During the militaristic period, the focus was on modernizing Joseon for the purpose of permanent annexation of the Japanese Empire.

 The colony of Japanese Imperialism era has been regarded as the dark ages of our history. It was a traditional historical perception that under the unilateral exploitation of Japanese imperialism, the people of colonial Joseon suffered from poverty and despair. Recently, however, some academia have argued that this perception is far from the reality of colonial Joseon. In particular, great economic development has been made, and the soil of modern capitalism implanted at that time has been mentioned as a factor in rapid economic growth since the 1960s. I met Lee Young-hoon (53, professor of economics at Seoul National University), director of the Nakseong University Economic Research Institute, who is at the forefront of this claim. The personal motivation for modifying the image of the _ colony of Japanese Imperialism era. In 1990, a joint study of the Japanese land survey project was initiated. The original data such as land registers were collected across the country. A large amount of raw data remained in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do. When I saw the data, I was surprised by the contents that were so different from the textbook.Unlike the textbook's description of taking away unreported land from ignorant farmers by making them report land, detailed administrative guidance was provided to prevent unreported land from occurring, and guidance and enlightenment were repeated to prevent land fraud. Farmers also actively cooperated with joy when they saw their land being measured and pointed out. As a result, about 0.05% of them remained unreported, centering on tombs and hybrid sites. At that time, we realized that the image of colonial Joseon we had was a fictitious creation." _Then, what is the purpose of the land survey project? If you look closely at the historical records of Japanese colonial rule, you can see that the permanent annexation of Joseon was the purpose of colonial rule. It had an ambitious governance plan to permanently incorporate it into a country with the same system and social foundation as mainland Japan, not exploitation or exploitation. Modern land and property systems were a process for this." _ colony of Japanese Imperialism There's a misunderstanding that it glorifies governance.. It was a wrong plan from the beginning for the Japanese to permanently merge Joseon. Some within Japan argued that it is impossible to assimilate civilized peoples with their own history, and that they should help the Korean Empire become independent on a sound basis of cooperation because it will cost a lot of money. In the process, if we actively dealt with it, there was also an opportunity to avoid colonization. The modernization of Joseon for permanent consolidation had a basic contradiction that it caused national consciousness and resistance." _The economic situation in Joseon before the colony of Japanese Imperialismization. There are modern statistical data after 1910, but there is no direct data before that. However, an alternative outline can be drawn through data on tenant farming per Magigi and indirect data showing an increase in rice prices. As a big trend, per capita income gradually fell through the 18th century and then declined sharply in the late 19th century. Starting in 1750, the number of markets, population, and rice productivity in rural areas fell at once, and rice prices rose and real wages fell, indicating a strong trend in the economic downturn." _Economic changes after the forced merger of Japanese imperialism. The Joseon economy of the recession is on an upward curve around 1900. Capital inflows from Japan, settlement of modern market systems, reorganization of ownership systems, modern corporate systems and commercial laws, and development of trusts, telecommunications, and transportation that guarantee transaction safety are clear. Throughout the colonial era, a total of $8 billion in capital flowed in, and the creation of farms and factories by the Japanese increased GDP at the Korean Peninsula level, and GDP per capita and consumption of household goods increased significantly. In the 1920s and 30s, GDP rose by an average of 4% per year." _Did the standard of living of the colonial people increase? "That's right. Above all, the population has increased. The population declined throughout the 19th century and then turned to an increase in the 20th century. Population is also related to hygiene and infectious diseases, so it is not direct economic data, but it is data that allow estimation of the economic situation at the time. During the colonial period, the population of the Korean Peninsula increased from 17 million before that to 30 million (excluding 3 million overseas migration). That's how much economic power has grown." _What is the meaning of an average annual growth of 4% in the global economy at the time? The 1920s was a period of stagnation in the global economy. At that time, few countries, no matter how good the economy was, continued to grow more than 3% a year. The economic development of colonial Joseon was the result of common growth in the Japanese economic zone, including the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, and Taiwan." _Was there a special growth factor in Japanese capitalism? "It's an active capital export. Since Japan created a colonial currency that can be exchanged one-on-one with its own currency, that is, a yen currency that makes the yen common, it was able to inject large amounts of capital into Taiwan, Joseon, and Manchuria without burden of paying dollars or gold. Due to mass investment and regional development, industrial products such as Joseon's Meriyasu and shoes were exported to Manchuria, which intensified market and division of labor in the Japanese economy. Britain and others did not export factories, capital goods, or intermediate goods to colonies to create industries. Western imperialism was basically a raw material exploitation type. Unlike Japan, permanent merger was not the purpose, so it was natural. India has made commercial investments that can leave at any time, managed by the UK. That is the original form of imperialism. The relationship between Japan and colonial Joseon is difficult to understand in such a framework. It was geographically adjacent, ethnically similar, and culturally quite similar, so I tried to make it a large Japan." _Was such a Japanese policy our luck as a result? A huge heavy and chemical industry was built in North Korea between 1941 and 1945, and its direct beneficiary was North Korea. Much of it was destroyed during the Korean War, but it is difficult to make it at first and not so difficult to recover. However, North Korea fell into a hunger swamp as a result of liquidating the market economy system. On the other hand, the Korean economy, which preserved and developed the capitalist market order established by Japan, has grown significantly.Therefore, it is questionable how helpful the physical heritage left by the Japanese imperialism has been since the 50s. However, the choice of actively participating in the global capitalist system, which was rebuilt under the leadership of the United States without Korea beating it down after liberation, shines." -Isn't it common belief that colony of Japanese Imperialism rule distorted the possibility of independent capitalist development? "We are not fully aware of the history of the 18th and 19th centuries. According to estimates, the per capita national income of colonial Joseon in 1910 was around $40 (1937 price). There were no industrial facilities, and it was a very poor situation. The capital accumulation rate was low, and 80-90% of the population was an agricultural society engaged in agriculture, but it has been experiencing a long-term slump since the 18th century. It was a society dominated by a kind of moral value or justification, and labor discipline or willingness to work did not develop. So, as the economy stagnated in the long run, there was a serious crisis that would dismantle itself." _Is the crisis of dissolution referring to civil unrest? "It's a phenomenon. When society loses its self-integration power, riots arise when the people no longer recognize the morality of the ruling class. From around 1840 in the 19th century, civil wars broke out everywhere, and farmers staged collective rebellion for about 50 years. The ruling class of the Joseon Dynasty, that is, the royal family or bureaucrats, was no longer able to exercise sound integration power, and lacked advanced ideology to lead society in a sound direction.It reached a common occlusion in a closed society. In fact, in the early colonial period, our intellectuals looked back on the 19th century and said that they were ashamed of their history, but since liberation, they have described history brightly and progressively, pushing all such perceptions as identity. However, you cannot learn from history by turning a blind eye to the true appearance of history."