Korean Imperialism In China

Many scholars believe that Japanese empire had referred some Western countries’ colonial experiences through resorting to imperialist expansion and colonial exploitation in order to reach its ultimate goal of consolidating Japanese sovereignty. And they also point out that these Western countries maintained the element of diversity as their mode of rule while Japanese empire tended to pursue monotonicity to avoid otherness during the time period of global colonization. In the article “ Korean Manchuria – The Racial Politics of Territorial Osmosis”, the author, Park Hyun Ok, asserts that Japanese empire treated Korean migrants as a colonial agent and intended to expand its colonial power to China. She terms this as transnational territorial
Initially, Chinese local governments welcomed Korean peasants to settle down in the Chinese territory because of their skills in cultivating rice and other crops. And another reason that Chinese government allowed Korean migrants to stay in Manchuria was due to that “China had considered itself a Confucian brother of Korea and the patron of the Koreans.” (Park 204) On the other side, Japanese empire was afraid Western countries’ imperial power in Asia would threaten its status in the world, it used Korean migrants in Manchuria as its colonial force to invade Chinese territory. Chinese authority and Chinese local governments were aware of Japanese colonial strategy and they enacted immigrant policies to naturalize Korean migrants as new Chinese citizens in Manchuria and other Chinese territory in response to the treats from Japanese empire. Such as “tax exemptions and financial help to purchase land and construct dwellings.” ( Park 206) However, the interesting result was that “ less than 15 percent of the Korean population in Jiandao was naturalized by 1932.” (Park 209) This indicates a sign of the transition from dependence to independence among the group Korean migrants in Chinese territory. They did not want to become Chinese citizen by abandoning their Korean identities in terms of customs and language. The author mentions that Japanese empire tried to assimilate these Korean migrants in Manchuria and Jiandao and used them to invade China. “Local officials screened out Korean applicants suspected of receiving funds from Japanese organizations.”(Park 205) Additionally, the Japan admitted Jiandao was Chinese territory and it established consulates there to protect Koreans and “pacifying Korean nationalist movements in Manchuria.” (Park 198) The author deems the pressure from both countries put Korea in an