Everything about Korea Under Japanese Rule totally explained
Korea under Japanese rule refers to the period between 1910 and 1945 when
Korea was occupied by the
Japanese Empire.
Japan's involvement began with the 1876
Treaty of Ganghwa during the
Joseon Dynasty of Korea and increased with the subsequent
assassination of
Empress Myeongseong (also known as Queen Min) at the hands of
Japanese agents in 1895. It culminated with the 1905
Eulsa Treaty and the 1910
Annexation Treaty, both of which were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.
In this period, the
Imperial Japanese Army often discriminated, tortured, plundered, raped, summary executed and mass murdered Koreans without a valid reason; Major
war crimes attributed to the Japanese Empire against Korea include
cultural genocide,
forced labour, forced
sex slavery with the
kidnapping of young Korean girls and women for the
Imperial Japanese Army (for example "
comfort women"),
human experiments on live Koreans, burying of live Koreans, burning down of Korean villages,
censorship of media and banning of
Korean language newspapers and Korean traditional
religions, confiscation of land, food and cultural assets,
forced name changes and denial of Korean history in education, which led to a strong rise in
anti-Japanese sentiment and
Korean nationalism, still strongly persistent to this date in both
South Korea and
North Korea.
Japanese control of Korea ended with the
surrender of Japan to the
Allied forces in 1945 at the end of
World War II. The
Korean Peninsula was subsequently
divided into
South Korea and
North Korea. The
legacy of the occupation remains in continuing
disputes between Japan and the two Koreas.
In Korea, this period is called the
Japanese Forcible Occupation Period (;
Ilje gangjeomgi, 日帝强占期) or
Japanese Imperial Period (
Ilje sidae, 日帝時代). Sometimes it's also referred to as the
Wae jeong (
Hangul:,
Hanja: ), or "Japanese administration". In Japan, this period is called
Korea under Japanese rule .
Background
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, various Western countries were competing for influence, trade, and territory in
East Asia while Japan sought to join the modern colonial powers. The newly modernised
Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea, then in the
sphere of influence of
Qing Dynasty of
China. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a
Japanese satellite in order to further their security and national interests.
Treaty of Ganghwa
In February 1876, following the
Meiji Restoration, Japan employed
gunboat diplomacy to pressure Korea to sign the
Treaty of Ganghwa, which was regarded as
unequal treaty, and grant extraterritorial rights and open three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of
Commodore Perry.
Assassination of Empress Myeongseong
In 1895,
Empress Myeongseong was assassinated by Japanese agents. The Japanese minister to Korea,
Miura Goro orchestrated the plot against her. A group of Japanese agents entered the Imperial palace in Seoul, which was under Japanese guard, and Empress Myeongseong (referred to as "
Queen Min" by the Japanese) was killed and her body desecrated in the North wing of the palace. The empress had attempted to counter Japanese interference in Korea and was considering turning to Russia or China for support.
Reacting to the murder of the Empress, on
February 11 1896,
Emperor Gojong and his crown prince fled from the
Gyeongbokgung palace to the
Russian legation in
Seoul, from which they governed for about one year, an event known as
Korea royal refuge at the Russian legation. Russia and the U.S. were granted concessions to counterbalance Japanese influence.
Donghak Revolution and protests for democracy
The outbreak of the
Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 changed Japanese policy toward Korea. Korea had negotiated with Russia to counterbalance Japan's growing influence.
So Chae-pil and
Protestant missionaries introduced Western political thought to Korea. Protesters took to the streets, demanding
democratic reforms and an end to Japanese and Russian influence in Korean affairs. The Korean government asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. The Meiji leaders decided upon military intervention to challenge China. When China sent troops into Korea, Japan sent its own troops to Korea. Japan won the
First Sino-Japanese War, and China signed the
Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea", thus ending Korea's
tributary state relationship with the Chinese
Qing dynasty.
On the road to annexation
The strategic rivalry between Russia and Japan exploded in the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, won by Japan. Under the peace treaty signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea.
In response, the Japanese government took stronger measures. On July 19, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as the regent. The Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new
Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong or Sunjong was present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be the last ruler of the
Joseon Dynasty, which had been founded in 1392.
