Tuesday, December 23, 2014

What is "Dictionary of Japanophile People"?

Dictionary of Japanophile People, or Dictionary of Pro-Japanese People (Japanese: 親日人名辞典; Korean: 친일인명사전) is a Korean book that lists 4,398 names of Korean people who collaborated with the Imperial Japanese government during its colonial reign over Korea from 1910 to 1945. It was published by "Institue for Research in Collaborationist Activities" in South Korea in 2009.

The dictionary includes, for example, Park Chung-hee(3rd President of South Korea), Ahn Eak-tai(the composer of the national anthem of South Korea), Park Yeong-hyo(the creator of the first Korean Flag ), Kim Seong-su(the founder of Korea University and Dong-A Ilbo), Paik Sun-yup(the first four-star general in the history of the South Korean military) and so on.

Park Chung-hee was an officer of Manchukuo Imperial Army. Manchukuo was a puppet state dominated by The Empire of Japan from 1932 to 1945.


Ahn Eak-tai composed the music for celebrating the tenth anniversary of the founding of Manchukuo.

During Japan colonial period, Park Yeong-hyo held important posts, such as Director of the Bank of Chosen, Chairman of the Korean Economic Association and so on. In addition, he had a seat in the Diet of Japan.

Kim Seong-su operated Keijo Textile Corporation (Kyungbang) and amassed wealth during Japan colonial period.

Paik Sun-yup was an officer of the Manchukuo Imperial Army.


According to The Hankyoreh, one of leading newspapers in South Korea, Seoul Metropolitan Council approved 2015 educational budget on December 19th, 2014. The budget includes the funding for distributing Dictionary of Japanophile People to all of junior high schools and high schools of Seoul city by Cooperative Education Bureau of Seoul Metropolitan government. Some people point out that it is a kind of governmental hate speech.

[Link]
The Hankyoreh (written in Korean)
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/schooling/669945.html

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