberate Japanese moves to destroy Korean identity were hailed by Japanese propaganda as a "Cultural Policy."

Though absorbed into the ordinary police structure, the military police executed police administration as before under the protection of special laws. The police force expanded as a result of transfers and amalgamation of military policemen into the ordinary police.

Kim Gu, President of the Provisional Government of Korea in Shanghai.

Leaders of the Korean Independence Army activated in China.

A group of Korean educational leaders adopted a resolution on June 22, 1920, calling for approval of their plan to establish a private university. The Japanese rejected the resolution, however, under provisions of the Korean Education Ordinance, and reacted with renewed oppression. Instead, they established Keijo Imperial University as a colonial institute in 1924 - 1926. Admission of Korean students to that university was limited to one-third to one-fourth of the total number of students. Extreme limitation of fundamental education for Koreans was the most important basic "Cultural Policy" of Governor-General Saito Makoto.

In 1920 the Government-General permitted the start of two private newspapers besides those already in existence. The real intent of this permission was to spy on Koreans of anti-Japanese opinion. Enforcement of strict censorship was practiced on every word and phrase. Japanese colonial policy was geared as before to the oppression of the Korean people by expansion of the police, judicial and prison systems.

Having completed a land survey, Japan planned to meet its food grain shortage with increased rice production in Korea. Japan called for soil improvement and modernization of farming methods. The plan fell short of its goals and was finally abandoned in 1934, but the increase in rice production was impressive, and large quantities were shipped to Japan.

The policy of increased rice production inflicted severe damage to Korean farmers. Per capita rice consumption by Koreans drastically declined between 1912 and 1931 because the amount of rice sent to Japan increased by more than 500 percent during the period. Having taken from Korea 48 to 50 percent of its total rice production, the Government-General attempted to supply a small part of the resultant grain deficit by importing millet from Manchuria, but the price was higher than the price Japan paid for Korean rice.

More and more farmers were downgraded by the colonial policy to either tenants or semitenants. In 1931, they numbered nearly 12 million, comprising 2,325,707 households. Under high farm-rents they were in a state of near starvation. The farm-rents, a principal means of exploitation, were as high as 50 to 80 percent of the annual income from farming.

The destitution facing Korean farmers before the harvest of summer barley periodically drove them to the verge of starvation. Some farmers (about 19 percent) emigrated to Manchuria, Siberia or Japan. Still others found employment as unskilled laborers in factories or did odd jobs to earn a small and uncertain income. Some families had to disperse, each member earning his own livelihood.

A considerable number of those who stuck to farming were burdened by usurious loans. According to statistics compiled in 1930, at least 75 percent of the 1,733,797 farming households were in debt. More than 70 percent of the debts were payable to Japanese financial institutions, at interest rates ranging from 15 to 35 percent a year.

Koreans living in urban areas fared no better than their rural countrymen. Nearly 80 percent of urban dwellers lived in grinding poverty. It was Japanese policy to keep the wages of Koreans at less than half the amount paid to their Japanese counterparts. The fact that 132 out of 170 major civil disputes occurring in 1935 concerned demands for higher wages is clear evidence of the poverty which overwhelmed the colonialized people.

The devastating effects of the agricultural policy finally weakened the very basis of the colonial rule. Japan, seeing the seriousness of rural problems, tried to resolve them by establishing rational relations between agriculture and manufacturing industry. Governor-General Ugaki Kazunari (1931 - 1936) professed a desire to rejuvenate Korean rural villages.

In 1934 the Farmland Ordinance was enacted, ostensibly with a view to stabilizing the life of tenant farmers. In fact, these measures resulted only in further exploitation of farmers through high-interest farm rents. An agency set up by the Government-General to settle the tenant disputes served only to protect the interests of landlords.

