The Restoration of the Light: The Significance of Our GwangBok 80 Exhibit

“…this physical pain does not compare to the pain of losing my nation. My only remorse is not being able to do more than dedicating my life to my country.”

-Yu Gwan-sun (1902-1920)

In 1875, the Japanese gunboat Un'yō entered Korean waters near the island of Ganghwa. Its goal was to provoke military retaliation from a nation already wary of encroachment in an attempt to force Korea (then Joseon) to open its borders to Japan.

The plot worked. Ganghwa opened fire on the gunboat, and this gave Japan the leverage it needed to force an unequal treaty, known as the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876. This treaty, among other things, opened the port of Pusan and demanded the creation of two more seaports for Japanese trade, gave Japanese merchants residence and unhindered trade in Korea, and gave Japan extraterritoriality, which allowed rights to Japanese citizens in Korea. The unequal provisions of this treaty paved the path to Japanese imperialism and gave Japan the opportunity to spend the next several decades to consolidate its power in Korea through methods (including assassinations and economic coercion) until making colonization official in 1910.

The Japanese occupation from 1910-1945 marked a dark period in Korea’s history. Japan enforced its own land ownership laws over the traditional ownership understanding of Joseon, effectively robbing Korean landowners (many of them high class individuals) of their homes and forcing them to turn to tenant farming to survive while Japanese landowners took control of their former holdings. Heavy taxes further impoverished the Korean population and kept them vulnerable.

In addition to the economic pressures, the Japanese colonial powers utilized all the typical methods of imperial control. Korean citizens lost freedom of speech and assembly, local newspapers and private schools were shut down, vulnerable people were forced into labor and more unsavory services, and peaceful demonstrations were met with brutality and violent suppression.

The ruthlessness of oppression and the horrors of conscription and human trafficking were not the only tools used to keep the Korean peninsula under control. Cultural attacks are another common tool for an authoritarian force to maintain dominance over a people, and the Japanese colonial forces enforced these as well. Cultural symbols, like the royal palace of Geyongbokgung, were damaged and destroyed. Korean history and art were appropriated and used to uphold Japanese imperial views of Japan as a civilizing force.

Initially, the cultural divide between the Japanese imperialists and the Korean locals was kept in place with economic pressures and laws that forbid Koreans from taking on Japanese names, but as resistance movements grew stronger and war became a larger concern, Japan shifted its focus to assimilation rather than division. In 1932, Koreans were heavily encouraged to take Japanese names (the encouragement taking the form of locking certain benefits like mail and rations behind Japanese names). In 1942 Japan declared the Korean Language Society an anti-Japanese resistance movement and had it shut down, arresting 33 language scholars in the process.

Yu Gwan-Sun, the "Joan of Arc of Korea" who was arrested following peaceful protest and died of injuries from torture at the age of 18.

In spite of the attacks on their economic independence, bodily autonomy, language, education, culture, and names, the people of Korea did not submit passively to Japanese imperialism. Resistance movements began even before the 1910 treaty and continued throughout the period of Japanese occupation in large and small ways. The 1919 March First Movement was the first largescale nationwide protest, but there were also instances of guerrilla warfare, peaceful rallies, and distribution of materials like the Korean declaration of independence and homemade taegukgi (Korean national flags). Finally, in 1945, Japan was forced out of Korea following the devastation caused by WWII.

This year marks the 80^th year of Korean independence, and The Art Center is grateful for the opportunity to join in the celebration with our GwangBok 80 exhibition, courtesy of the Atlanta Korean Art Association. The exhibition features contemporary artwork celebrating Korean culture and historic pieces, most notably a collection of handmade wooden dolls from both before and after the period of occupation. One of the most moving pieces in the exhibit is one of the homemade taegukgi from the resistance to imperial rule. The name "GwangBok 80" itself is a reference to the August 15^th National Liberation Day of Korea, Gwangbokjeol, which translates to “Day of the Restoration of the Light” and celebrates the end of the darkest days of Korean history.

GwangBok 80 is on view until this Friday, July 25, and we encourage you to come see this incredible show before it’s gone!