a policy instructed from Japan's Department of Interior and National Police Agency to Japanese companies in 1941
- From: goodgutgut@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: 21 Feb 2006 05:20:13 -0800
Japan's Forced Labor Claims Debunked?
ListenListen
FEBRUARY 20, 2006 03:01
A document claiming that the Japanese government was deeply involved in
the management of Korean laborers who worked in Japan even before the
forced labor drafts in 1944 has come to light 10 days ahead of
Korea's 87th Independence Movement Day.
The Truth Commission on Forcible Drafting under Japanese occupation
announced on February 19 that they acquired a letter written by the
Joseon Governor-General's office encouraging Korean laborers who were
working at the Mitsui Sunagawa coal mine in Hokkaido not to go back to
Korea and to keep working in Japan by renewing their contracts.
The Japanese government has maintained that they hold no responsibility
for abuses committed against Korean laborers who went to Japan before
the forced drafts of 1944 because they claim Koreans made contracts
with Japanese companies on their own and were not managed at the
government level before that date.
Data suggesting the Japanese government's involvement in mobilizing
Korean workers by force, using violence to encourage them to enlist or
helping recruit other workers to work in coal mines in Japan from
1939-1943, has been found before. But this is the first time that
documents confirming the fact that the Japanese government was directly
involved in labor management of Koreans have been discovered.
The letter, dated October 1, 1941 in the name of the Joseon
Governor-General's office, reads that the term of a contract for
workers who came to Japan in 1939 was expiring soon, and that they
should renew their contract and keep working to become good citizens of
Japan's emperor.
The letter urges Korean workers to abstain from leaving work without
permission or striking, and encourages them to move their family to
Japan.
The emigration of Korean workers' families to Japan was a policy
instructed from Japan's Department of Interior and National Police
Agency to Japanese companies in 1941.
The Truth Commission explained that that the fact that the Joseon
Governor-Genera's office mentioned the above shows that the Japanese
government managed laborers in close consultation with the Joseon
Governor-General's office and Japanese corporations.
This letter was kept by Lee Bong-ok (then 34), who died in an accident
in 1942 while working at the Mitsui Sunagawa coal mine, and was sent to
his bereaved family with his personal effects. Lee's son, Young-su
(72), handed the letter in to the Truth Commission recently.
Han Hye-in, an inspector with the Truth Commission said, "Because the
Japanese government was involved in enlisting, sending, and managing
Korean laborers to Japan before the forced labor draft, the scope of
the Japanese government's responsibility for coercing Koreans to work
in Japan, and its compensation liability will increase.
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