held almost a sacred status and were seen as a principal source of ethical counsel. This convention also engendered the tradition of remonstrance, which obligated the scholar to criticize the actions of the government and even the king in order to avoid threatening the Confucian-inspired concept of the moral order of the universe. The dynastic period did not prioritize special or technical training, and thus a preference for a non-specialized and literary education has remained in Korea. Many of these developments were pronounced towards the end of the 19th century when the Chosun dynasty began implementing a Western-style education system as a result of the intrusion of foreign powers into Korea. By 1904, public education was largely confined to Seoul, which was generally resisted by the public as well as government officials. This maintained the dominance of sodang and other traditional institutions as the primary means to receive a formal education. However, as a result of financial support from members of the royal family and American missionary activities and schools, the number of schools began to increase in the early 1900s. As a means to promote basic literacy among its citizens, Korea also introduced mixed script of Hangeul and Chinese characters into its instruction. During the Japanese occupation (1905–1945), Korea was able to establish a comprehensive and modern system of national education through centralization and deliberate planning of integrating Japanese occupational professionalism and values. However, there were severe restrictions like the lack of access to education beyond the elementary level for Koreans and the manipulation of education to indoctrinate Korean subjects to be loyal to the Japanese empire, which led to turmoil and discontent among Koreans who were forced to assimilate. The Japanese emphasized low-level and non-professional track schooling for Koreans which was pronounced by the Educational Ordinance of 1911, where Japanese residents had fourteen years of schooling available while Koreans only had eight years available to them, unless they were civil servants wherein eleven was the maximum. Schooling was primarily based on Japanese values, literacy, and history as an attempt to make young Koreans loyal to the Japanese state and indirectly wipe out Korean culture and history. As a minor development, the Educational Ordinance of 1922 was enacted, which reopened the Seoul Teachers' School, extended elementary and secondary education, and added college preparatory or advanced technical training to the curriculum. Higher education became a central issue for upper-class and