Origins of Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea

Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea (Korean: 반일감정; hanja: ) refers to the anti-Japanese sentiment in Korean society, which originates from historic, cultural, and nationalistic sentiments.

The origins of anti-Japanese attitudes in Korea can be traced back to the effects of Japanese pirate raids and later to the 1592−98 Japanese invasions of Korea. Sentiments in contemporary society are largely attributed to the Japanese rule in Korea from 1910–45. According to a BBC World Service Poll conducted in 2014, 79% of South Koreans view Japan's influence negatively, and 15% express a positive view, making South Korea, behind mainland China, the second country with the most negative feelings of Japan in the world.

During this time, the invading Japanese dismembered more than 20,000 noses and ears from Koreans and brought them back to Japan to create nose tombs as war trophies. In addition after the war, Korean artisans including potters were kidnapped by Hideyoshi's order to cultivate Japan's arts and culture. The abducted Korean potters played important roles to be a major factor in establishing new types of pottery such as Satsuma, Arita, and Hagi ware. This would cause tension because the Koreans feel that their culture was stolen during this time by Japan.

Korea was ruled by the Japanese Empire from 1910 to 1945. Japan's involvement began with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea and increased over the following decades with the Gapsin Coup (1882), the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), the assassination of Empress Myeongseong at the hands of Japanese agents in 1895, the establishment of the Korean Empire (1897), the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), the Taft–Katsura Agreement (1905), and culminating with the 1905 Eulsa Treaty, removing Korean autonomous diplomatic rights, and the 1910 Annexation Treaty, both of which were eventually declared null and void by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965.

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