The Role of Japan in Constructing South Koreans’ National Identity : Perception of Japan in the Eyes of South Korean People

Abstract: This thesis investigates the formation of national identity in South Korea regarding Japan through the perception of Japan in the eyes of the South Korean people. Despite Korea’s independence from Japan in 1945, the complex relationship resulting from the historical events seems continual, blocking their further cooperation. The ethnic relation between these two countries has been revolving around socio-political issues. In this sense, this thesis focuses on the micro-level to understand the ethnic relationship, which is visible through the formation of national identity. By adopting the constructivist point of view, this research identifies the core elements of national identity in the case of South Korean people through the application of national identity theories. This research employs semi-structured interviews to attain primary data from the Korean interviewees. Secondary sources are complemented from the presidential speech to provide an insight into the constitution of South Koreans’ national identity in parallel. Thematic analysis is utilized from these two data sets to explore the national identities by generating the themes of history, Japanese goods, and imagery. The perception of South Korean people toward Japan has revealed that they take the colonial history into account the most in their constitution of national identity.