The Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-1945) was strongly resented by many Korean people. This selection of oral histories gives voice to these experiences.

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/korea/colonial_experiences.pdf

Please read the "long version" of the text (pages 2 through 4), and write a 250-word essay that engages the text, and also answers the questions that are posed at the conclusion.

Questions:

1. Why did Pak eventually change his name, and why might other Koreans have done so? What strategy did he use to preserve his identity even with the change?

2. How do Chong's and Kang's experiences compare? How might they have regarded one another?

3. What sort of opportunities might there have been for some elite, wealthy or well-educated Koreans? What sorts of discrimination does Kang suggest existed nonetheless?