Annexation of Korea
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
In May 1910, the
Minister of the Army of Japan,
Terauchi Masatake, was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after previous treaties (
Japan-Korea Protocol of 1904 and
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907) had made Korea a
protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On
August 22,
1910, Korea was effectively
annexed by Japan with the
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed by
Lee Wan-Yong, Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became the first Japanese
Governor-General of Korea.
The text was published one week later and became effective the same day. The treaty stipulated:
- "Article 1: His Majesty the Emperor of Korea concedes completely and definitely his entire sovereignty over the whole Korean territory to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.
- Article 2: His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the concession stated in the previous article and consents to the annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan."
Both the protectorate and the annexation treaties were declared void in the 1965 Basic Treaty between Korea and Japan since both were: 1) obtained under
threat of force, and 2) the Korean Emperor, whose
royal assent was required to validate and finalize any legislation or diplomatic agreement under Korean law of the period, refused to sign the document,.
Liberation movement
Upon
Emperor Gojong's death,
anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide, most notably the
March 1st Movement of 1919. A
declaration of independence was read in
Seoul. It is estimated that 2 million people took part in these rallies. The
protests were violently suppressed: according to Korean records, 46,948 were arrested, 7,509 killed and 15,961 wounded; according to Japanese figures, 8437 were arrested, 553 killed and 1409 wounded.
The
Encyclopedia Britannica states that about 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese police and soldiers during the 12 months of demonstrations.
After the suppression of the uprising, some of the aspects of Japanese rule considered most objectionable to Koreans were removed. The military police were replaced by a civilian force, and limited
press freedom was permitted. Two of the three major Korean daily
newspapers, the
Dong-a Ilbo and the
Chosun Ilbo, were established in 1920.
However, objection to Japanese rule over Korea continued, and the March 1st Movement was a catalyst for the establishment of the
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea by Korean émigrés in Shanghai on
April 13,
1919. This Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is considered by the modern South Korea government to be the
de jure representation of the Korean people throughout the period of Japanese rule.
In military terms, although the Japanese occupation of Korea after annexation was largely uncontested by the numerically smaller, poor armed and poorly trained Korean army, many former soldiers and other volunteers left the Korean peninsula for
Manchuria and
Primorsky Krai in
Russia. Koreans in
Manchuria formed resistance groups known as
Dongnipgun (Liberation Army) which would travel in and out of the Korean-Chinese boundary, fighting with
guerrilla warfare tactics against Japanese forces. The Japanese
invasion of Manchuria in 1932 and subsequent
Pacification of Manchukuo deprived many of these groups of their bases of operation and supplies. Many were forced to either flee to China itself, or to join with the
Communist-backed forces in eastern Russia.
Within Korea itself, anti-Japanese rallies continued on occasion, most notably the nationwide student uprising of November 1929, which led to the strengthening of military rule in 1931, after which freedom of the press and expression were curbed. Many witnesses, including Catholic priests, reported that Japanese authorities dealt with insurgency severely. When villagers were suspected of hiding rebels, entire villages of people are said to have been herded into public buildings (especially churches) and massacred when the buildings were set on fire. In the village of Cheam-Ni near Suwon, for instance, a group of 29 people was gathered inside a church which was then set afire to burn them alive. Such events deepened the hostility of many Korean civilians towards the Japanese government.
World War II
On
December 9,
1941, shortly after the
Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, under the presidency of
Kim Gu, declared war on Japan and
Nazi Germany. The Provisional Government banded together various Korean resistance guerilla groups as the
Korean Liberation Army, which participated in combat on behalf of the
Allies in various campaigns in China and parts of
South East Asia. Tens of thousands more Koreans volunteered for the
National Revolutionary Army and the
Peoples Liberation Army.
Outside of the control of the Provisional Government was the communist-backed Korean Volunteer Army (KVA), established in
Yenan, China from a core of 1000 deserters from the Imperial Japanese Army. After
Operation August Storm, the KVA entered Manchuria, where it recruited from the ethnic Korean population and eventually became the
Korean People's Army of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Following the dropping of
atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Japan
surrender of Japan to the Allied forces on
15 August 1945, ending 35 years of Japanese occupation.
American forces under General
John R. Hodge arrived in the southern part of Korea on
8 September. Colonel
Dean Rusk proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency meeting to determine postwar
spheres of influence during this time.
