When it comes to North Korea during China's all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945), many people may think of Kim Jiu who moved to Chongqing and Han **temporary**, Kim Il-sung who fought guerrillas with the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army, or the Korean Volunteers who accepted the leadership of the Eighth Route Army in Taihang Mountain. But this is mostly the Korean Peninsula independence movement that is being carried out on the Chinese stage, and what about the space of the Korean Peninsula?What really happened in Korea under Japanese colonial rule, at least we Chinese don't know much. I have selected and translated Chapter 7, "Wartime Institutions and Korea," in Colonial Korea and Japan (Iwanami Shoten, 2013), written by Japanese Korean scholar Cho Kyung-dak (Iwanami Shoten, 2013).
This chapter is divided into three parts, "'Inner and Fresh' and the General Mobilization System" (describing the Japanese colonial authorities' policy of imperializing the Korean Peninsula during the war), "Intellectuals Cooperate with the War" (describing the appearance of Korean intellectuals during the war), and "General Mobilization and the People" (describing the participation of Koreans in the Japanese army, labor, and grain requisition). It can be said to be a relatively concise and comprehensive summary of the situation on the Korean Peninsula at that time.
"integration of internal freshness" and the general mobilization system.
The Sino-Japanese War and the "Integration of Inner Freshness".
On August 5, 1936, Minami Jiro, who had served successively as commander of the Korean Army, Minister of War, and commander of the Kwantung Army, succeeded Ugaki Kazunari and became the governor of Korea. Then, in April 1937, Nan issued five major political programs: "The Bright Expedition of the National System", "Xian Manyi", "Teaching Revitalization", "Advancing Farmers and Workers Together", and "Refreshing the Administration". On July 7, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, triggering the Sino-Japanese War. Soon after, the war turned into a full-force war, and Korea was transformed into a wartime mobilization system and was forced to take various actions to cooperate with the war. On November 3 of the following year, Prime Minister Fumihiro Konoe, who advocated the building of a new order in East Asia, issued the so-called "Second Konoe Statement," and since then, there have been many spontaneous cooperators. Industry is particularly sensitive. After North Korea became a base for military stations on the mainland, North Korean enterprises led by Beijing Textile pinned their hopes on entering the mainland market.
The transformation of the mainland's military stations into bases is just another expression of "integration of the interior and the fresh," which is premised on the Japanese-Manchurian clique, and the DPRK has become the "second hinterland" and "inland clone." On the one hand, South Africa is holding high the banner of building a new order in East Asia, and on the other hand, it has raised the slogan of "integration of domestic and fresh" to "integration of domestic and fresh" and vigorously advocated non-discriminatory treatment of North Korea. In response to this, the expectations of the Korean upper class and some intellectuals for the Japanese Empire suddenly rose. Of course, this high expectation was also largely due to the fact that they were still overwhelmed by the might of the Japanese Empire.
But those who pinned their hopes on the Japanese Empire were developing a strange sense of self-esteem. This is a "sub-imperial consciousness", that is, North Korea is in the second tier relative to the "interior" that is in the first line. Under this consciousness, forgetting the identity of the colonized and stipulating that he was a full-fledged member of the Japanese Empire and claiming to be a "second-class subject", he was infinitely close to a "subject of the interior", and this consciousness can be said to be a hypocritical and delusional sense of superiority. In fact, there were Koreans who saw the war as an opportunity to make a fortune, and some of them wanted to fight the Japanese economically. However, their pride in the business of restaurants and hotels made the Japanese angry and wary, calling them "arrogant" and "pretentious."
The fate of industrialization.
Economic development is first and foremost reflected in the progress of industrialization. The industrial output in 1936 was 730.8 million yen, which increased to 2 in 19414 times 1,722,220,000 yuan. Compared with 252.92 million yuan in 1931, the actual situation is 68 times. The ratio of output value of each industry is 41% for agriculture and 37% for industry, which is quite close. If you add 8% of the mining sector, the industry is 45%, which has already been reversed. Expectations from the industry are rising.
Having said that, it is difficult for North Korean companies with a disadvantage in capital power to be active. North Korean capital is basically small and micro cottage industrial capital. Although there were small and medium-sized industrial capitals with more than 50 employees, in 1939 there were 456 Japanese factories and only 209 Korean factories, accounting for only 31%. On March 10, 1937, the Act on the Control of Important Industries was enacted in North Korea, and Korean companies began to be eliminated. The law enforced cartel alliances, which led to the entry of Japanese capital that had not yet entered Korea, but it also led to a more serious monopolization of Japanese capital. As a result, more and more powerful Japanese capital entered the country, making Korean industry formally munitions, and at the same time triggering the decline of Korean capital. In October 1941, the Enterprise Licensing Order was promulgated, which aimed to reorganize enterprises and concentrate their equipment and labor on combat-enhancing enterprises. The decree was also a blow to Japanese companies, but it was even worse for North Korean companies. Most of the North Korean factories were either consolidated or closed.
