Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1106

 1054 JAPAN : — KOREA (CHOSEN).

There are Consular Representatives at Dairen (Dalny), Hakodate, Kobe, Nagasaki, Shimonoseki, Yokohama, and at Tainan and at Tamsui in the Island of Formosa.

KOREA (CHOSEN).

Government. — The ex-Emperor, whose surname is Yi and name Chbk, was born March 25, 1874, and succeeded his father, Yi Hiung, on his abdication, July 20, 1907. He is reckoned as the thirty-first in successioa since the founding of the dynasty in 1392 ; but four of the so-called Kings were Crown Princes who never ascended the throne.

For details of treaties between Japan and China, Russia, and Korea from 1895, see The Statesman's Year-Book for 1916, p. 1112,

By a treaty concluded between Japan and Korea on August 22, 1910, the Korean territory was formally annexed to the Empire of Japan. The Emperor was deprived of all political power, and was accorded the title of Prince Yi, and his father (the former ex-Emperor), who died in January, 1919, that of Prince Yi, Senior. The title of the country was changed back to "Chosen," from Tai Han, which had been adopted in 1897, and the office of Japanese Governor-General established. Henceforth Korea became an integral part of the Japanese Empire. By an Imperial Rescript of 1919, Korea is to be treated as in all respects an integral part of Japan, Koreans to be on the same footing as Japanese. Members of the Korean Imperial House and the late Korean Cabinet have had Japanese patents of nobility conferred upon them. In 1919 certain changes were introduced with a view to assimilate more closely the Korean administration with that of Japan.

Governor-General. — His Excellency Baron Saito (September, 1919).

Area and Population. — Estimated area, about 84, 000 square miles ; population on December 31, 1918, was 17,412,871 (8,960,070 males and 8,443,801 females). Census population 1920, 17,284,207. The vast majority of the foreign residents are Chinese, numbering some 18,972. The latest returns give the number of British subjects as 257, Americans 597, French 107, and Germans 57. The urban prefecture of Seoul has 302,686 inhabitants (50,291 Japanese), and that of Ping- Yang 173,273. There has been a large immigration of Japanese into the Peninsula of recent years.

The language of the people is intermediate between Mongolo-Tartar and Japanese, with a large admixture of Chinese words, and an alphabetical system of writing is used. Official correspondence, except with Korean provincial officials, is conducted in Japanese. The written language of the people is a mixture of Chinese characters and native script.

Religion and Instruction. — The worship of ancestors is observed with as much punctiliousness as in China, but, otherwise, religion holds a low place in the land. In the country there are numerous Buddhist monasteries, which, however, are looked upon with scant respect. The knowledge of Chinese classics and of Confucian doctrine, formerly essontial to the education of the upper classes, is giving way under Japanese influence to a more practical system of instruction. Thero is a large number of Christian converts. In 1890 an Knglish Church mission iru established, with a bishop and 20 other members. The American missionaries have two hospitals in Seoul, where the Japanese have also established a large Government hospital. The total number of hospitals in the country was 177 on December 31, 1919 ; while the Red Cross Society has a numerous