Although Korea and Japan are located extremely close to each other, many Koreans do not like Japanese people. The major reason for this hatred is Korea and Japan's relationship in history.All throughout history, Japan constantly invaded Korea to gain more resources and to set up their way to China. Since Japan is a small island, they do not have much natural resources except rice, fish, and silver. Therefore, they had to get resources by invading other countries that were near. Korea was Japan's main target for a long period of time. However, Koreans did not form this strong hatred until Japan's annexation in the 20th century. When Japan annexed Korea in 1910, they forced Koreans to completely erase their national identity and to follow Japanese culture. From 1910 to 1945, when Korea gained independence, Koreans were suppressed and terribly treated by the Japanese. During the Japanese occupation, Koreans were forced to speak Japanese, women were often forced to work as prostitutes and Korean pregnant women were used for scientific experiments by the Japanese. The Japanese government also tortured nationalists/rebellious leaders by cutting off their fingers or by using electric chairs. Moreover, Japan took most of the rice that was produced in Korea to feed their growing population and left hundreds of thousands of Koreans starving to death. Due to this tragic event during the Japanese occupation, many Koreans still hate Japanese people just by the fact that they are Japanese.
Even after Korea was free, the conflict between Korea and Japan continued for several reasons. First of all, Korea and Japan are constantly declaring their right and control over an island called Dokdo or Takeshima. The two nations are even disputing on what the island should be called.
Since the annexation of Korea, or even from before then, Koreans continued to have a bad image and stereotype of Japanese people. However, the exchange of popular culture between Korea and Japan improved the views of Japanese people from Korea. In the late 1900s, Japanese pop music (J-Pop) became extremely popular in Korea and Japanese dramas are widely known and popular in Korea. In the early 2000s, Korean dramas made a big hit in Japan and recently, Korean pop music (K-Pop) has become extremely popular in Japan. I started to change my view towards Japan because I started to like a Japanese boy band, Arashi. Before I became their fan, I had a negative view on Japanese people just like most Koreans. However, after I became their fan, I wanted to know more about Japan and from watching their dramas, movies, and television shows, my negative view changed extremely positively. It is amazing how pop culture can have huge effects on politics and international relationships. If cultural exchanges continue, I think Korea and Japan's relationship will improve and I hope someday Japanese and Korean people would have a positive view on each other.
