y Case, the official Assistant Procurator, in urging the
conviction of one of the men, said: "He was head teacher of the Sin-an
School, Chong-ju, and was a notorious man of anti-Japanese sentiments. He
was the very obstinate member of the Society who, at a meeting on the first
anniversary of the birthday of the Emperor of Japan after the annexation of
Korea, refused to bow before the Imperial picture on the ground that such
an act was worshipping an image." This one item was the only fact that the
Assistant Procurator produced to prove the head teacher's guilt. He was
convicted, and awarded seven years' penal servitude.

A strong effort was made to Japanize the Korean Churches, to make them
branches of the Japanese Churches, and to make them instruments in the
Japanese campaign of assimilation. The missionaries resisted this to the
utmost. They declared that they would be neutral in political matters, as
they were directed by their Governments to be. Having failed to win them
over to their side, the Japanese authorities entered into a campaign for
the breaking down of the Churches, particularly the Presbyterian Churches
of the north. I am well aware that they deny this, but here is a case where
actions and speeches cannot be reconciled.

Attempts were pushed to create churches of Koreans under Japanese. Son
Pyung-hi, who had proved a good friend of Japan during the Chinese War, had
been encouraged by the Japanese some time before to start a religious sect,
the Chon-do Kyo, which it was hoped would replace Christianity, and prove a
useful weapon for Japan. Here a blunder was made, for later on Son Pyung-hi
flung all his influence against Japan and worked with the native Christian
leaders to start the Independence movement. More important than either of
these two things, however, direct persecution was begun. Several hundred
Korean Christian leaders in the north were arrested, and out of them 144
were taken to Seoul, tortured, and charged with a conspiracy to murder the
Governor-General. Various missionaries were named as their partners in
crime. The tale of the conspiracy was a complete fabrication manufactured
by the police. I describe it fully in the next chapter.

Following this came regulations aimed at the missionary schools and
institutions. At the time of annexation, almost the whole of the real
modern education of Korea was undertaken by the missionaries, who were
maintaining 778 schools. A series of Educational