In this way, the product of the profit from the monopoly of Korean industry was the overwhelming Japanese monopoly capital. In 1942, 74 percent of the capital received from Japan was the capital of Korea, of which 36 percent was Japan. This was followed by Nissan (11%), Totaku (11%), Bell Textile (6%), Mitsubishi (6%), Nippon Steel (4%), and Sumitomo (2%). The remaining Korean-Japanese and Korean-Chinese companies will also form joint ventures, but the ratio of national capital to the total is only 6%. In addition, from October 27, 1944, the Quartermaster Society Act was enacted, which provided for direct involvement in the operation of the munitions industry, and the implementation of the delivery of products based on the production responsibility system under the condition of granting various preferential treatments. Of the 99 companies designated, the only national capital enterprise is the North Korean aircraft industry, which is run by Park Heung-sik.
As a result, only four large-scale national capitals remained at the time of liberation. The first was the Hunan chaebol led by Kim Sung-so and Nian-so, followed by the Park Heung-sik chaebol, the Min chaebol, which focused on finance and real estate, and the Bong Eui-seok chaebol, which opened up the automobile transportation business in northern Korea. All of these were successful in close proximity to the Governor's Palace, and were not ordinary national capital. The Hunan chaebol, which tops the list, is particularly significant. They focused on shipbuilding and steel, investing in the national policy of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Corporation and Park Heung-sik's North Korean aircraft industry. In February 1939, they entered Manchuria and established the South Manchuria Textile Society. In addition, its core enterprise, Jingcheng Textile, produces a large number of military uniforms and their clothing, and contributes to the military department. Although it is impossible to expect the Japanese monopoly capital to carry out, the war profits made by the Hunan chaebol are also difficult to calculate.
Moreover, many Korean technicians were born during the war, and there is an opinion that they contributed to the development after liberation, but this is a very exaggerated evaluation. In 1943, there were 12,831 Japanese technicians and 6,130 Koreans, and the number of Korean technicians was less than half that of the Japanese, and 44% of them were clerical technicians, while the proportion of Japanese was only 11%, which was very uneven. Soon after the liberation, South Korea had serious problems with technical difficulties.
The system of general mobilization of the national spirit.
As soon as the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, the Governor's Office quickly set up the North Korean ** Intelligence Committee on July 22, 1937, half a month later, for the purpose of controlling intelligence and popularizing the concept of the state. Based on these activities, on July 1, 1938, one year after the Sino-Japanese War, the Korean Alliance for the General Mobilization of the National Spirit was created to deal with the total force war. This was the beginning of the general mobilization of the national spirit. The movement culminated in the general mobilization of the national spirit of the Korean Federation (Governor's Office), with local alliances (Province-Prefecture-Gri-Eup-Myeon-Machi-Dongri Tribes) and alliances at all levels and the "Patriotic Class" at the end of the movement, so as to control households and individuals. This movement promoted the transformation of the subjects of the Imperial State into "internal and fresh integration" through the organization of the Formation Alliance, and overcame the difficulties of the whole country with a spirit of serving the country through hard work. This movement was much more bureaucratic than the previous rural revitalization movement, and its ideological control over the people was at its peak. The spiritualist movement for the development of the heart field also faded out because of this movement.
In October 1940, the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement was renamed the "National General Movement" in response to the founding of the Daisei Wing Praise Association. The name of the organization was also changed to "Korea Federation of the People's Forces". In addition, the patriotic class under the Vocational Union was also renamed the "Shifeng Team" in March 1943. The total force movement basically inherited the spiritual mobilization movement, but it was not only spiritual mobilization, but also vigorously advocated the expansion of the productive forces, which was different from the previous one. The Patriotic Class takes the first day of each month as "Patriotic Day", on which the national flag is raised, Miyagi Haruka worship, shrine worship, "Chinese" rewards, diligent service, and recitation of the "Oath of the Imperial Subjects" (described later). Patriotic savings and rice-saving savings are also advocated through patriotic classes, and material distribution is also carried out on the basis of patriotic classes. In addition, patriotic classes in some places at that time also inherited the role of the Rural Revitalization Association.
In 1942, in addition to the Governor's Secretariat, there were eight bureaus of administration, finance, agriculture, agriculture, forestry, justice, academic affairs, police, and health and welfare. In November of that year, the Bureau of Health and Welfare was abolished and the General Affairs Bureau was established. The reason for this is that the establishment of an official office in charge of the overall national movement is more urgent than the welfare of the North Koreans.