However, as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea lacked widespread international
diplomatic recognition, its representatives were not allowed to participate in the San Francisco Peace Conference, nor was the Provisional Government a signatory to the
Treaty of San Francisco.
Economy and exploitation
Korea during the late Joeson period was a largely an
isolationist pre-industrial society, with most
foreign trade prohibited and attempts at economic modernization stifled by an extremely conservative Court and landed aristocracy.
During the early period of Japanese rule, the Japanese government concentrated on building a significant
transportation infrastructure on the Korean peninsula, including development of
port facilities, an extensive
railway system, including a main truck railway from the southern port city of
Pusan through the capital of
Keijo and north to the Chinese border. This transportation infrastructure was intended not only to facilitate a
colonial mercantilist, colonial economy for the extraction of raw materials (
timber), foodstuffs (mostly
rice and
fish), and mineral resources (
coal and
iron ore), but was also viewed as a strategic necessity for the Japanese military to control Korea and to move large numbers of troops and materials to the China border at short notice.
From the late 1920s and into the 1930s, particularly during the tenure of Japanese Governor-General
Kazushige Ugaki, concentrated efforts were to build up the industrial base in the Korean peninsula, especially in the areas of
heavy industry, such as chemical plants and steel mills, and
munitions production. The Japanese military felt that having production closer to the source of raw materials and closer to the potential front lines in a future war with China, would be of benefit.
However, by the early 1930s, Japanese investment was limited due to the
worldwide economic depression, competition for investment opportunities from the potentially more lucrative
Manchukuo and by Japans own limited economic capacity.
As Imperial Japan began feeling the strains of World War II, Japan "siphoned off more and more of Korea's resources, including its people, to feed its war machine."
Japanese migration and land confiscation
Prior to the annexation of Korea, from around the time of the
First Sino-Japanese War, Japanese merchants began settling in towns and cities around Korea seeking economic opportunities. After annexation, the Japanese government wanted more ethnic Japanese settlers to take root in Korea and encouraged further migration to help consolidate and expand Japanese influence. By 1910, the number of Japanese settlers in Korea reached over 170,000, creating the largest overseas Japanese community in the world at the time.
Many Japanese settlers were interested in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese landownership was officially legalized in 1906. This was facilitated by a
land reform introduced by Japanese Governor-General
Terauchi Masatake which subsequently proved extremely unpopular with large segments of the Korean population. The Korean land ownership system was a complex system of absentee landlords, partial owner-tenants, and cultivators with traditional but without legal proof of ownership. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that reestablished ownership by basis of written proof (
deeds, titles, and similar documents). Ownership was denied to those who couldn't provide such written documentation (mostly lower class and partial owners, who had only traditional verbal "cultivator rights"). Although the plan succeeded in reforming land ownership/taxation structures, it added tremendously to the bitter and hostile environment of the time by enabling a huge amount of Korean land to be seized by the government and sold at
subsidized costs to any Japanese family willing to
settle in Korea as part of a larger effort at
colonization..
Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations, such as the
Oriental Development Company. Former Korean landowners as well as agricultural workers, became
tenant farmers, having lost their
entitlements almost overnight.
It is estimated that by 1910 perhaps 7 to 8 percent of all
arable land was under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily. During the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, during which the ratio of Japanese land ownership started at 36.8%, then rose to 39.8%, and finally jumped to 52.7%, while the ratio of Korean ownership began at 63.2%, decreased to 60.2%, and finally fell to 47.3%. This level of tenancy was very similar to that of farmers in Japan itself, but with the difference being that in Korea, the landowners were mostly Japanese, and the tenants were all Koreans. As was often the case in Japan itself, tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent, they were often forced to send wives and daughters to factories or to sell daughters into prostitution to pay for taxes. The total deaths of Korean forced laborers in Korea and
Manchuria is estimated to be between 270,000 and 810,000. The 43,000 in Karafuto, which had been occupied by the
Soviet Union just prior to Japan's surrender, were refused repatriation to either mainland Japan or the Korean peninsula, and were thus trapped in Sakhalin, stateless; they became the ancestors of the
Sakhalin Koreans.