Governor-General Ugaki, who had advocated rural development, enforced cotton cultivation in southern Korea early in the 1930s to meet growing needs in Japan. As a result, cotton output increased from 689,000 geun (1 geun equals about 0.6kg) in 1910 to 213,749,000 geun in 1934. In order to increase the production of wool, which was in high demand in Japan, he forced the northern district of Korea to raise sheep, thereby subordinating Korea to Japan's textile industry.

As the 1930s dawned, the Government-General gave priority to the police in budget allocation, surpassing the outlay for general administration and education. The Japanese police were further armed with a set of oppressive laws designed to crush any national or social opposition: They were statutes governing rebellion, riot, disturbance, publication, press and crimes against the Japanese royalty (lese majesty), political offenses and maintenance of public order. After 1919, the Korean criminal ordinances and the Korean civil ordinances underwent revision. In particular, the revised Korean census registration ordinance imposed strict surveillance and repression on the routine daily activities of Koreans.

Whereas the rate of increase in general crimes was relatively slow, that of "political offenses" showed a rapid increase, reflecting intensified ideological oppression. The strengthening of ideological restraint measures was accompanied by strict enforcement of the colonial education policy.

The colonial university was given the task of the compilation of the history of Korea under the Korean History Compila-tion Society founded by the Government-General. Their objective was to negate the creativity, originality, and autonomous spirit of the Korean people in their cultural and historical traditions. The Japanese kept historical documents and royal library collections closed to Korean scholars.



Colonial Policy in Action

The independence movement, meanwhile, improved in organization and methods. More militant, systematic, and diversified resistance was effected. Japan's colonial policy in Korea remained unchanged although fancy appellations such as "nsew administration" or "cultural administration" were used to gloss it over after the March First Independence Movement in 1919.

The reorganization of the police brought about a rapid increase in the number of personnel and in budgetary appropriations. The police budget quadrupled in the 1920s, comprising 12-13 percent of the total budget. In contrast, educational outlays were less than 1.8 percent of the police appropriations.

The police did their utmost to suppress all spontaneous activities by Koreans. The depth of police penetration was evident in the number of inhabitants per policeman - one policeman for 722 persons in Korea, compared with one for 1,150 in Japan.

As a result of judicial reforms designed to crack down on political offenses, so-called "thought" prosecutors and "thought" judges were appointed and "special high police" squads were added to each police organization. Communist circles, which spread rapidly in Korea following the trend of the times, were among the main targets of the Japanese police. Strikes, labor disputes and tenant farmer protests were largely motivated by anti-colonial and nationalistic sentiments directed against the Japanese.

Various laws and ordinances were utilized to halt all critical expression and acts of sabotage or protests against the Japanese colonial authorities. When enacting and promulgating the laws, Governor-General Saito Miroru expressed his determination to suppress all forms of resistance movements.

By the 1930s, the peasants were on the verge of starvation. The only way out of such a condition was to desert their farms. Many went to Manchuria or Japan, only to find it no easier to settle there. According to the statistics of the colonial government in 1925, of all the farm deserters, 2.88 percent went to Manchuria and Siberia, 16.85 percent to Japan, and 46.39 percent were scattered in cities of Korea with marginal jobs.

A dwindling of the international market following the end of World War I had a decisive bearing upon the colonial policy of Japan. The Japan Nitrogen Fertilizer Co., Onoda Cements and Japanese textile businesses were among the first to find cheap labor available in Korea. Japanese capitalists gradually forced native landowners and tenant farmers to abandon farmland in return for nominal compensation. Korean-owned lands were bought or virtually expropriated at about one percent of the then current value to accommodate Japanese industrial plants.

Expansion of Japanese colonial capital during the 1920s resulted in increased poverty and depression for Koreans, and it caused the strengthening of the resistance struggle. Colonial capitalism also stimulated the rise of socialist movements that were in vogue at that time. Japanese laborers frequently joined Koreans in disputes over Japanese capital interests.

