During my junior high school years in the 1950s, we were taught Oriental history, mainly of China, in the first year, Western history in the second and the national (Korean) history in the senior year. It was shortly after the Korean War and teachers were strongly patriotic, and thoroughly anticommunist, of course.

In the first and second years, we enjoyed the stories of the heroes of China, Europe and America as if we were reading fairy tales. But in the senior year, we learned chapter after chapter of national tribulations which climaxed with the demise of the Joseon kingdom under foreign powers’ imperial contention from the latter half of the 19th century.

My teacher picked “10 events of great humiliation” in modern history to engrave in our minds how the nation lost independence as a result of external incursions, domestic disorder and Japanese expansionism. The 10 items on the blackboard began with “Byeong In Yang Yo,” the French fleet’s invasion of Ganghwa Island, and ended with Japan’s annexation of the Korean Peninsula.

With the aid of some current textbooks, I now reconstruct the chronology of national suffering as follows, risking a few alterations from my old teacher’s version that I faintly remember:

― A French fleet attacks Ganghwa fortress in retaliation for the Joseon government’s persecution of Catholics. The invaders plunder valuables and books before withdrawing 40 days later. (October-November 1866)

― Marines from a U.S. fleet of six warships land on Ganghwa and inflict heavy casualties on the Korean garrison. They left the island without getting Korean court’s consent to their demand a trade pact. (June 1871)

― Korea concludes an unequal treaty with Japan to open the Busan port to Japanese traders after the Japanese warship Unyo attacked Ganghwa and nearby islands. (February 1876)

― A revolt by army guards results in the entry of Chinese and Japanese forces into Korea. Queen Myeongseong escapes the court, and Daewongun, father of King Gojong, takes power but he is soon abducted by the Chinese to be detained in Tianjin for the next four years. (1882)

― Young reformists stage a bloody coup in collusion with the Japanese but they escape to Tokyo after Chinese intervention. (December 1884)

― A peasants’ revolt prompts the government to call in Chinese forces. The Sino-Japanese War starts on Korean soil, and the defeated China accepts Japan’s dominance in Korea. (April 1894)

― Japanese intruders murder Queen Myeongseong in Gyeongbok Palace to remove the leader of the anti-Japanese group in the Korean court. (October 1895)

― King Gojong takes refuge at the Russian legation in Seoul to seek protection from the Japanese. (February 1896)

― The Russo-Japanese War ended with Japanese victory. Tokyo’s envoy Hirobumi Ito forces Korean ministers to sign a protectorate treaty with threats of military action. (November 1905) Japan declares unilateral incorporation of Dokdo (“Takeshima”) in the middle of the war.

― Japan finally colonizes Korea with Gojong’s abdication on Aug. 29, 1910.

This brief timeline is followed by a blank of 35 years until Japan’s unconditional surrender on Aug. 15, 1945. Korea is liberated and then divided by the victors of World War II. The southern half has undergone tremendous political and economic transformations that had few parallels in other parts of the world.

For students, there were too many important years in modern history to memorize for examinations. They are so crammed in a short period that one needs an exceptionally good brain to pigeonhole the major historical events in the right year such as 1876, 1882, 1884, 1894, 1895 and 1905. Turbulence continued through the years of 1960, 1961, 1980 and 1987, with dictatorships and civil uprisings taking turns until democracy finally set in.

Korea grew to be a major player in East Asia with economic success despite armed harassment by the Communist North. The region sustained post-war order for decades until the new century brought about changes with the rise of China and the “right turn” of Japan and we happen to live next door to them.

The six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear question may be seen as the 21st century version of multilateral intervention in Korean affairs, just as unworkable as the 19th century process. And the Dokdo issue gets touchier with Diaoyu/Senkaku and other territorial disputes in the region adding heat.

Unfortunately, there is an ideological divide in historical attitudes here in Koea. In the deepening left-right rift in the post-democratization Korea, the liberals have taken a harsher stance toward Tokyo on modern history under a strategy to vilify the conservatives for being soft on the historical sins of the Japanese. Yet, it is inappropriate to use history issues for domestic political offensives.

What is essential now is arming ourselves with accurate historical knowledge through concentrated school and social education. The “effective control” theme on the Dokdo controversy proves not quite effective to win the support of world opinion. Koreans, say 99 percent of them, are convinced that “Dokdo is our land,” but the percentage of people who can confidently explain the reason why must not be that high.

The Japanese government these days is running “Takeshima” advertisements on numerous media outlets. As we need more public education to inform the people of the fallacy of the Japanese claim, the 10-item chronology in my junior high school class provides the historical context for the Japanese arbitrariness a century ago.

Korea opened its doors to Japan as a result of the gunboat diplomacy typical of the 19th century. Since then, Japan strengthened its grip on the peninsula with growing military presence ― first unsuccessfully attempting a coup in collaboration with young reformists and then assassinating the queen in the cruelest manner to end anti-Japanese resistance ― until finally it pushed Russia out of the imperial contest in the war of 1905, the year when Tokyo “incorporated” Dokdo.

“Takeshima is historically and by international law part of Japanese territory. … Japan established territorial rights in the mid-17th century and reconfirmed the rights over Takeshima in 1905 after the cabinet’s approval. Korea says it has been effectively controlling Takeshima even before us, but there is no clear evidence and the references are vague,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry advertisement says. My teacher’s little chronology is not so vague in establishing the truth.

Dokdo stands in the East Sea as an eternal monument to testify to the world the imperial Japan’s afflictions on its peaceful neighbor. It also should be a warning beacon against the resurgence of militarism on the Japanese archipelago. 

By Kim Myong-sik

Kim Myong-sik is a former editorial writer of The Korea Herald. ― Ed.