“Colonial modernity” refers to a particular articulation of the universal notion
of “modernity” in the colonial context. Colonial modernity is best seen in the
cities of a colony, in particular, where nationals of the imperial country
migrate and settle down. Mokpo used to be a small fishing village, but upon
its opening in 1897 it began to rapidly grow into an important port city
through which rice and cotton produced in the Honam region were transported
to Japan. After 1910, Mokpo developed into the biggest commercial and indus-trial
city in the region.
However, Korean and Japanese residential areas in Mokpo were segregated
into the South and North Villages with Mt. Yudal serving as the border. The
two villages differed significantly in terms of their infrastructure, including
roads, houses, water supply and drainage, street lamps, garbage disposal, and
hospitals. Korean members of the Mokpo City Council frequently demanded
improvements to the poor public facilities for the native residents, only to be
rejected by the Japanese city authorities. The city authorities were generally
indifferent to the poor conditions in the Korean areas, and were deliberately
so to some extent. Japanese colonizers in Korea attempted to underscore the
modernity they brought with them by maintaining wide gaps in living conditions
between Japanese and Korean residential areas in cities such as Mokpo,
where many Japanese lived. Imperial powers built “dual cities” in their
colonies to that end; Mokpo was a model of them.