The exiled Provisional Government of Korea made efforts to appeal before the great powers at the League of Nations Conference in Geneva in 1932, but leading countries with colonies of their own refused to discuss the Korean problem. Nevertheless, some countries recognized the Provisional Government. The Moscow government of Lenin approved the granting of a loan in the amount of 2 million rubles, while the Canton government of Sun Yat-sen extended formal recognition to the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai.

Secret organizations continued to operate at home, attacking and destroying Japanese police stations and government buildings. Korean leaders were also active in supplying funds to independence fighters in Manchuria and Shanghai to promote their military and political activities. Along the northern border many small groups of Korean soldiers continued attacks against the Japanese troops. The Uiyeoldan, organized in Manchuria in November of 1919, as an independence organization, infiltrated its commandos into Seoul and Tokyo to carry out the mission of attacking Japanese government offices and assassinating officials. There were frequent explosion incidents in Korea and Japan, and even in China. Yun Bong-gil (1908-1932), a member of the Aegukdan (Patriotic Association), killed several Japanese army commanders in China with a bomb at their gathering in Shanghai in April 1932. His bomb attack raised the morale not only of Koreans but also of the Chinese who were faced with mounting Japanese aggression.

Manchuria lay just across the Amnokgang river, so many loyal troops went there after 1906, and when Korea was overtaken by Japan, groups of patriotic leaders sought exile there. They engaged in reclaiming farmland, educating the children of refugees and organizing military training centers. Manchuria offered ideal military bases for launching quick attacks on the Japanese, and the independence troops operating in eastern and southern Manchuria were gradually integrated under the leadership of the Provisional Government.

However, the independence army suffered severe financial hardship, and Japan tried to win the cooperation of the Chinese in an attempt to oust it from Manchuria or to destroy it altogether. Despite many adversities, the Korean troops fought well and achieved significant results. The Cheongsan-ri Battle of October 1920 and many other successful attacks hampered the Japanese imperialist schemes.

Venting their rancor on the Koreans for that disastrous defeats, Japanese troops slaughtered many Korean residents in Manchuria. They were buried alive in random massacres, and other atrocities were committed in horrible scenes, as witnessed by American missionaries who made detailed reports to their headquarters on these incidents. vAs the independence army's resistance in Manchuria and its penetration into Korea intensified, the Government-General concluded an agreement designed to block Korean activities in that area with Chang Tso-lin, a strongman in Manchuria. In order to overcome the crisis, many separate units were incorporated into a 15,000-man force. The reorganized independence army continued its struggle even in 1933, when Japan succeeded in annexing Manchuria. But, by making use of mounted bandits, the Japanese troops slaughtered many Korean residents.

Noteworthy in the Japanese-ruled country after the 1919 independence uprising was the press movement aimed at promoting national consciousness by criticizing and attacking Japanese colonial policy. In 1920, three newspapers came into being, the Dong-A Ilbo, the Chosun Ilbo and the Sisa Sinmun. These dailies and other publications spread the use of the Korean language and made significant contributions in the fields of literature, drama, films, music and fine arts, and also in the dissemination of information from abroad.

The educational movement began to awaken the masses on a broad scale to the anti-Japanese struggle. Private institutes and night courses for workers were established by Korean intellectuals.

Prominent among social projects promoted by Korean leaders at that time were the movements for women's liberation, juvenile protection and elimination of discrimination against underprivileged people. These movements were carried out in close association with the national liberation movement, and at times were connected with the socialist movement which made its debut in Korea in 1920. Christian churches were also enthusiastic supporters of these movements.

A nationwide movement for a self-supporting economy was also launched in order to shake off the colonial economic shackles. The Korean YMCA began a rural enlightenment campaign on a nationwide scale, and the successors to Donghak followed suit. These movements aimed at economic self-sufficiency, and called for the boycott of Japanese commodities.

