Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive
Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/20
ANNOTATION
In the 1940s, Imperial Japan conscripted Korean laborers, deployed them as civilians attached to the military, and utilized them for war efforts through the South Seas Government that controlled the Pacific islands, including Micronesia. From June to August 1944, the U.S. Navy occupied the Pacific islands, such as Saipan, Tinian, and Peleliu islands, which were territories previously under Japanese control, and captured Korean POWs on these islands. Those POWs who were believed to have the most valuable information were interrogated on multiple occasions, including at the frontlines and in the POW camps in Honolulu, Hawaii. After their information was assessed by the U.S. military personnel on Angel Island, California, the POWs were interrogated again at Camp Tracy in California.
The POWs were then sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin where they were further interrogated, if necessary. The Joint Intelligence Center (JIC), a joint agency of the U.S. Army and Navy, took charge of this process. The Captured Personnel and the Material Branch (CPMB) of Military Intelligence Service (MIS), War Department, participated on the side of the Army.
This document contains Special Questions for Korean POWs, sent from Russell H. Sweet (Colonel, GSC, Chief of the Capture Personnel and Material Branch, Military Intelligence Service, War Department) to the Commanding Officer of Camp Tracy, on May 4, 1945. The 30 questions were designed to gather information specific to the Korean POWs. In the introduction, the document says, “A special interest in Korea and in Koreans has been activated recently,” and “Interrogators should also try to classify each Korean as to his interest in the program of liberation of Korea from Japanese rule,” bearing in mind that Koreans had been conscripted by the Japanese military. Russell recommended asking certain questions only for Koreans who were against Japan.
The document includes questions regarding Japan's forcible mobilization of Korean laborers (question nos. 3, 5, and 6), the distribution of food (nos. 7, 8, and 10), and military conscription (nos. 12, 13, 14, 15). Question no. 18 asks if Koreans knew about the recruitment of Korean girls by the Japanese army to serve as “comfort women” and what are the attitudes of the average Koreans about it.
The fact that there were questions specifically for the “comfort women” system means that the Military Intelligence Service, the central intelligence agency of the U.S. Army, had accumulated substantial information about the “comfort women” system already and considered it an important matter. Asking about the attitudes of the average Koreans about Japan’s mobilization of the Korean girls for the “comfort women” system shows that the American agency believed that Korean people could be hostile against the Japanese for this reason, and it could be used for America’s psychological warfare against Japan through intensifying conflicts between Japanese and Koreans. Reports no. 11 and no. 13 are the results of the interrogations based on these questions.
Contributors
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] City of Seoul, Women and Family Policy Affairs Office 2011~
[Organization] National Archives and Records Administration 1934~
#JIC #MIS #special_questions #psychological_warfare
Download file: https://international.ucla.edu/media/files/US-16-MIS-Special-Questions-for-Korean-PWs-au-gzj.pdf
LESSON PLAN
Note to teachers: The discussion questions below are designed based on the original document, not the annotation. Teachers are recommended to use the primary document in teaching, instead of the annotation. However, the annotation provides useful background information for teachers when they prepare for the lesson.
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the required sections:
- interrogate: ask questions of (someone, especially a suspect or a prisoner) closely, aggressively, or formally
- prostitute: a person, in particular a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment. It refers to the "comfort women" in the document.
- PWS: a short form of Prisoners of War
Direct students to read the document. After reading, discuss the following questions:
1. What's the letterhead of this document?
2. What does the big red letters on top of the document say? What does that tell you?
3. What are the physical characteristics of this document?
a. Is it handwritten or typed?
b. Are there any marks? If so, what are they?
c. Any other physical features do you notice?
d. Does any of these physical characteristics interest you?
4. Who sent the message? What's his title?
5. Who was the recipient of the message?
6. What year was the message created?
7. What was the historical context in East Asia during the time?
8. Use one sentence to summarize the main idea of this document.
9. After reading the first paragraph on page 2, why do you think Col. Russell suggested asking these questions only for Korean who were against Japan?
10. After reading all the interrogation questions, which one is particularly interesting to you? Explain why.
11. Now, direct students' attention to questions #18. The U.S. Military Intelligence Service asked particular questions about the "comfort women." What does this fact tell you?
a. The Japanese government has been claiming that it bears no legal or official responsibility for the "comfort women" victims. Based on this particular question (i.e., question #18), do you think the claim is defendable? Why or why not?
12. Why do you think the US Military Intelligence Service asked about the average Koreans' attitude toward the "comfort women" program?
13. What questions do you have for this document?
14. Where/How can you find the answers?
*This lesson plan was designed by Jing Williams, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at University of South Dakota.