In 1938, an estimated 800,000 ethnic Koreans were living in Japan as immigrants. The combination of immigrants and forced labor workers during
World War II brought that total to over 2 million by the end of the war, according to estimates by the
American occupation authorities. In 1946, some 1,340,000 ethnic Koreans were repatriated to Korea, with 650,000 choosing to remain in Japan ., where they now form the
Zainichi Korean community. A 1982 survey by the Korean Youth Association showed that conscripted labor accounts for 13.3% of first-generation Zainichi Koreans.
Politics and culture
Residents of the Korean peninsula, whether ethnic Korean or Japanese, didn't have the right to vote or right to hold office in Japan's
House of Representatives. The election law was amended in 1945 to allot 18 seats of the House of Representatives to the Korean peninsula, but this didn't go into effect because of the end of the war later in the same year. Koreans in Japan were, however, eventually given the right to vote and to hold office.
Pak Chun-geum () was the first ethnic Korean to be elected into the House of Representatives in 1932, re-elected in 1938, and continued to serve throughout the Second World War. Several members of the Korean Royalty and aristocracy were appointed to the
House of Peers including
Pak Yeong-Hyo () in 1932. 38 Koreans were elected into local assemblies in 1942.
Assimilation of the royalty
Following the forced dissolution of the
Korean Empire and the assassination of
Empress Myeongseong at the hands of Japanese agents, the
Korean royalty was incorporated into the
Japanese royalty. Since the
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty lacked legality as it was never signed by the Korean Emperor, The colonial government put into practice the suppression of Korean culture and language in an "attempt to root out all elements of Korean culture from society". and in fact kept issuing the
Korean language newspaper
Maeil Sinbo (; ) until the
Japanese surrender in 1945. in an attempt to better segregate individuals of Korean and Japanese ancestry. went into effect, whereby all Koreans had to surrender their
Korean family name and adopt Japanese surnames. A country study conducted by the
Library of Congress states that “Korean culture was quashed, and Koreans were required to speak Japanese and take Japanese names.” This forced name change, called
Changssi-gaemyeong (; ), was part of Japan's assimilation policy. In all, some 9.6% of Koreans changed their last name to a Japanese one during the colonial occupation.
Education in Korea under Japanese rule
In Joeson dynasty Korea, education was limited to private academies for the aristocracy. Following the annexation of Korea, the Japanese administration introduced
universal education patterned after the
Japanese school system, with a pyramidal hierarchy of elementary, middle and high schools, cumulating at the
Keijō Imperial University in
Seoul. As in Japan itself, education was viewed primarily as an instrument of “Imperial Citizen Forming” (황민화; 皇民化) with a heavy emphasis on moral and political indoctrination. Although the Japanese colonial government did provide educational material for
Korean culture and
Korean language to some degree, such as a textbook of Hangul and grammar to mix Hangul with Chinese characters (in the version designed by
Kakugorō Inoue), classes focused mostly on teaching the history of the
Japanese Empire as well as glorification of the
Imperial House of Japan. The history of Korea wasn't part of the curriculum. As in Japan itself, students were made to worship at the school's
Shintō shrine regardless of their religious beliefs, and bow before portraits of the Emperor and copy of the
Imperial Rescript on Education. As the Japanese administrative policy shifted more strongly towards assimilation from the 1930s (;
dōka seisaku), all classes were taught in
Japanese with
Korean language becoming an elective. Later this policy was replaced by a “Penalty Point” system whereby students were academically penalized for the use of the Korean language during school time. Eventually the use of Korean language was “forbidden in all schools and business”.
Starting in 1944, Japan started
conscription of Koreans into the armed forces. All Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Japanese Army, as of April 1944, or work in the military industrial sector, as of September 1944. Before 1944, 18,000 Koreans passed the examination for induction into the army.
