Unprotected Childhoods: Law, Empire, and the Colonial Politics of Child Abuse in Korea

This study examines Korean demands for the enactment of the Child Abuse Prevention Ordinance (兒童虐待防止令) during the Japanese colonial period and analyzes the Government-General of Korea’s response. It aims to clarify the colonial logic behind the absence of institutionalized child protection in colonial Korea. The argument can be summarized in three points. First, following World War I, both the Government-General and Korean society recognized the prevention of child abuse as part of broader child protection efforts. However, unlike the Japanese empire, which institutionalized such measures, the colonial administration did not pursue legal codification, leaving child abuse issues to be addressed privately. Second, Koreans actively raised awareness of child abuse occurring in households, schools, and workplaces, and called for legislation. Their demands were grounded in the belief that oppressed children deserved access to education and the right to live with dignity. Reports on the enactment process of Japan’s Child Abuse Prevention Law and its contents further galvanized these calls. Third, the Government-General of Korea postponed legislation, citing budget constraints and the so-called “peculiarities of the colony.” As a result, Korean children were excluded from legal protection. This not only reveals the unequal application of law between the metropole and the colony, but also demonstrates that the imperial government regarded colonial children not as subjects of protection, but as ‘human resources’ for the colonial state.