opinion

On February 1 1906, the Japanese imperialists set up the “residency-general in Korea”, a barbarous colonial ruling machine. During the rule by the resident-general, they laid the foundation for colonial domination over Korea.

Japan issued “regulations on establishing the residency-general and its subsidiaries” as royal edict No. 267 in December 1905 and empowered Ito Hirobumi, the first resident-general, to suspend and cancel the ordinances and treaties on diplomatic relations of Korea, to arrest the Koreans by promulgating an order of the residency-general and to order the use of armed forces.

In order to consolidate the rule by resident-general, Japan sent large numbers of troops to Korea to reduce the country to its military colony and established a military police system.

It saw to it that a royal ordinance was issued to forbid “free entry” into the Korean imperial palace and make Japanese policemen take charge of the “guarding” of the Korean imperial palace and Emperor in order to bind him hand and foot and prevent the Koreans from meeting him without Japanese approval. It also appointed Japanese to all sectors ranging from legislature to judicature and administration to make them control every state affair in Korea, thus completely paralysing the functions of the Korean feudal government.

The rule by resident-general was truly a fascist one aimed at exterminating and plundering the Korean nation.

Labelling the Koreans opposing their colonial rule as “rioters”, the residency-general dispatched Japanese troops to major cities and even remote mountainous places to cruelly kill Koreans under the pretext of “punishing rioters”.

In order to remove the patriotic spirit and national characters of the Korean people, Japan promulgated an “ordinance on primary school” to force colonial slave education and an “ordinance on public school” to forcibly shut down private schools with anti-Japanese tendency. It also enacted the “law on newspaper” to deprive the Koreans of freedom of speech and the press and mercilessly oppress papers with anti-Japanese and patriotic tendency. It established a system for massive expropriation of land and agricultural products under the pretext of “development” in every field including agriculture, industry, mining and transport. It also enforced the enslavement policy in such fields as mining, forestry, fishery and finance.

The rule by resident-general enforced by the Japanese imperialists was an atrocious and cruel rule that tyrannically trampled upon and seized the sovereignty of Korea and inflicted untold misfortunes and suffering upon its people.

Crimes are never erased no matter how much time passes and Japan deserves punishment for its past crimes.