Koreans to provide workforces to mines and construction sites around the island nation. The discovery proved that the number of conscripted Koreans reached its peak in the year in preparation for the war in the Japanese mainland.
(External Link
)
The application ratio was allegedly 48.3 to 1 in 1943. From 1944, about 200,000 Korean males were inducted into the army. The number of Korean military personnel was 242,341, and 22,182 of them died during World War II. At the
Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal 148 Koreans were convicted of Class B and C
war crimes, 23 of whom were sentenced to death. (920 Japanese sentenced to death. 26 Taiwanese sentenced to death) In 2002, South Korea started an investigation of Japanese collaborators. Part of the investigation was completed in 2006 and a list of names of individuals who profited from exploitation of fellow Koreans were posted. Many collaborators were able to afford higher education with the money they'd made; this allowed them to take up influential positions and afford to contribute to the well-being of their children who thus also profited.
| Year |
Applicants |
# accepted |
| 1938 |
2,946 |
406 |
| 1939 |
12,348 |
613 |
| 1940 |
84,443 |
3,060 |
| 1941 |
144,743 |
3,208 |
| 1942 |
254,273 |
4,077 |
| 1943 |
303,294 |
6,300 |
Japanese war crimes, Atomic bomb casualties
During World War II, women who served in the Japanese military brothels were called
Comfort women. Historians estimate the number of comfort women between 10,000 and 200,000, which include Japanese women. According to testimonies, there were cases that Japanese officials and local collaborators kidnapped or recruited under guise of factory employment poor, rural women from Korea (and other nations) for
sexual slavery for Japanese military.
As investigations continue, more evidence continues to surface. There has been evidence of the Japanese government intentionally destroying official records regarding Comfort Women. Nonetheless, Japanese inventory logs and employee sheets on the battlefield show traces of documentation for government sponsored sexual slavery. In one instance, names of known Comfort Women were traced to Japanese employment records. One such woman was falsely classified as a nurse along with at least a dozen other verified comfort women who were not nurses or secretaries. Currently, the South Korean government is looking into the hundreds of other names on these lists.
In the case of Korean A-bomb victims in Japan during World War II, many Koreans were drafted for work at military industrial factories in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were a total of 70,000 Korean casualties in both cities; 40,000 were killed and 30,000 were exposed to the A-bomb radiation.
During Japanese Occupation of Korea, most Koreans became victims of
Japanese war crimes, such as Christians being crucified, Korean villages found hiding resistance fighters were dealt with harshly often with
summary execution,
rape, murder, at times burying elderly people alive; other crimes included
human experimentation,
mass murder,
forced labour,
preventable famine and
looting.
» "To this day, valuable Korean artifacts can often be found in Japanese museums or among private collectors. According to the investigation of the South Korea government, There are 75,311 cultural assets that were taken from Korea. Japan has 34,369; the United States has 17,803. Today, Korea frequently demands the return of these artifacts to which Japan doesn't comply."
Koreans along with many other Asians were experimented on in secret military medical experimentation units, such as
Unit 731,
Unit 516, and many more. An estimated 270,000 - 810,000 Koreans died in seven years from forced labor alone.
Controversial statements regarding Japanese rule in Korea
The nature, legitimacy, and legacy of the Japanese annexation of Korea, especially its disputed role in contributing to the modernization of the Korean peninsula, is a topic of intense debate. In both Koreas, Japanese rule in the early twentieth century is taught as a ruthless attempt to exploit the Korean people. In both South and North Korea,
Japanese historical revisionism is viewed along the same lines as
Holocaust denial in modern Europe..
Nonetheless, controversial pro-Japanese statements of the occupation of Korea have been made by Korean academics:
Professor Rhee Young Hoon (이영훈) of Seoul National University (서울대) argued at a seminar hosted by the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford that despite human rights problems, the Korean economy had grown greatly under the Japanese rule and that the base of modern capitalism introduced by the Japanese to Korea later became a part of the foundation of the modern Korean economy.
Professor Emeritus Ahn Byung Jik (안병직) of Seoul National University rejects the prevailing view that the late Joseon Dynasty had a germination of capitalism and could have grown into a modern society on its own, and argues that the Japanese rule helped the economic development of Korea.
