· Slangdunk Editors
What does 토착왜구 (tochak waegu) mean? The 1908 word for collaborators that returned to Korean politics
토착왜구 (tochak waegu, “native Japanese pirates”) is a derogatory label for Koreans seen as siding with Japan or defending its colonial rule. It updates a word found in a 1908 newspaper, and it spread widely again through political disputes in 2019.
At a glance
- Meaning
- A derogatory label for Koreans seen as siding with Japan or defending its colonial rule. 왜구 means Japanese pirates.
- Origin
- A modern rewording of 토왜 (土倭), found in the Daehan Maeil Sinbo in 1908 (NewsTop). Historian Jeon Woo-yong pointed to a 1910 article titled 토왜천지.
- Usage
- Since 2019, mostly used from the progressive side against conservative politicians and supporters. Counter-labels aimed the other way have appeared too.
- Debate
- One side says it describes real collaboration with or defense of colonial rule; the other says it's a brand slapped on critics.
왜구 is a word Koreans learn in history class, for the pirates who raided the coast in the late Goryeo period. In today's news comments it gets attached to 21st-century Koreans. Our editor went back through the newspapers to see how it got here.
118 years of 토착왜구, step by step
April 5, 1908
토왜 appears in print
According to a NewsTop fact check, the Daehan Maeil Sinbo used the word 토왜 (土倭) to criticize the pro-Japanese group Iljinhoe. It appears to have been in use already.
1910
Four types of 토왜
A Daehan Maeil Sinbo article titled 토왜천지 (土倭天地) defined 토왜 as people who eat away at the nation and sicken its people, sorting them into four types, including officials who profit by dealing with Japan (Seoul Shinmun).
1947
A warning against stretching it
According to NewsTop, the Dongkwang Sinmun used 토왜 for collaborators while arguing the definition shouldn't be stretched too far.
March 2019
Back in politics
Over remarks by Na Kyung-won, then floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party, about the postwar committee on collaborators, Democratic Party for Peace spokesperson Moon Jung-sun used the term. Liberty Korea spokesperson Lee Yang-soo raised possible legal action. Jeon explained the etymology on Facebook (Seoul Shinmun).
July 2019
An argument during the export curbs
With Korea-Japan tensions rising over Japan's export restrictions, Na said labels such as 토착왜구 were insulting (Segye Ilbo). Asia Economy laid out views for and against the term side by side.
October 2020
A novelist's remark and the coverage
Over novelist Jo Jung-rae's press-conference remark using the term, YTN's fact-checking segment noted that some reports dropped the condition “토착왜구,” changing the context.
What does 토착왜구 (tochak waegu) mean?
토착왜구
A derogatory label for Koreans seen as siding with Japan or defending its colonial rule. Literally “native Japanese pirates,” pirates rooted in Korean soil.
In Korean: 일본에 동조하거나 일제를 옹호한다고 여겨지는 한국인을 낮잡아 부르는 멸칭. '이 땅에 뿌리내린 일본 해적'이라는 뜻의 비하 표현이다.
- 대한매일신보의 '토왜'가 오늘날 '토착왜구'로 바뀌어 쓰인다The 토왜 of the Daehan Maeil Sinbo is used today in the form 토착왜구.A sentence explaining the etymology
- 정부 정책을 비판했다고 토착왜구라고 부르는 건 지나치다Calling someone 토착왜구 for criticizing government policy goes too far.The argument against the label
- 일제를 미화한 발언을 비판하는 말이지, 일본을 좋아한다고 쓰는 말이 아니다It's for criticizing remarks that glorify colonial Japan, not for people who like Japan.The argument defending the term
- 그 표현은 멸칭이니까 기사에는 인용 부호 없이 쓰면 안 돼That's a slur, so it can't run in an article without quotation marks.An editorial meeting
The argument is about scope. Asia Economy reported in July 2019 that a Hankyoreh editorial writer urged people who value democracy to stop using it, saying it carried the same political weight as 빨갱이 (“commie”), while Kyung Hee University professor Kim Min-woong countered that its historical meaning is different. A Maeil Shinmun column objected that experts, journalists and the opposition who criticized the government's response were all being lumped in under it. Conservatives answered in July 2019 with the counter-label 토착빨갱이 (“native commies”), and MBC's debate show put the two side by side in a title. It's a spot where disputes slide easily into 내로남불 (naeronambul, “my romance, your affair”), each side strict only about the other.
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토착왜구 (tochak waegu): frequently asked questions
Q. What does 토착왜구 mean?
A derogatory label for Koreans seen as siding with Japan or defending its colonial rule. Literally, “native Japanese pirates.”
Q. Where does 토착왜구 come from?
It's a modern rewording of 토왜 (土倭), found in the Daehan Maeil Sinbo in 1908. It came back into wide use through political disputes starting in March 2019.
Q. What does 토왜 mean?
A word for pro-Japanese collaborators around the time of colonization. A 1910 Daehan Maeil Sinbo article, 토왜천지, sorted them into four types.
Q. Who uses 토착왜구 against whom?
Since 2019, mostly the progressive side against conservative politicians and supporters. Some see it as hate speech aimed at demeaning opponents; others defend it as legitimate criticism.
Q. Did Jeon Woo-yong coin 토착왜구?
No. The historian has said he didn't, and the older word 토왜 that he cited already appears in a 1908 newspaper.
Q. What's 토착왜구 in English?
There's no set translation. It's usually romanized as “tochak waegu” and glossed as “native Japanese pirates.”
So 토착왜구 is a word from a newspaper 118 years ago, back as the language of political fights. Whom it can fairly be applied to still isn't settled. We also covered 2찍 (i-jjik), which sorts people by ballot number, today. And if you have a sharper definition, add it to the 토착왜구 entry in the dictionary.
Sources
- NewsTop — [팩트체크] 토착왜구 뜻하는 '토왜(土倭)' 1908년에 처음 사용 (Kim Dong-mun, Mar 25, 2019, in Korean)
- Seoul Shinmun — "'토착왜구' 용어는 1910년 대한매일신보서 유래"…역사학자 전우용 글 화제 (Shin Jin-ho, Mar 21, 2019, in Korean)
- Segye Ilbo — 나경원 "내가 친일파라니 어이없어… 초선 때 자위대 행사 간 건 실수" (Hyeon Hwa-young, Jul 25, 2019, in Korean)
- Asia Economy — "너 토착왜구냐" vs "혐오표현 그만" 어떻게 생각하세요 (Han Seung-gon, Jul 19, 2019, in Korean)
- Maeil Shinmun — [시각과 전망] 토착왜구(倭寇)와 토착종북(從北) (Lee Chun-su, Jul 16, 2019, in Korean)
- YTN — [팩트와이] 조정래 '일본 유학 = 친일파' 발언, 사실일까? (Oct 15, 2020, in Korean)
- Namuwiki — 토착왜구 (in Korean)
See ‘토착왜구’ in the dictionary — more definitions, examples, and your own take.
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