Go to: 1910-1945 Japanese dominion Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and began exploiting its resources, while also attempting to eliminate Korean language, names and national identity. Massive demonstrations in 1919 were known as the March First Movement. Two million Koreans participated, and thousands were killed by Japanese soldiers. Koreans were abused again during World War II, when the Japanese used them for forced labor. At war's end, the peninsula was partitioned at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States the south. When the Cold War prevented reunification, a communist government was installed in the north and a capitalist democracy in the south.