A common front between nationalist and Communist leaders mounted a vigorous campaign against the Japanese, and a nationwide student movement erupted on June 10, 1926. The Communist Party secretly brought Gwon O-seol home from Shanghai to lead independence demonstrations. The massive protest took place following the mourning period for former Emperor Sunjong who died in April of 1926.



Preservation of Korean Culture

A group of about 10 Korean teachers in private schools organized the Korean Language Society (Joseon Eohakhoe) in December 1921, with the mission of "contributing to the education of our next generation by studying the principles of the Korean language." The Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo dailies and monthly magazines rendered full cooperation to the Korean language movement. The Chosun Ilbo designated a Han-geul Day, when the daily carried a special supplement presenting treatises by scholars specializing in the study of the Korean language.

A journal devoted to Han-geul was published and by 1932 had secured for itself a firm position as the organ of the Korean Language Society, which not only conducted research but also subsidized scholars faced with financial difficulty. The society fixed a new spelling system for the Korean language in 1933 and standardized the transcription system of foreign words. Also, the task of editing and publishing a Korean dictionary was undertaken in 1929 and continuously pursued by the society. Choe Hyeon-bae's works on Korean grammar and linguistic theory contributed immensely to the promotion of the national language movement under Japanese rule. Meanwhile, major daily newspapers launched a mass enlightenment campaign. The Dong-A Ilbo adopted the newly proclaimed spelling system April 1, 1933, and the Chosun Ilbo soon followed suit. Furthermore, the newspapers sponsored a literacy campaign. The Chosun Ilbo upheld the slogan, "the Movement toward the People." However, beginning in October 1942, leading members of the society were arrested and imprisoned, and only the Japanese surrender of August 15, 1945, ended the long ordeal of these patriots.

The Japanese, meanwhile, embarked upon rewriting Korean history from a strongly Japan-centered viewpoint which tried to denigrate the nation. Korean historians in their struggle for independence had to refute and discredit the Japanese historiography on Korea, and describe the results of Japanese aggression as they witnessed it. Bak Eun-sik, Sin Chae-ho, An Jae-hong and Jeong In-bo made the most outstanding contributions by refuting the distorted history of the Japanese colonial scholars.

Bak Eun-sik (1861-1926) attempted to find the means to convey to contemporary Koreans and future generations the nation's efforts throughout history to achieve reform, and armed resistance against alien invaders. During his exile, he wrote two books with cooperation from his colleagues. These books, which were published at the same time, made a lasting impact upon the minds of Koreans.

Song Sang-do (1871-1946) was a unique researcher who compiled biographies of each of the independence fighters. Undertaken under the shadow of Japanese surveillance and oppression, his work, concentrating on the period between 1919 to 1945, supplemented Bak Eun-sik's works which dealt with Korean activities abroad until 1919.

Sin Chae-ho (1880-1936), who wrote on the early history of Korea, actively participated in the independence movement in Manchuria, Shanghai and Beijing. He continuously made public the results of his studies on Korean history.

Modern literature, written in Han-geul, called upon the public to achieve social and national awakening, and sought to absorb the spiritual heritage of modern European literature. Two main streams developed in the process of absorbing foreign literature: one group of writers produced satirical works in an effort to stimulate a spirit of independence and patriotism, while the other group looked to foreign influences in their efforts to expedite modernization in Korea. Bak Eun-sik, Sin Chae-ho and An Guk-seon produced works belonging to the first category, and representative among writers of the second group included Yi In-jik. Both groups sought to rejuvenate Korean ethos eroding under Japanese domination.

The essence of modern Korean literature can be found in the literary activities of a group of writers who in the 1920s contemplated the colonial reality from a nationalist viewpoint and tried to overcome their dilemma through literary works. The move toward what was called "new literature," replacing the traditional literature, started as early as 1908. It was impossible for Korean writers to produce enlightening works before 1919, because of the press law forced upon them by the Japanese in 1907. The Government-General had allowed the Koreans publish their works only through the Maeil Sinbo, the Japanese propaganda medium in Korean; thus it was difficult to create a literature reflecting the true Korean consciousness.

