Author: Aerin Lee

In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan, following a long and complicated history between the two nations. Relations between Korea and Japan were strained for centuries before the Japanese annexation of Korea, with one of the most notable conflicts being the Japanese invasions of Korea in the 16th century, in which Japan attempted to conquer Korea, but ultimately failed. By the beginning of the 20th century, Japan had established itself as the dominant military and imperialist power in Asia by defeating both China in the First Sino-Japanese War and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, formalizing Japan’s hold on the Korean peninsula.

After annexing Korea, Japan established a government in which all of the officials were military leaders appointed by the emperor of Japan. Japan also imposed their education system onto the Korean colony, using it to assimilate Korea into Japan. Schools only taught in Japanese and excluded Korean history from their curriculum. The colonial government took away land from many Koreans and deprived them of rights such as the freedom of speech, assembly, and press. Japan also made efforts to modernize Korea’s economy. For example, Japan expanded Korean infrastructure by building nationwide infrastructure like roads, railroads, and electrical power. Japan also established heavy manufacturing industries in the north, such as steel, chemicals, and hydroelectric power. Much of this transformation was done using forced Korean labor.

Struggling for Independence

On March 1, 1919, a day also known as the March First Movement, Koreans held peaceful nationwide anti-Japanese rallies, which began with a written declaration of Korean independence. The Japanese responded with military force to suppress the demonstrations, killing, wounding, and arresting tens of thousands of protestors. Korean independence leaders formed the Korean Provisional Government, Korea’s first democratic republican government, in response to the Japanese suppression of the March First Movement. Koreans continued to fight for independence, carrying out armed struggles against Japan during the 1920s. In response, Japan imposed strict military rule over Korea in 1931 and, by the end of the 1930s, made efforts to erase Korean identity. Koreans were forced to adopt and use Japanese names, worship at Japanese shrines, and follow Japanese spiritual practices. Written work published in Korean was banned. Koreans were drafted to fight for Japan in both the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, and were forced to work in mines, factories, and military bases for little or no pay. Following the outbreak of the war in the Pacific, young Korean women, also known as “comfort women,” were forced to perform sexual services for the Japanese military.

Independence and Post-Independence Relations

The Korean Provisional Government declared war against Japan in 1941 and established the Korean Restoration Army, which fought with the Allied forces in China. Japanese colonial rule in Korea ended in August 1945, when Japan surrendered at the end of World War II. Today, far-right groups in Japan insist that Japanese colonial rule was moderate, if not beneficial to Korea. They attribute Korea’s economic growth and success following the colonial period to the changes in infrastructure and education that Japan installed. Additionally, many of these groups in Japan say that Koreans have “‘enjoyed a moral arrogance through a moral superiority’ over Japan” and assert that Koreans themselves managed stations for comfort women, even though Koreans were compelled into many different types of labor during colonial rule. They argue that Japanese rule over Korea was not “brutal,” citing examples of colonial rule by Western nations, and claim that “Japan never practiced any of the forced labor, economic exploitation, and destruction of recalcitrant villages, with occasional forced relocation and racial segregation” that typifies Western colonialism, therefore making Japanese colonization “moderate” and “almost fair.” However, most Koreans who lived through this period give consistent accounts of Japanese oppression and exploitation, and both the victims of Japanese colonialism and scholars of Japanese history today agree that the “Japanese have never seriously faced…the realities of the devastating abuse Japan brought to neighboring nations and their people.”
Koreans continue to fight to keep the memory of Japanese colonization alive by writing about it and erecting memorials, such as the comfort women memorial statues. Japan claims it apologized to Korea through a 1965 bilateral treaty, which established diplomatic ties between the two nations, and a 2015 fund. Nonetheless, Koreans believe that Japan has not truly apologized to the victims who suffered under Japanese colonialism, especially since the Japanese government continually denies the severity of Japanese colonialism and refuses to include Japan’s past atrocities in their education system. As Japan and South Korea are both key allies for the US in East Asia to counter Chinese influence, it is crucial that Americans understand the historical tensions between them. These disagreements could disrupt their partnerships with the US and change the balance of power in the Pacific.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (also known as the Quad) is an informal alliance between the United States, India, Japan, and Australia. It was created in 2004 in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, and US, Indian, Japanese, and Australian vessels worked together to provide humanitarian relief. Beyond these initial relief activities, the four nations decided to further cooperation to promote an “arc of freedom and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region. Aside from maritime security, the Quad serves other major purposes: observing and predicting Chinese actions and intentions, responding to those actions, and furthering the economic interests of participating countries by creating new global supply chains away from China. China views the Quad as an attempt to check its power in the Indo-Pacific arena.

Dissolution and Eventual Reunion

The first attempt at the alliance did not last long. Member states were concerned that the Quad would damage their cooperation with China, so the alliance dissolved later in 2004. However, by 2017 the four countries felt that concerns over China’s growing assertiveness outweighed the potential harms of damaging the relationship. China pivoted to a more active economic and military role on the global stage in 2012 when President Xi Jinping assumed power. This can be seen from the territorial dispute in the South China Sea and the Belt and Road Initiative. 

Relationship with the Quad

Relations between China and the Quad member states have declined in recent months. Australia led investigations into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to Chinese sanctions on Australian commodities. The dispute with Japan over the South China Sea has escalated, and China has sent military ships and aircrafts into the disputed waters with increased regularity. Tensions along the India-China border led to a deadly confrontation between troops of the two nations in the summer of 2020.

Recent DevelopmentsIn March 2021, the four nations convened in the Quad’s first summit and released a joint statement, “The Spirit of the Quad.” In this statement, they reaffirmed their commitment to the organization, sharing a vision for a “region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion.” In addition, the four nations pledged to work together to address global challenges, including climate change, cyber space, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, quality infrastructure development, critical technologies, maritime domains, and counterterrorism. They have also pledged to deal with the impacts of COVID-19—in particular, their focus now lies in providing equitable vaccine access to the Indo-Pacific region.