The Japanese invasions into Korea, the Philippines, South China Sea and Taiwan may be familiar to Pacific residents. However, you may not know that these invasions were a major cause of World War II. The Japanese invaded these countries in two distinct yet connected waves. In 1592, the first wave invaded Korea. There was a brief truce between the two sides in 1596 but then another wave began of Japanese aggression.
Japanese invasions in the Pacific
In 1942, Japan invaded the Western Pacific. On December 1, they announced their intent to invade the U.S., and it was not long before they were in the area. They began bombarding Wake Island in the Aleutians. The small island housed 500 Marines and sailors as well as army radiomen. They were further supported by 450 civilian engineering personnel. They were eventually forced to surrender.
Hideyoshi ordered the construction of staging areas for the invasion. Nagoya was where the main invasion force concentrated, as it was the nearest point between Japan and Korea. A naval base was also constructed there to transport troops across the Tsushima Strait. The Japanese navy had approximately 9,000 sailors and was made up of small pirate ships and large men's-of-war vessels.
Japanese invasions of the Philippines
In December 1941, Japan invaded the Philippines. Guam, Wake Island, and Wake Island were also impacted by the Japanese invasions. The Japanese attacked the Philippines along with the archipelagos around it and seized Manila and the harbor. These invasions were part of Japan's strategy to cut off Allied shipping in the region.
The Japanese invaded the Philippines after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. The attack also damaged many aircraft carriers and crippled the US Pacific Fleet. The Japanese also conquered the Dutch East Indies and occupied Java, Sumatra and the Andaman islands. They also captured Corregidor. These invasions helped the Japanese take control of South-East Asia.
Japanese invasion of Korea
On the first day of the invasion, the Japanese army was made up of 7,000 men, and it left Tsushima in the morning and reached Busan in the evening. The Japanese naval intelligence mistakenly identified the Japanese fleet as trading boats, and the naval commander ignored them. Yoshitoshi (the Japanese commander) landed alone on the shores at Busan and demanded safe passage to China. The Koreans refused, and Yoshitoshi began a siege of the city.
During this siege, Go Gyeong-myeong commanded a volunteer army of 6,000 men, and joined forces with militia in the Chungcheong Province. However, he was informed of the Japanese invasion by the Japanese, and he returned to his own land. Go Gyeong Myeong and his men fought the Japanese at Battle of Ichi. The result was decisive.
Japanese invasion of the South China Sea
Japan's presence is the South China Sea since the 19thcentury when it claimed the islands now belonging to Vietnam and The Philippines. In recent decades, however, these disputes have become more heated, particularly between China and its neighbors, including the Philippines and Vietnam. A territorial dispute between China and Japan dates back to the 19th century.
The Japanese military occupied many islands in the South China Sea during World War II, and China was forced to recover them after the war. The Potsdam Proclamation (now the Cairo Declaration) and the Cairo Declaration (now the post-war international order) bind Japan. It must abide by these agreements or else risk incurring criminal and civil liability for violating their terms.