In 1919 Kim Dong-in and Kim Eok founded a literary magazine, Changjo (Creation). Critics say it marked the beginning of modern Korean literature. Then there were Pyeheo (The Ruins), published in 1920 by Hwang Seong-u and Yeom Sang-seop; Baekjo (White Tide) published in 1922 by Yi Sang-hwa and Hyeon Jin-geon; and Geumseong (Gold Star) published in 1923 by Yi Jang-hui and Yang Ju-dong. Through such literary works, these writers tried to grasp the dominant current of thought and show the future course Korea should take.

Other literary magazines which appeared during the 1920s and 1930s laid the basis for the future development of modern Korean literature. Almost all of these magazines were ordered to discontinue publication in the 1940s as the Japanese tightened their grip with the spread of their aggressive war to the Pacific and all of Southeast Asia. The important task of the 1920s was to work out ways of introducing foreign elements into literary works dealing with the reality of colonial rule in Korea.

Sim Hun's Sangnoksu (Evergreen Tree, 1943) was based on the theme of rural development. Yi Gi-yeong's Gohyang (The Home Country, 1932) described the process of infiltration of Japanese colonial capital into the rural areas. In these works and others, the poverty of Korean rural villages of the 1930s was delineated with a romantic touch. Hong Myeong-hui's Im Kkeok-jeong described a confrontation between corrupt government officials and a group of bandits and stirred the people's antagonism toward Japanese colonial rule.

There were many poets as well who appealed to the national sentiment. Perhaps the greatest pioneer of modern poetry was Han Yong-un. His Nimui chimmuk (The Silence of My Beloved, 1925) expressed his affection for a homeland deprived of sovereignty. The beautiful spirit of another poet, Yi Sang-hwa, sang his boundless love of his homeland in a symbolic way, and Yi Yuk-sa, who was arrested, imprisoned and tortured to death by the Japanese military police, expressed his endless hope for the future of his fatherland. These were the main themes in the Korean literary spirit throughout the colonial period.

Yeom Sang-seop was one writer who pursued national consciousness in historical perspective. He tried to describe the independence struggle in the 1920s in terms of the interaction between nationalism and communism. In his Samdae (The Three Generations, 1932), a literary masterpiece, he gave expression to the dilemmas and frictions faced by Koreans in the process of transition from a traditional to a capitalist society.

In deriving their themes from such transitional phenomena, writers of the 1930s had to part from Yeom's naturalistic, realistic style and resort to satirical touches. One of these writers, Chae Man-sik, made his debut late in the 1930s. His Taepyeongchun (The Peaceful Spring on Earth, 1937) ridicules the outdated vestiges still found in colonized Korea, and his Tangnyu (The Muddy Stream, 1941) satirizes Korean society in general, sharply criticizing Japanese capital for its devastating effect on Korean society.



Sin-ganhoe: A Unified National Organization

Founded on February 15, 1927 in Korea under the Japanese rule, Sin-ganhoe (New Stem Association) was a national organization, which attempted to form a joint front of the nationalist and Communist camps. The plan to organize Sin-ganhoe was first proposed by nationalist leaders keenly realizing the need to bind nationalists and Communists in independence activities. The Communist camp, under a directive from the Comintern, also sought to collaborate with the nationalist camp.

At the time of its founding, Sin-ganhoe was led by Yi Sang-jae, president, An Jae-hong, secretary-general, and Hong Myeong-hui, in charge of organization. Yi Seung-bok was responsible for raising operational funds. From the beginning, the association was subjected to extreme oppression by the Japanese police. The aims of the association proclaimed upon its inception included political and economic awakening, unity of purpose and rejection of any compromise with Japan.

