Before world war 2 japan invaded and colonized which country?

Answer 1

Korea was taken from the Russians in the war of 1904 (War of Tutshima straits) and colonised by Japan. The Japanese name for Korea was Choesul. The population were virtually enslaved by the japanese. Vast resources were mined there. As early as 1932 the japanese were manufacturing Tungsten Carbide and nitrogen fertiliser at Hungnam, or Konan as it was then known. During WW2 the Japanese began minining and refining Monazite deposits to refine Thorium for their nuclear weapons project. In conjunction with the same nuclear weapons project the Japanese also enriched Deuterium Oxide, also known as heavy water.

In 1931 the Japanese also staged fake attacks on Japanese owned railways in Manchuria to create a pretext for moving military forces to the region. Technically the Japanese did not colonise manchuria but rather installed a puppet regime friendly to Japan called Manchukuo. As head of state for this regime the Japanese installed the last Manchu emperor of China Pu Yi, whom they liberated from house arrest at the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The Cabinet of Manchuquo was formed of Chinese and Japanese military appointees.

Answer 2

China