The powerful Japanese army forced the Korean emperor to sign a treaty of alliance with Japan. By 1907 Japanese ministers controlled many branches of the Korean government, and in 1910 Korea was annexed to the Japanese empire.
Under Japanese rule Koreans were deprived of virtually all political clout. A governor general, appointed by the Japanese emperor and backed by a strong military police, maintained firm control. Although advisory councils were formed to check the power of the governor general, the Japanese allowed only wealthy Koreans to vote for council members. The Japanese residents in Korea, although they comprised only 2 percent of the population, ended up electing 64 percent of the candidates. In 1943 only about a tenth of the total number of high-ranking members of the government were actually Korean, and they earned far less than comparable Japanese officials.
Knowing that such overt oppression and discrimination were likely to fuel unrest, the Japanese hoped to promote support for their government by inculcating a new Japanese identity in the Korean populace. All subjects in the schools for Korean children, except the Korean language itself, were taught in Japanese.
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