The association sponsored local meetings which discussed a variety of social, educational and industrial issues. The Sin-ganhoe was, however, plagued by disunity and pressure from the Comintern, which soon ordered the Korean Communists to separate from the nationalists. Early in 1931 the leftist leaders of Sin-ganhoe asked for its dissolution. The Busan branch was disbanded, and after a Seoul meeting on May 16, 1931, the resistance organization ceased to exist, succumbing to maneuvering by its left-wing elements. Its nationalist leaders were arrested by the police, and there emerged no other resistance organization of comparable scale.



Resistance Against Japan's Policy of Assimilation

The beginning of Japan's war of aggression on the Asian continent and its spread into the Pacific brought further tightening of Japan's reins over Korea. The Japanese colonial policy was aimed at transforming Korea into a logistical base for continental aggression, the closing phase of Japanese colonial rule in Korea.

Invading Manchuria on the pretext of a fabricated provocation in Mukden, the Japanese soon took over the whole region. The venture was sparked by Japan's quest for an overseas solution for its economic depression at home.

Monopolistic capital from Japan flowed into Korea to create the arsenal for invasion of the continent. Cheap labor was available in Korea where people were impoverished by Japanese exploitation. Rapid advances had been made in some manufacturing, but it was a "dependent" industrialization, geared to colonialism.

Japan carried on its war of continental invasion from Manchuria into central China. During the 1930s in Korea, the industrial emphasis of the Japanese gradually shifted from foodstuff manufacturing to machines, chemicals and metals. In 1939, heavy industry constituted more than 50 percent of all industrial sectors. Production of agricultural commodities steadily declined in value from 60 percent of the gross national product in 1931 to 32 percent in 1942.

Despite marked progress in industries, the native capital investment was minimal. As the war went on, the exploitation of Korean labor became ever greater. Koreans were excluded from positions of skilled work and forced to do heavy manual labor at extremely low wages. The official push for industrial development went hand in hand with the colonial agricultural policy of increasing rice production.

As the tide of the war turned against the Japanese, they squeezed more and more agricultural products out of the peasants by means of gongchul or "quota delivery." Farmers were compelled to grow rice with expensive fertilizers to fulfill their assigned quotas.

In March 1944, the Japanese placed production quotas on major mining and manufacturing industries for the purpose of securing military supplies. Alignment of colonial industries was undertaken with an emphasis placed on iron and light metal industries. Economic restrictions were accompanied by further infringement upon freedom of thought and civil liberties. For example, in the course of invading China in 1937, the Japanese began to suppress freedom of religion, demanding compulsory worship at Japanese Shinto shrines. In 1938, Korean-language teaching was banned from secondary school curricula. From April 1941 onwards, the curricula of Japanese schools was imposed upon Korean schools. As the war intensified, the education of Koreans under the Education Decree of March 1943 was increasingly geared to the Japanese war efforts. No longer was the Korean language taught in primary schools.

High-handed oppression by the Government-General met persistent resistance. Many activists were arrested on charges of "seeking to attain the liberation of Korean people." Nationalists were the most active group in the oppressive period (1937-1945). In 1941, a Thought Criminals Preventive Custody Law went into force, and a "protective prison" was established in Seoul, where almost all anti-Japanese activists were held. The Government-General declared that preventive custody was intended to isolate from society these unruly "thought criminals" and to discipline them. It was the first step in a drive to uproot the will to independence from the minds of the Koreans.

In 1942, the Government-General came under the central administrative control of the Japanese government, and a massive mobilization of Korean manpower and materials became a major part of the war effort. From 1943, Korean youths were drafted into the Japanese army, and the Student Volunteer Ordinance of January 20, 1944, forced Korean college students into the army.

Moreover, under the National General Mobilization Act of Japan, Korean labor was forcibly removed from the peninsula. The drafting of laborers began in 1939 and many were sent to Japan, Sakhalin or Southeast Asia. Statistics up to August 15, 1945, show that 4,146,098 workers worked inside Korea and 1,259,933 in Japan. Many Korean workers were sent to coal mines in Japan; some of them remain in Japan and Sakhalin even to this day.

