Angry survivors took revenge on resident Koreans, killing several thousand. The fierce hatred was fueled by rumors of Korean wrongdoing and because of their distinct Korean identity, rather than simply because they were not Japanese. As Allen notes, the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea provided the backdrop to this extreme example of the explosion of racial prejudice into violence, based on a history of antagonism. To be a Korean in 1923 Japan was to be not only despised, but also threatened and potentially killed.