뉴스레터

It has been 76 years since the Korean people were freed from Japanese colonial rule, but the truth about Japan’s brutal massacre of Koreans during the Japanese occupation has not been thoroughly investigated. This book describes the truth about the massacre of Koreans and various brutalities committed by the Japanese aggressors in various places at home and abroad for approximately 55 years from around 1894 to before and after the defeat of the Japanese imperialists on August 15, 1945. To clear up the history of colonial rule and restore friendly Korea-Japan relations, we must face the facts of the past and reflect on its significance so as not to repeat the same mistakes. I hope this book helps establish an amicable Korea-Japan relationship by helping with the proper recognition and interpretation of the facts from the past and present.

Paintings of the Massacre of Koreans by a Japanese Painter

In November 1999, while working at the Independence Hall of Korea, I visited the National Museum of History and Folklore in the outskirts of Tokyo and an antique shop in Osaka. There, I found an original painting by an artist who witnessed the brutal massacre of ‘Koreans' by the Japanese during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. In Japan, it is called the Great Kanto Earthquake Disaster, and the contents of the painting were truly shocking. I became interested in this issue since then.

Later, I visited the National Museum of History and Folklore again at the end of July 2013 while working at the Northeast Asian History Foundation to see if there were exhibitions related to the massacre of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake. Paintings and materials associated with the slaughter of Koreans and videos related to the earthquake were displayed and screened. I could see that they were exhibiting and educating the Japanese people about what they wanted to hide. I do not know whether these paintings and materials are still on exhibition.

At the end of August 2013, the foundation held an international academic conference on the issue of the massacre of Koreans during the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan and published 『The Great Kanto Earthquake and the Massacre of Koreans』 at the end of that year. Also, the foundation translated this book into Japanese and published it under the title, 『The Great Kanto Earthquake Disaster and the Massacre of Koreans』 (Ronsosha, 2016) so that many Japanese could learn about the truth. I also published a thesis on the massacre of Koreans reported in the 『Tongnip Sinmun (Independence Newspaper)』 in this book.

Under the circumstance, I became involved in writing the ‘Knowing the History of Japanese Imperialist Pillage,’ which was promoted by the foundation as a public contest project in 2020. At the outset, I had studied the massacre of Koreans at the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake, the Japanese military and police brutality in Jeam-ri in Suwon, the suppression of the March 1st Movement in Byeongcheon, Chungcheongnam-do concerning Yoo Gwan-soon, and the Japanese military’s massacre of Koreans in Yanbian (North Jiandao), China in the late 1920s, but had not studied much about other topics.

For this, I had to use books by professional researchers such as Kim Sang-gi, Park Chan-seung, Shin Yeong-woo, Hong Soon-gwon, Bang Il-gwon, and Jeong Hye-gyung and materials provided by Japanese researchers such as Masaru Tonomura and Yasuto Takeuchi, related private organizations, media articles, etc. and media articles about the Japanese military's massacre of Donghak soldiers and the loyal army, the arrest and sacrifice of Koreans, and the massacre of Koreans in Hainan Island in China, Japan and Sakhalin before and after the defeat of Japan. While writing the book, I realized that there was few basic research on Japan’s massacre or brutality committed during the Japanese colonial or occupation period.

Urgent Need for Continuous Investigation, Research, and Education on Massacre and Brutality

If a series of research, a series of materials, and a series of liberal arts books on the history of Japan’s pillage are published in earnest by the foundation and widely distributed and utilized, I believe that it would be possible to put a check on the beautification of Japanese aggression, colonial rule, and denial of forced arrests and massacres by a few Koreans, the Japanese government and some right-wing figures, etc.

Unfortunately, due to the limitation of my capability and of space, I am unable to describe the suppression and massacre of the March 1st Movement by the Japanese military and police in 1919 in Changnyeong in Gyeongsangnam-do, Wongok and Yangseong-myeon in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, Gangseo (Sacheon) and Maengsan-gun in Pyeongannam-do; Japanese military’s massacre of Koreans in the West Jiandao region at the end of 1920; the tragedy in April of the same year in the Maritime Provinces of Russia; and the suppression of the independence army in Manchuria and the anti-Japanese partisans and the massacre of Koreans living in Taiwan in the 1930s. If there is an opportunity in the future, I hope to publish a supplementary revision or a separate academic book using materials in this field and domestic and foreign research outcomes.

Civility and barbarity are the two faces of the Japanese government and the Japanese in the past. We, who live right next to them, should always keep a close eye on their trends, their actions to save face and to hide true feelings, as well as international relations, and make ceaseless endeavors not to suffer the same terrible damage as in the past again, while maintaining friendly relationships. This is also the reason continuous investigations, research, and education on massacres and brutality are so desperately needed.