The course of the Sino-Japanese War forced the Chinese Nationalist Government to move to Chongqing, and in 1940, the Provisional Government of Korea as well had to move there. On August 28, 1941, the Provisional Government issued a statement demanding recognition of the Korean government; military, technical and economic assistance; and Korean participation in deciding the fate of Korea after the war.

After Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Provisional Government of Korea set up a Euro-American Liaison Committee in Washington for the purpose of active diplomacy with European and American states. An aid agreement was concluded with the Nationalist government of China, and efforts were made to strengthen the internal organization of the government. When the three powers, the United States, China and Britain, met in Cairo in 1943, Kim Gu of the Provisional Government sought the aid of Jiang Jie Shi, while Liaison Committee Director Syngman Rhee ordered Chung Han-gyeong (Henry Chung) to go to Cairo to promote the cause of Korean independence. Upon the proposal of Generalissimo Chiang, the three powers agreed to include a call for Korea's self-determination and independence in the Cairo Declaration.

In February 1944, the Provisional Government brought some leftist personalities into its fold and formed a sort of coalition cabinet, with Kim Gu as chairman and Kim Gyu-sik as vice chairman. In February 1945, it formally declared war against Japan and Germany by taking part in active campaigns; altogether after 1943, more than 5,000 Korean troops joined the allied forces in military operations throughout the Chinese theater of war. Korean college students and youths drafted into the Japanese army deserted their units to join the ranks of China's anti-Japanese war. In the United States as well, a number of Korean immigrants volunteered for the U.S. army to fight against the Japanese in the Pacific. Korean Communists in Gando, northeast Manchuria, also joined the Soviet Union or Chinese Communists.



Domestic Situation Following Liberation of Korea

As a result of the victory of the Allied Powers as well as the relentless struggles for independence in and out of the country, the Korean people won their liberation from Japanese colonial rule on August 15, 1945. Firmly convinced that the Japanese Empire would eventually be defeated in World War II, the Korean people fought for their national independence and prepared to establish their own government.

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea drafted and promulgated (in China) the principles of organizing a government, including the establishment of a democratic republic through popular elections. Korean independence fighters of socialist ranks also proclaimed in China the establishment of a democratic republican form of government. At home, the Joseon Alliance for National Government was formed in anticipation of the collapse of Japanese imperialism and the organization of a government based on democracy. The alliance led by Yeo Un-hyeong set up a "preparatory committee for the establishment of a government" in the wake of liberation.

The Korean people, however, were unable to translate the emotion-filled liberation into the immediate establishment of a government. Under the pretext of disarming the defeated Japanese troops, the U.S. and Soviet forces occupied the southern and the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, respectively, with the 38th parallel northern latitude as a border. The U.S. forces stationed in the South set up a military government, supported formation of a pro-Washington rightist government, after efforts to establish a unified government failed. The Soviet military in the North set up a Communist regime and purged nationalist figures. Irrespective of their own capabilities or intentions, the Korean people were not allowed to build an independent and unified government that they so aspired.

Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union met in Moscow in December 1945 and decided to establish a provisional democratic government in Korea. They also agreed to set up a U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission in Korea and impose trusteeship up to five years over the Korean peninsula as a provisional step before a unified government was established in Korea. The decision was met by vehement nationwide opposition from the Korean people, from the right wing as well as from the left. Shortly thereafter, under the Soviet instruction the Northern half suddenly changed its attitude and began to support the trusteeship decision, which pit them violently against the opposing rightists in the South. Subsequently, the two sides established their respective government in the South and the North. Campaigns for a unified government by many nationalist leaders failed to bear fruit. And, so did the inter-Korean negotiations spearheaded by nationalist leaders Kim Gu and Kim Gyu-sik to form a unified government in all of Korea.