JapanandAND⤬THE JUNCTION
9 SHARED EVENTSSouth Korea

Entangled histories

9 events in which either nation’s sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle; nothing here was written for this page.

ONE SPINE OF YEARS · TWO WALLS OF EVENTS · JPN LEFT · KOR RIGHT

1. 1592-1598 CE

   Japanese (Imjin) invasions repelled

   Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces invade Korea; resistance led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his turtle ships, with Ming Chinese aid, ultimately drives them out.

   War & Rupture · from the South Korea chronicle · The Joseon Dynasty · REFS 2 — Joseon dynasty, Korea (history)

2. 1905 CE

   Korea made a Japanese protectorate

   After defeating Russia, Japan imposes a protectorate treaty stripping Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty, a prelude to full annexation.

   Colonisation · from the South Korea chronicle · The Joseon Dynasty · REFS 2 — Korea Under Japanese Rule, Korea (history)

3. 1910 CE

   Annexation and colonial government

   Japan installs a Government-General in Seoul, ruling Korea through military and police power and beginning systematic economic exploitation.

   Colonisation · from the South Korea chronicle · Japanese Colonial Rule · REFS 1 — Korea Under Japanese Rule

4. 1910 CE

   Japanese annexation of Korea

   Japan formally annexes Korea, ending the Joseon dynasty and more than five centuries of Korean monarchy and beginning 35 years of colonial rule.

   Colonisation · from the South Korea chronicle · The Joseon Dynasty · REFS 2 — Korea Under Japanese Rule, Korea (history)

5. April 1919

   Korean Provisional Government formed

   Korean nationalists establish a Provisional Government in exile in Shanghai to coordinate the independence struggle against Japanese rule.

   Politics & Power · from the South Korea chronicle · Japanese Colonial Rule · REFS 2 — Korea Under Japanese Rule, Korea (history)

6. c. 1939-1945 CE

   Forced labor and wartime mobilization

   As the Pacific War expands, Japan conscripts hundreds of thousands of Koreans for forced labor and military service and coerces women into sexual slavery.

   Colonisation · from the South Korea chronicle · Japanese Colonial Rule · REFS 1 — Korea Under Japanese Rule

7. 15 August 1945

   Liberation from Japan

   Japan's surrender ends 35 years of colonial rule; Koreans celebrate Gwangbokjeol, the Restoration of Light, even as foreign occupation and division loom.

   Independence · from the South Korea chronicle · Japanese Colonial Rule · REFS 2 — Korea Under Japanese Rule, The Korean War and Japan's Recovery

8. Night of 10-11 August 1945

   Rusk and Bonesteel propose the 38th parallel

   During an overnight meeting in John McCloy's Pentagon office, US Army officers Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel are asked to retire to an adjoining room and propose where US forces should accept Japan's surrender in Korea. They recommend the 38th parallel to include Seoul in the American area, though it lay further north than US forces could reach if the Soviet Union disagreed (Rusk's own later account, 1950).

   Politics & Power · from the South Korea chronicle · Japanese Colonial Rule · REFS 2 — Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. VI, Doc. 771: Draft memorandum on Korea, with Dean Rusk's memorandum of 12 July 1950 on the 38th parallel, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. VI, Doc. 437: General Order No. 1 for the surrender of Japan (JCS memorandum, 14 August 1945)

9. 16 August 1945

   Stalin does not object to General Order No. 1

   General Order No. 1, which assigns the Japanese surrender in Korea north of 38 degrees north latitude to Soviet forces and south of it to US forces, is approved by President Truman on 17 August. In his 16 August reply Stalin writes that he has no objection in principle to the order, asking only for changes concerning the Kuril Islands and northern Hokkaido; Rusk later recalled being surprised that the Soviet Union accepted the parallel.

   Politics & Power · from the South Korea chronicle · Japanese Colonial Rule · REFS 3 — Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. VI, Doc. 450: Stalin to Truman on General Order No. 1, 16 August 1945, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. VI, Doc. 437: General Order No. 1 for the surrender of Japan (JCS memorandum, 14 August 1945), Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. VI, Doc. 771: Draft memorandum on Korea, with Dean Rusk's memorandum of 12 July 1950 on the 38th parallel