The Great Kanto Earthquake was horrible to the point of being called at that time a “truly unprecedented tragedy.” Although the earthquake occurred in Japan, it also had important effects on Korea, a colony of Japan. This was because many Koreans ...
The Great Kanto Earthquake was horrible to the point of being called at that time a “truly unprecedented tragedy.” Although the earthquake occurred in Japan, it also had important effects on Korea, a colony of Japan. This was because many Koreans resided in Japan, the mother country.
When the earthquake occurred, Japanese Imperialism conversely massacred Koreans in the Kanto area, including Tokyo. As this was just four years after the March First Movement, Japanese Imperialism avoided stimulating the Korean national feeling through this massacre.
Japan thus controlled the press and even clamped down on canards and groundless rumors.
As news of the earthquake became known to Koreans, the domestic press tried to report factual coverage as far as possible, but the massacre was not reported because of the Japanese Government General’s tight control over the press. Meanwhile, relief activities for Koreans residing in Japan were initiated in Korea.
The early relief activities were developed and led by Japanese society and government offices. This was the general dimension of the love for humanity, but Japanese Imperialism desired to use this as part of Korea-Japan harmonization. At the same time, the press became concerned with the relief activities. In Gyeongseong, the Organization for Collection of Subscriptions for Relief and the Organization for Relief for Koreans each was established and relief activities began in earnest.
However, while the Japanese Government General prevented the Organization for Relief for Koreans from being exclusively for Koreans, it supported the Organization for Collection of Subscriptions for Relief, which assisted both Koreans and Japanese, in an unobserved manner.
In major cities such as Gyeongseong, Incheon, Daegu, Busan, and Jeonju, which formed the Japanese society in Korea, the organization for relief was established around Japanese and the government office, which developed relief activities. These relief activities were limited to September of 1923, and in October a memorial ceremony based around religious organization was held in remembrance of the victims.
The Great Kanto Earthquake attracted concern with relief activities and memorial ceremonies at the time, but in 1924 it became a forgotten accident. This was because the Japanese Government General exhaustively controlled the domestic press under the perspective that the earthquake could stimulate the Korean national consciousness. The relief activities centered in government offices brought general love for humanity as a justification, but, in practical terms, this was carried forward as a part of colonial policy based on Korea -Japan harmonization.