Korea under Japanese rule
Korea came under Japanese rule around 1876. The Japanese sphere of influence took control of Korea Empire under the Japan – Korea treaty. However, Korea became a protectorate of Japan in 1905, and the country was indirectly ruled under the Residential general of Korea. The Japanese empire annexed Korea in 1910 after many years of war and political tensions. It is from there that Korea was considered part of the Japanese Empire for the next 35 years until 1945. The Japanese empire waged an all-out war on the Korean culture with the main aim of establishing full control over her newly acquired colony. The Japanese rule organized the Korean administration hastening development by promoting public works and fighting the Korean independence movement.
Japan tried to smear out the Korean culture by wiping out almost all Korean practices. The Japanese administration banned all people from speaking the Korean language and expelled all books and documentary nearly wiping out the entire historical memory of Korea. During that time, Japan took over Korean land and labor. Almost 800,000 Korean workers were subjected to forced labor in Japan and its colonies. The Korean workers were subjected to unskilled and supplementary labor, while the Japanese were offered skilled construction labor. For instance, Korean people were forced to do essential duties in construction works such as freight, building, and construction assistant. At the same time, the area of skilled labor like carpenter, bricklayer, painter, and mason were left for the Japanese workers. In general, the construction site in Japan was separated between skilled and unskilled labor by ethnic differences.
In Japan, both before and after World War 1, labor was divided into two primary columns. As said in my earlier discussion, the division of labor was based on ethnic differences, which dictated that skilled labor was for the Japanese laborers, which unskilled labor was meant for the Koreans workers. Given this regard, the ethic division in work said that the skilled Japanese laborers were paid higher wages compared to their unskilled Korean counterparts. In general, the ethnic division of labor between the Japanese and Korean workers meant that the Japanese workers were at a comparative advantage over the Korean in terms of wages they received. For example, the ethnic division of salary between the Japanese and Korean workers was quite rampant in the construction of Japanese railway construction sites where Japanese railway workers used to earn higher wages. The influence of Korean workers in the unskilled labor sector increased because many of the Korean people were living in absolute poverty, and doing the work was the only choice of improving their living standards. The ethnic division of labor was quite a challenge to the Korean workers because, despite their huge endeavors in building the Japanese economy, they were paid poorly. The low wages the Korean workers earned subjected them to poor living conditions. On the other hand, the Japanese workers were paid high fees despite their little participation in the labor market. Compared to the Koreans, the Japanese workers lived a comfortable life, and their needs were readily available.
The massive flow of Korean workers into the Japanese labor market was not, however, motivating them because of the ethnic division between skilled and unskilled labor. It was even worse because the Japanese authority never changed the paradigm before and even after the First World War. The Korean workers continued to be subjected to the ethnic division of labor, and this was hard for them. Many social institutions that regulated work in Japan maintained that trend of dividing workers under ethnic differences. What motivated the pattern was the influx of Korean workers in the Japanese market. The reason for this shift in my earlier discussion was the poor living conditions of the Korean settlers, which forced them to work and get something on the table.
On the other hand, the system of the pinhane was also operated about skilled and unskilled laborers. The amount of pinhane was less among the Korean workers compared to Japanese workers. For instance, skilled Japanese workers such as masons and carpenters had a high pinhale generally because they used their tools in their work. The Korean workers got far less pinhale because their employees possessed all by themselves. Usually, in Japan, Pinhale was justified in terms of the tools workers had. Unskilled Korean workers did not own their tools, and this compelled them to borrow them from the Japanese workers at extremely higher rates. Therefore, the issue of borrowing tools hit the unskilled Korean workers harder because of the direct cost involved in hiring. Thus, the reasons stated above proofed that unskilled workers were walloped by pinhale. The difference between the skilled Japanese workers and unskilled Korean workers was evidenced in the percentages they contributed. For instance, for skilled Japanese workers, 5-7% was cut from their wages while for unskilled workers, 20-30% of their salary was skimmed off their fees. The payments skimmed off was pocketed by crew bosses and sub-contractors who were Japanese. Therefore, each sub contactors was subject and threshold to the amount of wages that will be passed from the principal employer to the general workers.
The Korean workers received all forms of discernment through the housing discrimination. Most Japanese landlords could not rent their houses to Korean workers due to the insecurity they had against them. The landlords claimed that the Korean tenants could no pay rent and generally destroyed properties contained in their rented houses. Apart from that, the landlords also contended that many Korean tenants could stay in a single room to reduce their shares in the process of lowering the rental life of a house. Lastly, the landlords claimed that the Korean tenants were noisy, dirty, and generally kept their living quarters untidy. The insecurities prompted the landlords to refuse to rent their houses to Korean workers. On the same note, most Korean workers were forced to live in boarding homes and barracks. However, housing exploitation among Korean workers can be traced to a lack of employment and low-income levels. The state of their income could make then breach tenant contracts and sometimes disrespect delinquent on rent. However, for the Japanese workers, the rental terms were quite friendly. For instance, the Korean tenants needed more guarantors to lease a house while Japanese tenants required just a few. Apart from that, the figure for security deposits and transfer fees among the Korean workers was stricter compared to Japanese workers. It is all from those reasons that most Korean workers were subjected to housing exploitation that left them living in inadequate houses.
