This book explores the legacy of the Japanese empire in Korea, asking how colonialism arose as a legal idea. What was the legal process behind the establishment of colonialism as Japan's prime strategy towards Korea since the late 19th century? By addressing such questions, it is not only possible to address how Japanese colonialism in Korea was born, but also address how the process behind the making of colonialism as a judicial and legal project was illegal from its origination. As East Asia grapples with a new generation of power politics, these sober reflects lend an important historical context to the struggles of the present.

This book explores the legacy of the Japanese empire in Korea, asking how colonialism arose as a legal idea. What was the legal process behind the establishment of colonialism as Japan's prime strategy towards Korea since the late 19th century? By addressing such questions, it is not only possible to address how Japanese colonialism in Korea was born, but also address how the process behind the making of colonialism as a judicial and legal project was illegal from its origination. As East Asia grapples with a new generation of power politics, these sober reflects lend an important historical context to the struggles of the present. Holding a PhD from the University of Chicago, Kyu-Hyun Jo was a Research Associate at the Northeast Asian History Foundation in Korea from 2020 to 2021 and is currently a lecturer in Political Science at Yonsei University, where he teaches Korea and East Asian international relations and history.

In The Dokdo/Takeshima Dispute, Paul Huth, Sunwoong Kim, and Terence Roehrig have assembled top scholars from Japan, South Korea, and the United States to provide a balanced and comprehensive look from multiple perspectives of this long-running island dispute.

Table of contents

The twelve chapters in this volume seek to overcome the nationalist paradigm of Japanese repression and exploitation versus Korean resistance that has dominated the study of Korea’s colonial period (1910–1945) by adopting a more inclusive, pluralistic approach that stresses the complex relations among colonialism, modernity, and nationalism. By addressing such diverse subjects as the colonial legal system, radio, telecommunications, the rural economy, and industrialization and the formation of industrial labor, one group of essays analyzes how various aspects of modernity emerged in the colonial context and how they were mobilized by the Japanese for colonial domination, with often unexpected results. A second group examines the development of various forms of identity from nation to gender to class, particularly how aspects of colonial modernity facilitated their formation through negotiation, contestation, and redefinition.

This extended monograph examines the work of the radical journalist Kotoku Shusui and Japan’s anti-imperialist movement of the early twentieth century. It includes the first English translation of Imperialism (Teikokushugi), Kotoku’s classic 1901 work. Kotoku Shusui was a Japanese socialist, anarchist, and critic of Japan’s imperial expansionism who was executed in 1911 for his alleged participation in a plot to kill the emperor. His Imperialism was one of the first systematic criticisms of imperialism published anywhere in the world. In this seminal text, Kotoku condemned global imperialism as the commandeering of politics by national elites and denounced patriotism and militarism as the principal causes of imperialism. In addition to translating Imperialism, Robert Tierney offers an in-depth study of Kotoku’s text and of the early anti-imperialist movement he led. Tierney places Kotoku’s book within the broader context of early twentieth-century debates on the nature and causes of imperialism. He also presents a detailed account of the different stages of the Japanese anti-imperialist movement. Monster of the Twentieth Century constitutes a major contribution to the intellectual history of modern Japan and to the comparative study of critiques of capitalism and colonialism.

International migration and other types of cross-border movement of people are becoming an important part of international relations in Northeast Asia. In this particular study, experts on China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Russia examine the political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the interaction between border-crossing individuals and host communities, highlighting the challenges that face national and local leaders in each country and suggesting needed changes in national and international policies. The authors analyze population trends and migration patterns in each country: Chinese migration to the Russian Far East, Chinese, Koreans, and Russians in Japan, North Koreans in China, and migration issues in South Korea and Mongolia. The book introduces a wealth of empirical material and insight to both international migration studies and Northeast Asian area studies.

This is the first book on Korean legal history in English written by a group of leading scholars from around the world. The chapters set forth the developments of Korean law from the Chosŏn to colonial and modern periods through the examination of codified laws, legal theories and practices, and jurisprudence. The contributors’ shared premise is that the evolution of Korean law can be best understood when viewed in terms of its interactions with outside laws. Each chapter integrates literature in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Western languages into comprehensive analyses to make up-to-date research available to readers both inside and outside Korea. This volume provides a solid framework from which to approach Korean legal history in the perspective of comparative legal traditions.