Korea, 1910–1945

Autocracy · Empire · External rule · East Asia · Interwar Years era

This period was governed by an outside power. Its factor profile describes the political order imposed on the territory, not one chosen by it, and its sovereignty score reflects that.

Rule by a Japanese Governor-General with policing powers, land and industrial restructuring, and an assimilation policy that suppressed the Korean language, names and press.

Annexation in 1910 placed the peninsula under a governor-general with legislative and police powers and no elected assembly. A cadastral survey transferred substantial land to Japanese owners and companies; rice was exported to Japan while consumption in Korea fell. The March First demonstrations of 1919 were suppressed, after which some cultural restrictions were eased. From the late 1930s assimilation policy required Japanese names and language in schools, mobilised labour for wartime industry, and conscripted women into military sexual servitude.

Open Korea 1910–1945 in the interactive 3D atlas →

Dominant patterns

  • Authoritarian Shift
  • Militarization
  • Regime Stabilization
  • External Expansion
  • Economic Crisis

Political-science factor profile

Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).

Centralization of Power78
Media Control80
Repression80
Nationalism60
Militarization70
Economic Stress60
External Conflict55
Cult of Personality55
Elite Fragmentation35
Institutions60
Social Polarization70
Corruption & Patrimonialism45
Ideological Mobilization70
External Sovereignty3

Economy & society

GDP per capita$1543 (intl-$)
GDP growth+1.3%/yr
Population25.0M people
Share of world population1%
Life expectancy34.3 years

Closest historical twins

The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles Korea 1910–1945, by similarity score (0–100).

  1. German South West Africa, 1884–1915 – similarity 78/100 · shared: Authoritarian Shift, Militarization, External Expansion, Economic Crisis
  2. East Germany, 1949–1989 – similarity 72/100 · shared: Authoritarian Shift, Militarization, Regime Stabilization
  3. British India, 1858–1947 – similarity 72/100 · shared: Regime Stabilization, Economic Crisis
  4. Cuba, 1959–2006 – similarity 71/100 · shared: Authoritarian Shift, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Economic Crisis
  5. Portuguese Angola, 1885–1961 – similarity 71/100 · shared: Authoritarian Shift, Regime Stabilization, Economic Crisis
  6. French Indochina, 1887–1945 – similarity 67/100 · shared: Regime Stabilization, Economic Crisis
  7. Democratic Kampuchea, 1975–1979 – similarity 65/100 · shared: Authoritarian Shift, Militarization, External Expansion, Economic Crisis
  8. Iraq, 1979–2003 – similarity 65/100 · shared: Authoritarian Shift, Militarization, External Expansion, Economic Crisis

What followed

  • Japanese defeat in 1945 and division of the peninsula.
  • The Korean War, 1950–53.