Professor Emeritus Han Seung-Jo of Korea University wrote that "The colonial rule of Korea by Japan was actually a stroke of good fortune, and instead of hating them for it, they should be thanked. There is no reason to rebuke, denounce or make criminals of the pro-Japanese activities of 35 years of cooperation without opposition", and said in a later interview that "At the time, if Japan hadn't taken over Chosun, Russia would have, and if that had happened the Korean people would have been scattered under Joseph Stalin's racial dispersion policy", and that "I see the colonial rule by Japan as having been not a bad thing, but instead an opportunity for the strengthening of the Korean people's awareness."
Ji Man-Won, a retired South Korean military officer and author caused controversy in Korea and further abroad with his view. Ji has praised Japan for "modernizing" Korea, and has said "only around 20 percent of the Korean women who sexually served the Japanese military personnel were forced, while the remaining 80 percent volunteered in order to make money".
1910 interpretations and arguments
Early views of Japanese colonialism before the start of World War II were mixed. T. Philip Terry predicted the following in his 1914 guidebook Terry's Japanese Empire, Including Korea and Formosa:
» "That intelligent Koreans will later be as grateful to Japan as the Japanese now are to the United States, there's but little doubt. With customary astuteness and good will, Japan has adopted the admirable British idea in colonization of giving every man, British or alien, friend or foe, the same chance...Japan is to-day repaying Korea for centuries of unjust invasion, by the introduction of civilization and enlightenment."
However, not all outside accounts before the start of the war were as favorable towards the Japanese occupation. F.A. McKenzie in his book Korea's Fight for Freedom wrote the following in 1920:
» "When Japan, in face of her repeated pledges, annexed Korea, her statesmen adopted an avowed policy of assimilation. They attempted to turn the people of Korea into Japanese--an inferior brand of Japanese, a serf race, speaking the language and following the customs of their overlords, and serving them....'The Koreans are a degenerate people, not fit for self-government', says the man whose mind has been poisoned by subtle Japanese propaganda. Korea has only been a very few years in contact with Western civilization, but it has already indicated that this charge is a lie. Its old Government was corrupt, and deserved to fall. But its people, wherever they've had a chance, have demonstrated their capacity. In Manchuria hundreds of thousands of them, mostly fled from Japanese oppression, are industrious and prosperous farmers. In the Hawaiian Islands, there are five thousand Koreans, mainly labourers, and their families, working on the sugar plantations."
Modern interpretations and arguments
Korea experienced a true modernization in post-World War II under the stewardship of the United States and the income from a highly export-oriented industrialization for several reasons: The total GDP also grew in excess of 500% for this relatively short period. It was during this time of rapid economic growth that foreign observers first applied the term Economic Miracle of the Han River and that Korea earned itself the distinctive title of Economic Tiger.
Most Korean companies, especially the large Chaebol at the heart of the South Korean economic oligarchy, were founded well after the end of the Japanese occupation. These include, but are not limited to: Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Group, LG Group, and SK Telecom (known as the "Big Four" in South Korea).
Japan's coverup efforts
Many argue that sensitive information about Japan's occupation of Korea is difficult to obtain, and that this is due to the fact that the Government of Japan has gone out of its way to cover up many incidents that would otherwise lead to severe international criticism.
A recent example of this behavior included the denial by the Japanese Government of the burial of non-Japanese test-subject bodies several dozen feet below buildings in Japanese urban areas (such as the bodies found under the Toyama No. 5 apartment blocks) in order to cover up these experiments. Flatly denied, even after the bodies are discovered as new developments are constantly being erected in Japan. The unmarked mass graves on the "west side of Tokyo is deeply troubling". The testimony of Toyo Ishii, a nurse involved in the coverup, are down played or ignored. "After more than 60 years of silence the 84-year-old nurse's story is the latest twist in the legacy of Japan's rampage." In addition, as cited above, much of the statistics are skewed due to the fact that they included Japanese migrants in Korea, making the poverty analysis of true Koreans indiscernible. Also, as referenced above the inventory logs and employee sheets were falsified by the Japanese in order to cover up the comfort women issue.
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