THE NEW KOREA

Ever since October 2018 when South Korean Supreme Court ordered a Japanese company to pay Korean workers compensation for their wartime labor, I have read books and sites on the Internet to find out why historical issues like this keep appearing.

I have read the English and Japanese bilingual version of THE NEW KOREA by Alleyne Ireland originally published in 1926 in which he observed Korea under the Japanese rule after the annexation in 1910.

What surprised me most was the last part of the introductory stating:

"I have formed the opinion that Korea is today infinitely better governed than it ever was under its own native rulers, that it is better governed than most self-governing countries, that it is as well governed as any of the British, American, French, Dutch, and Portuguese dependencies which I have visited, and is better governed than most of them, having in view as well the cultural and economic development of the people as the technique of administration." (THE NEW KOREA, original version p17)

Because I became a little skeptical about what I read, I started to check the Internet and found a Wikipedia's article in Japanese, 日本統治下の朝鮮 (Nihon Tochika-no Chosen, meaning Korea Under Japanese Rule).

According to the article:
- Population rose to 25,530,000 in 1942 from 13,130,000 in 1910.
- Average competition rate of Korean volunteers for the Japanese army was 45.2% between 1938 and 1943.

I thought the Koreans had been exploited and persecuted like the Jews in Europe and forced to join the army.

I am not defending Japan's militarism and I know the figures do not cover all the facts but information in the article is also "new" to me about Korea because I was not taught about it at school.

Having read more books about South Korea and its anti-Japan policy, I have come to conclude that South Korea does not want to solve historical issues in order to remain victims of Japan's militarism, which gives South Koreans the right to endlessly demand an apology and compensation from Japan.

Now I understand why the South Korean court overthrew the Japan-South Korea Basic Relations Treaty in 1965 where Japan paid South Korea 800 million US dollars including compensation for individuals. This means that the South Korean government is responsible for the compensation in the case above.

This is my personal view and I don't intend to offend others' :)