l market from 1876.

In a 1895 work called Seoyu Kyeonmun (‘Things seen and heard in travels to the West’) by Yu Kilchun (1856-1914), an early reformist, he explains the definitions of ‘nation’ and ‘patriotism’ to the Korean people to whom these ideas were still alien. Nationalist thought was introduced to the Koreans before Japanese colonisation, and Yu Kilchun had warned that insufficient nationalism could lead to Korea becoming a ‘slave’ among nations. The Japanese colonisation of Korea was a psychological shock for many Koreans, provoking mixed feelings of shame and wrath, as Japan had always been regarded as an inferior country to them. For many leading intellectuals of the following generation, who had grown up under Japanese rule, believed strongly in Yu Kilchun’s writing and that nationalism should be promoted in order to regain political independence. Eckert suggests that prewar Japan’s ‘ultra-nationalism’ was transmitted directly to Koreans through the colonial education system, and resulted in a much more militant and xenophobic Korean nationalism. (Eckert, p368)

However, Robinson disputes the idea that Japanese colonialism paved the way for Korean nationalism, calling it as ‘simplistic Korea-Japan binary” which overlays various narratives, and denotes that anybody who was successful during the occupation was a ‘collaborator’ and so were ‘non-Korean’. Robinson writes, ‘These politicized narratives obscure a rich and pluralistic discourse on representation of the political community during the colonial period.’ (Robinson, p13) Korean nationalists were divided, and some groups wanted to be closely associated to the West and followed western ideas, whereas some wanted to return to Confucian values. These nationalist divisions are still present in Korea today.

The Japanese government responded to some criticism over how harsh its rule was by easing some policies in the 1920s, by allowing some books and magazines to be published in the Korean language, and investing in government buildings and education. The Japanese claimed that this was to provide opportunities f