Cultural Nationalism in Colonial Korea, 1920-1925

Introduction

Introduction On March First, 1919, the Korean nation awoke, it seemed, from a decade-long sleep. On that day hundreds of thousands of Koreans from all walks of life joined in demonstrations to declare Korea's natural right for independence from Japanese rule. Brilliantly organized and pacifist in intent, the March First demonstrations led to sustained rioting throughout the torrid Korean summer that year. The Japanese authorities were caught by surprise. Suddenly, the heretofore quiescent colonial population was in the streets vocally denouncing Japanese rule and they provoked a swift and brutal Japanese repression . Tens of thousands of people were arrested, many more injured, and, although statistics vary, deaths related to the rioting reached into the thousands.1 The March First movement marked an important watershed in the history of modern Korea. Korean nationalism had become a mass phenomenon , no longer the monopoly ofWesternized intellectual elites. A decade of harsh Japanese rule had combined with the spread of literacy and communications to galvanize a widespread Korean national consciousness . Thus, a broad segment of the colonial population embraced enthusiasticallythe simpleprogram ofthe movement, a program calling for immediate Korean independence based on Korea's right of selfdetermination .2 Although the movement failed in its ultimate objective , nationalist leaders in the colony and abroad were excited by the evidence of mass support. Some believed that a new era had dawned, lifting suddenly the gloom of several decades of failure and offering a future bright with possibilities. Perhaps Korea had come of age politically . Suddenly, it seemed that the broad base of support, support the nationalist reform movement lacked before 1910 and that had not materialized to buttress any significant anti-Japanese movement, was now available for a nationalist drive for independence. The demonstrations provoked a significant change in Japanese colonial policy. For nine years Japan had ruled the colony with unremitting repression. So harsh was the system created by the first governor general, Terauchi Masatake, that it came to be known as the 3 4 Introduction Military Dictatorship Government (Budan seiji). The first governor generals had created a colony that resembled a military camp. Nevertheless, the policy of suppression, backed by the feared military police, failed to anticipate the mass demonstrations of March 1919. Embarrassed by the scope of the demonstrations and by the amount of force required to subdue them, Tokyo moved decisively to modify its colonial policy. Saito Makoto, appointed governor general in the aftermath of the March First disturbances, brought with him a mandate to reform colonial governance. Within the first year of his administration, Saito instituted a number of significant changes under a new colonial policy of cultural rule (bunka seiji). Designed to soften the appearance of repression while at the same time strengthening Japanese control, the Bunka seiji changed decisively the tone of Japanese rule. In retrospect, the cultural policy was a brilliant co-optative maneuver. Although the more extreme and offensive policies were masked by a number of cosmetic changes, Saito and his new colonial police chief, Maruyama Tsurukichi, strengthened the police control apparatus.3 The colonial police relied increasingly on informers and an efficient network of spies to prepare for potential challenges before the fact. Moreover, by expanding the acceptable arena of political and cultural activity, they provided an escape valve for tensions in the colony. The Saito policy recognized new realities in colonial life and met the potential threat of expanded Korean political and publishing activity with flexibility, not dogmatic repression. In the years between 1919 and 1925, Saito walked a tightrope between renewed repression and tolerance of political activity in the colony. The goal was to make Japanese rule acceptable not only to world opinion, but to gain legitimacy within the colony as well. The cultural policy stimulated a renaissance of nationalist activity in the colony, of which the center was the new vernacular press. Two daily newspapers received permits in 1920. Suddenly, the Korean people had a voice, and although strictly censored, the press broadened instandy public awareness of political life in the colony. Intellectual journals and specialized magazines also received permits, some for publication of explicidy political material. These journals became the forum for intellectual debate within the nationalist movement. Furthermore, organizations mushroomed in the 1910-25 period. Youth groups, study circles, labor organizations, tenant groups, and project-specific interest organizations appeared on the scene, each competing for attention in the colonial press. Introduction 5 The new vernacular press strained...