Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast. Episode 159, Best of Frenemies, Part 6.

Last week, we covered what Korea was like under Japanese rule, but of course, not everybody was prepared to tolerate living under Japanese domination.

This week, we turned to the group who really catch the imagination of post-war Koreans,

the resistors.

Korean resistance began before the formal annexation of the country by Japan.

Rebellion in the countryside against pro-Japanese policies was a constant feature of the final years of the

Joseon dynasty, the most famous example being, of course, the Donghawk movement we discussed a few

episodes back. For the colonial period, however, the real beginnings of resistance can be traced

to the end of the First World War.

When the war came to an end, the powers involved came together to negotiate a final treaty,

led by the Americans under President Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson's adherence to the liberal democratic values of the United States meant that he

could not endorse the kind of peace envisioned in the treaties of alliance

that had kicked off the war,

the kind of cynical horse trading where the victorious powers would collect spoils in treasure

and territory from the defeated.

Instead, Wilson's political values combined with a sort of providential vision inherited from his

religious background to create a vision of a final just peace. His goal was nothing less than to create

a new worldwide order which would be so self-evidently just that it would prevent future conflict.

Of course, we all know how that little dream is going to turn out.

Most important for our purposes, though, is one of the 14 points Wilson suggested in January

1919 as a starting place for negotiating the final piece, the notion of

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