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Alexis Dudden has shown how Itō Hirobumi and his allies, among the first East Asians to master Western diplomatic and legal language, used this new "vocabulary of power" to both invalidate China's long-held position in East Asia and discredit Korea's claims of independent nationhood. After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan established a protectorate over Korea, under the direction of Itō. He tried to gain public support for a modernization plan that favored Japanese interests, but was met with widespread opposition fueled by Korean nationalists. One of these nationalists assassinated Itō in 1909, and the following year the 518-year-old Choson Dynasty ceded the remaining vestiges of its sovereignty to Japan, thus making Korea a Japanese colony. In a 1905 secret agreement with Japan, the United States traded rights to Korea for rights to the Philippines, and Great Britain acknowledged Japan's interest in Korea in exchange for Japan's recognition of British rule in India.
The new colonial government was intensive but selective in its reach. In some areas of major interest, such as the economy, the Japanese were highly interventionist, whereas in other areas, such as social policy, they left undisturbed many aspects of Korean tradition and custom, including the family and clan systems. Japanese perceptions of themselves helped determine the nature of Japanese rule in Korea. Japan's sense of cultural uniqueness, pride in its distinctive process of modernization, a lingering sense of inferiority vis-à-vis the great powers, and a sense of racial and cultural superiority vis-à-vis other Asians all helped create a mindset among Japanese which viewed Koreans with contempt.
It was important to the Japanese, therefore, to demonstrate the historical inevitability of Korean annexation. This gave rise to an assimilationist ideology which highlighted both Korea's proximity to Japan as well as the supposed "backwardness" permeating all spheres of Korean life. Through such propaganda, Japanese leaders claimed that Korea was merely a culture that had outlived its time and that should therefore be "rejoined" to Japan, with Japan's serving as a "big brother" of sorts who could bring Korea by the hand into the civilized world.
Such ideas did not go over so well in Korea, however. Beginning on March 1, 1919, massive numbers of Koreans participated in demonstrations against Japanese rule, known collectively as the March First Movement. The movement's inspiration was the ideology of self-determination promoted by Woodrow Wilson, and the spark was the death of the last Choson monarch. A group of prominent religious figures from the Chondon (a native Korean religion), Christian, and Buddhist churches signed a Declaration of Independence. The signers were subsequently arrested, but there were widespread demonstrations which led to violent countermeasures from the police. Hundreds of Koreans were killed and thousands more were arrested or forced into exile.
About this time in Japan, the atmosphere had changed to one which favored a reform of the colonial policy in Korean. Wartime prosperity and the victory of the Western democracies in World War I had infused Japanese politics with a more liberal spirit, which manifested itself in the growing power of popular political parties. Prime Minister Hara Kei instituted a new set of policies designed to prevent a repeat of the March First demonstrations, known as the "Cultural Policy." As a part of this change in direction, the colonial government adopted a series of measures to eliminate discrimination, abandon some of the more petty forms of government interference in daily Korean life, provide more opportunities for Koreans in education and civil service employment, and allow more freedom of expression and assembly.
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