한말 일제의 침략과 義兵 虐殺

Abstract

After Japanese Empire massacred the Donghak peasant army in 1894, its military forces temporarily deployed in Korea and its Defensive army started to suppress the Righteous Army. It usurped the Korean national right with Eulsa treaty in 1905, and established Korean Joocha army(garrison) to suppress the Righteous Army who were against this treaty. When the Righteous Army's resistance became nationwide after 1907, Japanese Empire dispatched two divisions of army and the military police forces to massacre the Righteous army brutally. It is difficult to confirm the number of the Righteous Army victimized in the battle. At the early period of the Righteous Army activities, the number of victims reached over 300. If we include the victims who died at the battle against the government troops like the Jinjoo fortress battle or Kyungjoo fortress battle, their number increases a lot. Japanese troops massacred even civilians in Andong and Jechun district because they believed those districts were the haunts of the Righteous Army in the early years. At t activities, the number of victims was over 20000 according to Japanese official statistics. Specially during the two years from 1907 to 1909, a number of people were victimized, more than any other times. If we include the number of the injured, the total number of casualties is even more than that. And Japanese cruel treatment to the captives has not been even investigated yet. In the meantime, the Japanese official statistics seems to omit a lot. The civilian casualties do not appear in it. Therefore, the total number of victims at the later period of the Righteous Army activities could be twice or tripple more than that of Japanese official statistics. In addition to the human casualties, Japanese army incinerated villages and historic temples. They shot the members of the Righteous Army on the spot without any trials and killed even innocent civilians. Like this, the battles between Japanese army and the Righteous Army were rather a massacre than a battle.