This paper explores the socio-educational aspects of English education in the Korean Peninsula during the Japanese colonial period. For this study, 148 newspaper articles from 1920 to 1940 were collected from the Chosun Ilbo and the Dong-A Ilbo archives. The collected articles showed the significant influence of English education on the life patterns of Korean people during this period. This study categorizes the twenty-year period into three phases of English education: 1) its reconstruction, 2) its stabilization, and 3) its extinction. English education during these phases was strongly influenced by educational policies imposed by imperial Japan, as in the 2nd and 3rd Chosun Educational Rules (CER) issued in 1922 and 1938 respectively. The yearning for learning English in South Korea in the 21st century show similarities to those desires for learning English during the Japanese colonial period which were strongly influenced by the imperial Japan’s political intentions.