By Kim Eun-gyong
Contributing Writer
This is the 16th in a series of articles about history of English education in Korea ― ED.
The militarists' ascendancy in the Japanese government and the Manchurian invasion in 1931 brought about marked changes in Japan's colonial policy. In contrast to the lenient ``cultural policy'' during the previous decade, the new colonial government headed by Ugaki Kazushige began an era of harsh rule.
Minami Jiro, an expansionist militarist, was appointed as the new governor-general in August 1936 and sought the total assimilation of Koreans. Under the slogan of ``Japan and Korea are One Entity,'' he launched a sweeping campaign to eradicate the Korean national identity.
During the final decade of colonial rule, Japan's primary goal was to fully assimilate Koreans for the purpose of war. In order to meet the increasing need for a labor force that understood the Japanese language, Japanese language education was given an unparalleled emphasis, and the language was forced upon Koreans as their daily means of communication.
In 1937, the governor-general ordered that all instruction be conducted in Japanese and that students not be allowed to speak Korean in or outside class.
The colonial government's third ordinance for Joseon's education discouraged the establishment of private schools: from 1938 to 1943. Thus, 17 new public middle schools and 22 public girls' high schools were established while the opening of any new private schools was not permitted.
In addition, the government's mandate for worship at Shinto shrines emerged as a critical issue that threatened the existence of mission schools, for many missionaries viewed Shintoism as idolatry. The mission schools that refused to observe the mandate faced being closed. The Mission Headquarters of the U.S. Northern Presbyterian Church announced a complete halt of financial support for Korean schools and withdrawal of missionaries in May 1938. By 1939, numerous mission schools had been closed, or their ownership had been transferred to Koreans or Japanese.
Japan's antagonism against mission schools intensified beginning in 1939, when the United States and Japan became embroiled in war. Japan considered the United States an enemy and created an anti-American atmosphere in Korea, and made constant attempts to drive missionaries out.
In October 1940, the president of the United States ordered through the State Department to completely withdraw all of its citizens from Korea. By 1942, all missionaries, along with other Americans in Korea, had been repatriated. The positions and school proprietorships that the American missionaries had maintained were eventually taken over by the Japanese and Japanese foundations.
The militarization of schools began with the promulgation of the third educational ordinance in March 1938. From 1940, Japan dispatched Japanese soldiers to schools who began giving military drills to students. After Japan declared war against the United States in December 1941, the colonial government attempted to more thoroughly adapt the Korean educational system to serve the purpose of the Japanese war.
It announced a student-soldier system in October 1943. While a number of older Korean students were forced into military service, young students were commandeered as a labor force. Starting in May 1943, the entire population of the private-school students in Seoul was mobilized for the dredging work of a reservoir.
Students in other regions were dragged to munitions factories. They were assigned specific hours and days per year for labor, e.g., 20 days in the first semester, 20 days in the second semester, 60 days in the third year and 90 days in the fourth year. Consequently, classes were neglected or abandoned.
In March 1945, the government announced a suspension of all classes. As no classes were held, students were compelled to do more work at munitions factories or for other military purposes. In May 1945, the government announced a wartime educational ordinance that committed education solely for the purpose of the execution of war. The schools were converted into military structures, and all school training was diverted for the purpose of producing food and military supplies.
However, Japan's madness and brutal rule finally came to a close as World War II ended in the Allies' victory and Korea was liberated on August 15, 1945. The last decade of Japanese rule was a period of truly dark, tragic years for Koreans; Japan manipulated colonial education to the fullest as the main vehicle for assimilating Korean youths into the Japanese mainstream and exploiting Korea for the purpose of its imperialistic war.
It goes without saying that many of the drastic measures taken by the colonial government, such as its forced emphasis on the Japanese language, mandate of worships at Shinto shrines that threatened the existence of mission schools in Korea, creation of an anti-American atmosphere and subsequent driving missionaries out of Korea, restructuring Korea as a war supply base, and student mobilization, dealt debilitating blows to the development of English language education, and the educational field therefore suffered a sharp decline during the last decade of Japanese colonial rule.
Kim Eun-gyong is an associate professor of applied linguistics and Associate Dean of the Center for International Affairs, Information and Communications University (ICU) in Daejeon. She can be reached at egkimrivera@icu.ac.kr.