1920년대 조선에서의 일본제국주의의 지배체제의 동요

The oscillations of the Japanese colonial rule of Korea in the 1920’s

Japan’s official system of rule in colonial Korea was the assimilation system, which aimed to assimilate Koreans to Japanese. However, as the assimilation system confronted the realities of colonial Korea, the Japanese Government General examined, proposed, then rejected the Self-Rule system. This article analyzes this process, focusing primarily on the colonial political situations of the 1920’s to highlight the contradictions and problems of Japanese rule and to contextualize its historical significance. To justify its continuous colonial rule in Korea, Japan announced that the objectives its brand of modern colonialism were to serve as the transmitter of modern civilization on the basis of ‘approximation’ and the realization of assimilation. But as Japanese colonial ideologies came to be bounded by Korea realities, Japan managed to maintain the assimilation system but only in incomplete form. Consequently, Japan was able to maintain its rule, but under unstable conditions. The higher these instabilities became, the more Government General was forced to strengthen its military and police forces.