E-Books →Populist Collaborators The Ilchinhoe and the Japanese Colonization of Korea, 1896-1910

Yumi Moon, "Populist Collaborators: The Ilchinhoe and the Japanese Colonization of Korea, 1896-1910"
English | ISBN: 0801450411 | 2013 | 312 pages | PDF | 2 MB
An empire invites local collaborators in the making and sustenance of its colonies. Between 1896 and 1910, Japan's project to colonize Korea was deeply intertwined with the movements of reform-minded Koreans to solve the crisis of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). Among those reformers, it was the Ilchinhoe (Advance in Unity Society)―a unique group of reformers from various social origins―that most ardently embraced Japan's discourse of "civilizing Korea" and saw Japan's colonization as an opportunity to advance its own "populist agendas." The Ilchinhoe members called themselves "representatives of the people" and mobilized vibrant popular movements that claimed to protect the people's freedom, property, and lives. Neither modernist nor traditionalist, they were willing to sacrifice the sovereignty of the Korean monarchy if that would ensure the rights and equality of the people.