As a Korean American, I often hear about how terribly my people were treated by the Japanese during the colonial period in Korea. However, I also hear from different sources that varied on how they were treated relatively better compared to other races, particularly other Asians and white people, especially from Allied countries like Britain and America. While I've heard the Japanese treated the Taiwanese better than Koreans, how did the treatment of Koreans compare to say Chinese people or American POWs?
I'm not trying to dismiss or downplay the actions of Imperial Japan, I'm just curious.
Korean and Taiwanese status were apparently differ from Chinese or American POW. As the Empire citizen, they had right and protected by laws even in it wasn't complete.
For example, Korea had been ruled by the Governor appointed by the Emperor and residents had no political right to the government. But Korean resident in the mainland of Japan had voting right. In this age there was a Korean lived in the Tokyo had became a delegate of the Imperial Diet selected by the citizen.
Of course the laws of the Empire in this age was not fairness and basic human rights was incomplete. The Korea independent movement had been oppressed and often executed.
Most Japanese had prejudice to the Korean and often treated them unfair. But it was not the official policy and opinion of the Empire to treated Koreans like as the slave.
There was the ideal that Japanese and Korean must be equality in the Empire of Japan, but the Empire tried to achieve it by assimilation to the Japan with ignoring Korean's will and tradition. It was the compulsion based in the egoistic goodwill, Korean was harmed identity and become hate Japan.