The Japanese occupation of Korea was so bad, that it brought Koreans and Americans together

It's hard for people from different cultures to cooperate and even like one another. The more different your backgrounds are, the more difficult it is for people to cooperate and get along. <br><br>I think a lot of people here might know that the US and South Korea are allies, but that wasn't always the case. In fact, before World War I, there was basically no love for America in Korea. <br><br>The Japanese occupation of Korea lasted from 1910-1945. In 1919, the Korean independence movement started, and it lasted until the Japanese government crushed the movement in March 1920. <br><br>Koreans hated the Japanese occupation, and they had a lot of grievances. Koreans were oppressed and mistreated in their own country by their occupiers. Japan made Koreans adopt the Japanese language and forced Koreans to celebrate Japanese holidays. Koreans who were active in the independence movement were arrested and killed, often in public. <br><br>Koreans were also mistreated by the Japanese in Manchuria, which is now part of China. Manchuria was an important part of Japan's economy, and many Korean men were forced to go to Manchuria to work on farms. Koreans who lived in Manchuria were often treated horribly. <br><br>Despite the fact that Koreans had many grievances against Americans, something unexpected happened. Koreans who were mistreated by the Japanese in Manchuria came to the United States to sue the Japanese government. In 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in *Eur v. Japan* that the Japanese government must pay reparations to Koreans who were mistreated in Manchuria. <br><br>The fact that the US government was sympathetic to Koreans who were mistreated by Japan was a shock to Koreans, who did not have a good view of America before World War I. The fact that Koreans could come to the United States to sue the Japanese government for reparations was seen as a positive development, and it helped to build a relationship between the two countries. <br><br>It's crazy to think about, but the Japanese occupation of Korea was so bad, that it brought Koreans and Americans together.