"Inner Fresh Integration" poster.
North Korea Education Order" is corrected.
In order to strengthen the general mobilization system based on the "integration of the inside and the fresh", it is necessary to change the education system. Minamijiro proposed three major educational policies: "Enlightenment of the National Body", "Integration of Inner and Fresh", and "Tempering with Hardship", and promoted the popularization of students into subjects of the Imperial State. On March 3, 1938, the Korean Education Order was amended (the third). According to this amendment, the DPRK, like Japan, has implemented the order on elementary schools, junior high schools, and higher girls' schools, and the traditional ordinary schools, higher schools, and girls' schools have been changed to elementary schools, junior high schools, and higher girls' schools, and Koreans have studied and Xi together with the Japanese, regardless of whether the "Chinese language" is commonly used, and all textbooks have been unified. In addition, Korean was removed from the main course and became a casual subject. Most public schools have abolished the teaching of Korean. In elementary schools, it is common for Korean teachers to teach fluent students in Japanese.
On March 25, 1941, the Education Order was partially amended, and elementary schools became national schools, just like in Japan. This was followed by a major revision (fourth) on 18 March 1943. In addition to expanding normal school education, it has also increased military education and labor mobilization, shortened the length of study, and opened the way of apprenticeship mobilization. In May 1945, the Wartime Education Order was promulgated, and apprenticeship teams were formed in schools and workplaces.
According to the three major education policies, the school resolutely implements the education of the subjects of the imperial state, and conducts activities such as the National Sports Ming Zheng Day, the Xingya Fenggong Day, the Fuguo Gold Reserve Day, the Diligent Service to the National Team Fengshi Day, and the parade of regiments once a month. Events such as the Day of Enduring Exercise and the Day of Diligence and Dedication are held once a week, the national flag is raised several times a month, and shrine visits are held every day. In addition, great festivals such as Kusunoki Masanari, Nogi Noshinori and Ninomiya Sontoku are often held. Imperial subject gymnastics was also considered to guide sports.
All of the above are fascist methods that attach importance to the repetition of behavior in order to achieve the best effect. Among them, the "Oath of the Subjects of the Imperial State" formulated on October 2, 1937 is particularly prominent. There are two types of products: "children's" and "general" for junior high school students and above. The content of "For Children" is: "1. We are all subjects of the Great Japanese Empire. 2. We must all be loyal and righteous to His Majesty the Emperor. 3. We must all endure hard work and become excellent and strong citizens. The content of "general" is: "1. We are subjects of the imperial state. 2. Our subjects of the Imperial State trust and love each other to strengthen unity. 3. Our subjects of the Imperial State should cultivate patience and tempering in order to proclaim the imperial way. "It is an obligation to recite in unison whenever there is an event such as a pilgrimage. In addition, the "Pillar of Oath of the Subjects of the Imperial State" was established at the Joseon Shrine.
The Oath of the Subjects of the Imperial State" and the Japanese pronunciation in Korean.
The inner reality of the imperial people.
In fact, the person who wrote the "Oath of the Subjects of the Imperial State" was the one who was famous for being a political broker at that time, and the School Affairs Bureau of the Governor's Office entrusted Li Juezhong and Jin Dayu, the head of the Social Education Division. But the person who instructed it was Shiohara Tokizaburo, the director of the school bureau. He was a civil servant in the General Affairs Office of Manchukuo, and was invited by Minamijiro to serve as a bureaucrat in the Governor's Office. Shiobara not only allows students but also ordinary people to recite the "Oath of the Imperial Subjects" in the workplace. It is also known as the "Hitler of the Peninsula".
However, the Koreans could not implant the "Oath of the Imperial Subjects" in their hearts. First of all, it is not easy to achieve much success in popularizing the Japanese language. From May 1942, the "Chinese" popularization movement officially evolved into a "Chinese" common movement under the leadership of the Korean Union of the National Forces. From August 1944, it was expanded into a "Chinese" commonly used comprehensive solution movement. However, it is not possible to ban Korean as a native language in daily life. At the end of 1943, the Japanese "slightly understood" (99%) and "ordinary conversation accessibility" (123%), which adds up to only 22 percent of the total number of North Koreans2%。Even those who can speak Japanese, leaving aside the workplace and school in the government office, they use Korean in their own homes, and they are in a dual language state.
Around the time of the wartime mobilization system, the Governor's Office actually used various terms and slogans to impose the imperial and Japanese spirit, but most people could not understand the meaning because they did not understand Japanese. There are many people who do not understand the meaning of terms such as "wartime", "extraordinary time", and even "subjects of the imperial state". The "Oath of the Subjects of the Imperial State" was merely written down by the Emperor without knowing Japanese.
