Korea under Japanese rule

Korea is a peninsula, like a finger of land sticking out into the sea, located in East Asia. It's surrounded by water on three sides and shares a border with China. For a long time, from 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by Japan.

During this time, Korea was called Chōsen by the Japanese. Think of it like a big playground where one group of kids was in charge of all the games and rules for a long, long time.

Before Japan ruled Korea, both countries mostly kept to themselves. But Japan changed and wanted to be a big power. They made Korea sign a treaty, which wasn't fair, and slowly took control.

They even had a hand in important Korean events, like the sad death of their queen. After winning a big war against Russia, Japan was the strongest in the area and decided to make Korea a colony. This meant Japan was the boss of Korea for many years.

When Japan ruled Korea, they made many changes. They wanted Koreans to act and think like Japanese people. They even stopped people from using their Korean names and speaking their own language!

Many beautiful old palaces were torn down, and precious Korean treasures were taken to Japan. Japan also built new things like train tracks and roads, but sometimes the workers didn't get paid fairly or were treated poorly.

Because of these tough times, many Koreans wanted their country to be free again. They started a movement to get their independence back. Sometimes they protested, and sometimes they had to fight. Sadly, during this time, many Koreans faced terrible things. After World War II ended, Korea was finally free, but it was then divided into two parts.