The common form of exploitation among the Korean worker increased over those reasons, and the Korean workers became used to that paradigm. This is so because all the unskilled were left with no option but to sell their labors to get their basic needs. The Japanese took advantage of that and decided to exploit them the Korean workers, the more prompting them to adapt to that system. Korean workers also adapted to the ethnic division of labor paradigm through indirect exploitation. This form of exploitation was based on the combination of pinhale and hamba fees. The unskilled workers perceptive changed after the introduction of hamba fees and pinhale which generally motivated them and made them adapt to that system. The two forms of payment generally convinced the workers and therefore it was impossible to detect if it was another form of exploitation. Another reason why the paradigm was internalized and accepted by was the fact that some few Korean workers were elevated to top positions in the Japanese labor market.
However, during the peak of the work exploitation, the Korean workers started forming associations to resist any development that was sabotaging their endeavors. The ethnic division of labor had taken a center stage prompting some Korean individuals to cooperate and form groups to fight the work injustice. The Korean people formed quite a number of protest movements that pushed for Korean freedom. However, some of the freedom movements started as early as 1919 to advocate for Korean freedom. Apart from the issues related to labor market, the Korean people were advocating for many other things that had directly affected them. Among the main issues they were advocating for was the influx of their culture. As said in my early discussion the Japanese did not only colonize the Korean people but also wiped out the Korean culture. For instance, one of the most powerful symbols of Korean leadership build in 1335 was brought down by the Japanese colonial government. Apart from bringing down the symbolic building, Japan colonial government tore down all historic buildings all the documentaries contained in those buildings.
The Japanese colonial government also assimilated Koreans by forcing them to adopt Japanese culture including language, religion and education. The Japanese authority also forced Koreans to worship on their shrines. Before the complete occupation of Korea, Japanese waged a war on Korean families by forcing people to adopt Japanese names. Throughout Japanese rule, the protest movements were formed that were passively against the type of leadership they were in. The Korean people started resisting the Japanese rule in 1919 after the first formation of the March first movement. The movement proclaimed the need for a Korean independence and during this process, over 1500 protests broke out in the entire country. However, by that time, the Japanese authority responded swiftly and submerged all the demonstrations. As time went by, the Korean people began organizing frequent protests that undermined the Japanese rule. Apart from that, some Koreans also resisted the Japanese influence in their soundless means like changing their Japanese names and refusing to speak Japanese language.
In the labor market, the Koreans also advocated for equality in the work place. They organized protects advocating for equality in wages and skills. They Korean workers formed many movements that promoted there advances. The strike was motivated by Japanese bosses who did not pay their workers either because they did not receive funds from subcontractors or they just held the money for themselves. Another reason that motivated the resistance in the labor market is the fact that Korean workers began decreasing day by day subject to the effects brought along by the hamba fees and pinhale. The Korean workers responded to those injustices by organizing strikes and protests. For instance, in 1925, the problem of non-payments of workers accounted to several Korean workers and the numbers rose as time went by. In 1930, the Korean workers organized an action group made of more than 300 workers. The group was comprised of members from the metal workers union and others from the communist labor union. The group laid down discussions with managers of hamba commissaries to support the proposed strikes. Apart from that, the group also distributed a number of flyers to other organizations associated with Korean workers to support the strike. The group organized and motivated its members to strike at their work stations. A lot of Korean workers raid their tools down and many construction sites come to a standstill as there were no workers. Apart from striking, the group also motivated some of its members to hold demonstrations prompting the police to interfere.
The strike that was organized motivated other organizations. Regular strikes coupled by constant demonstrations from other Korean workers took a center stage. The 1930 strike gave way for other resistant organizations to start fighting for labor freedom. Many other organizations were formed advocating for an end to intermediary exploitation of Korean workers. Apart from that, the Korean workers were advocating for equality for all workers and abolishment of ethnic divisions during the distribution of work. Last but not least, the workers were advocating for a betterment of their living conditions and wanted access to better housing, food and shelter. They also wanted the housing discrimination to be waived and bring general equality among the Japanese and Korean workers. However, the strikes and demonstrations came at a huge cost because of the involvement from the police. During the demonstrations, the police came along to stop the demonstrations. For instance, there was a large group of strikes and demonstrations that took place in Saotome where several Korean workers were involved. A group of police were called along to neutralize the situation. The groups engaged the police with running battles and stone-throwing, and the case led to injury and death of many Korean workers involved in the scarf.
In conclusion, since 1905, on the day Korea became a Japanese protectorate, the Korean workers were subjected to inhuman conditions from the Japanese colonial government. Generally, Korean workers first took the jobs that were meant for unskilled people with less income. On the same note, some Korean workers were selected to join the Japanese army. However, on the other hand skilled jobs were given to Only Japanese workers. In the labor market, Japanese workers controlled every aspect production leaving the Korean workers act as their assistants. The trend continued for quite a while before some groups of Korean workers started resisting. The Korean workers resisted by organizing demonstrations and strikes advocating for a betterment of their living standards, an increase in their wages and equality among all workers. The resistance by the Korean workers inspired many other people to fight for other rights other than the ones subject to labor market. The whole situation become a national concern and prompted Koreans to start fighting for the overall independence.