However, since the revision of the Korean Education Act in 1938, it is true that a relatively large number of students who were educated in elementary schools (national schools) with Japanese people wanted to embed the imperial culture in their hearts. In the memories of elementary school students at the time, many people frankly confided that they were "young citizens". If you compete in school to use Japanese, you will be severely criticized and punished by your teachers.
But the more these students get to the higher grades, the more inclined they are to speak Korean. The difference in school life, as well as the life of a Korean in the family, is bound to make them feel that the top students are loved by Japanese teachers, and it is easier to become "less national", but the poor students are often scolded and wronged. Grievances have stimulated national consciousness in this way. However, this only happens to students who go to school. In the 40s, only a little more than half of the children were educated, and this was when simple schools and shodos (private schools) were included. On December 5, 1942, it was announced that compulsory education would begin in 1946, but it was liberated before it was implemented.
The most popular is the shrine visit, but it is also nominal and non-existent. Because Koreans have their own religious world, they cannot implant the Japanese concept of god in their hearts. They were simply forced to visit the shrine without any choice but to do so. The shrine ** (rune) assigned to every household, many families keep it in their closets or barely stick it to the wall with a needle. Almost all Koreans have turned others into "gods of Japanese slaves."
Tron changed its name. One of the most notorious of the imperial policies promoted by Shiobara was the "name change of the clan". On November 10, 1939, it was promulgated by the "Decree on the Correction of Korean Civil Laws", and the name change of the clan negated the principle and practice of North Korea - husband and wife have different surnames, and the title of "clan" as a family is recognized, and the name must be changed along with the recognition of the adopted son of a son-in-law and the adopted son with a different surname. It came into effect on February 11, 1940, and until August 10, half a year later, it was necessary to decide whether or not to create a family and register it. If you do not register, the previous Korean surname will automatically become "clan", and the wife's surname will become the husband's surname. The occasion for registration is called "setting for creation", and the occasion for not registering is called "legal creation". In the case of registration, it is necessary to avoid the royal family's chase-name and palace number, the "clan" of the family related to the imperial family, and it is also forbidden to create a clan with a Korean surname other than one's own. Therefore, the occasion of "setting Soji" must be a Japanese-style surname. In any case, Tron is an obligation, a compulsion. Changing the name is "arbitrary", but if you change it to a Japanese-style name, you will be rewarded.
The intention of the name change was to destroy the Korean family system of blood supremacy, transplant the Japanese family system, and use the imperial family system to dominate the Koreans. Although the Korean people were made to become members of the Imperial Army using the volunteer military system that had already begun and the conscription system that was scheduled to be implemented, the Imperial Army, as the name suggests, was the emperor's son. Not only must you speak in Japanese, but your name must also be changed to a Japanese style. Most importantly, it is necessary to adapt the family system of the Korean people to the imperial view of the family state. Minamijiro is also enthusiastic about "getting married" and is even more diligent in publicizing it, and is commended through the Korean Alliance of the National Force.
However, Tron's name change was unpopular, and few people responded spontaneously. Even among the powerful pro-Japanese people, opposition was overwhelming. Even so, it is required that officials, school teachers, police officers, and all other public officials, starting with the Senate and local councillors, "lead by example" in order to improve results. Many North Koreans were forced to register under the coercion of the government. There are also examples of the chief of the face and the chief inspector randomly messing around with the creation of the clan. The school teacher convinces the parents through the students. Even the accusation of imposing "set up a tron" is punishable. Many people cope with the creation of the clan in the form of leaving at least the Korean surname and the moto. There are not a few celebrities who have no choice but to "set up Chuang's". For example, Yoon Zhi-ho, a nationalist magnate who became pro-Japanese but still attached to the nation, was named "Ito Zhihao". Only the name remains the same, or at least a form of resistance. In addition, an old man named Xue Jin-yong in Chunchang County, Jeollabuk-do, who was once a volunteer soldier, committed suicide after leaving a suicide note saying "vowing not to change his surname". However, the authorities did not allow questions during the funeral, and put pressure on the bereaved family to create a "Tamagawa".
Half a year later, more than 80% of North Koreans have "set up Soga". The name change of Chuangshi was like a storm, and it was even called the "Chuangshi Riot", but 20% of North Koreans still withstood the pressure. In addition, although the Governor's Office forced Soji to change its name, it did not abolish the Korean family register and incorporate it into the Japanese family register. Despite acknowledging its necessity, it did not hesitate to maintain national boundaries.