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The Korean Military History prior to the Establishment ofthe Republic of Korea Army: the Korean Soldiers andtheir Military Background under the Japanese Colonial Rule

Jeongok Nam 1

1국방부군사편찬연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This article aims to explain about the Korean military history before the establishment of the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA), and to review the Korean soldiers and their military background under the Japanese colonial rule, 1910-1945. A generation of Japanese economic, political, and military interference on the Korean Peninsula culminated in Korea's formal annexation to Japan on August 22, 1910, Korea) became a Japanese colony with Prime Minister Yi Wan-yong's signing of the Treaty of Annexation, and treaty was announced to the Korean people by Emperor Sunjong(純宗) in a proclamation on August 29 marking the end of the 518 years rule of the Joseon(朝鮮) Dynasty. Annexation inaugurated a thirty-five year period of social and economic change directed to the ends of the Japanese state that has left a bitter legacy to this day. Above all, after the Manchurian Incident of 1931, the Japanese empire control tightened: the imperial administration saw the Korea Peninsula military base needing their war performance. Also, the Japanese empire began to enforce the Korean's mobilization in ordre to perform their empire war after the Sino-Japanese in 1939 and the Pacific War in 1941. Especially, the Japan controlled to enforce regulations the observance of Shinto(神社), the combination of the Japanese's emperor and ancestor worship. The Japan ordered every Korean public event to begin with the “Pledge of the Imperial Subjects.” Accordingly, under the Japanese colonial rule, many Korean youth people became some another state's soldiers. They enlisted to force various armies in the Manchuria, the Japan mainland, the China Continental, the Pacific area, etc. In a result, they became soldiers, and served as soldiers of the Chinese Army, the Japanese Army, the Restoration Army (Gwangbokgun), the Manchukuo's Army until the Liberation of Korea, August 15, 1945. After the Liberation Day of Korea, those returning from Japan, Manchuria, and China with military background tried to form the establishment of the regular army for the new nation with an eye to playing a leading role. They played a key role to protect their nation during the Korean War.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.