Yoongoal Jang

This study examines the realities of the Japanese Empire’s Korean livestock policy during the colonial period from the opening of Korea (Choson) in the late 19th century. This field has predominantly been analyzed from both Japanese and Korean perspectives. However, from a more transregional perspective, it is still in need of clarifying Japanese policy toward Korean cattle that was applied to the Korean Peninsula and its relation to Japan’s local community. The study begins by analyzing the reasons why Japanese required Korean cattle and the establishment of the livestock policy. Second, the mobilization and intervention of capital by the Japanese government are evaluated in detail. Third, the relationship between Japanese imperialism and Korean cattle formed during the pre-colonial period is examined continuously and macroscopically, taking into account the continuity with the subsequent period. The paper concludes that Meiji Japan’s Korean cattle policy was developed in response to domestic private demand and military demand for external expansion. From the opening of Korea to the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese War, it gradually progressed to a colonial industrial system. In the coherence of the so-called “State-led” process of implementing government and military policies with the capitalists who were familiar with them, the process of strengthening the control of livestock resources grew as the basis of the colonial industry.