Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive
Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/49
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 military personnel on Angel Island, California, the POWs were again interrogated 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 the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), War Department, participated on the side of the Army.
This is a report based on the interrogations of three Koreans, Bakdo Lee, Seunggeun Paik, and Kinam Kang on April 11, 1945, based on the special questions for interrogation of Korean POWs that had been prepared earlier [US-16]. These three POWs were captured on a Pacific island, imprisoned in a camp in Honolulu, Hawaii, and sent to the camp in California as they were considered to have high level information. Due to their injuries, the POWs were hospitalized in the Letterman Hospital close to Camp Tracy and the interrogations were done at the hospital.
A number of statements by the POWs do not seem to have reflected the actual situation within Korea. For example, based on another interrogation report of Bakdo Lee, one of the three POWs, he was not in an ideal position to have accurate information about the on-the-ground situation in Korea. He was born in Gyeongsangnam-do (Southern Gyeongsang Province), Korea in 1925, completed elementary school there, went to the middle school in Osaka, Japan, traveled to Sakhalin and Honshu in the1940s, and was conscripted by Japan in April 1944.
For the “comfort women”-related questions, the POWs said that all Korean “comfort women” (“prostitutes” in the original document) that they saw in the Pacific were volunteers or had been sold by their parents into prostitution. The POWs stated that direct conscription of women by the Japanese would be an outrage that the old and young alike would not tolerate.
Within Korea, it was difficult for Koreans to obtain accurate information about “comfort women”, because the Governor-General in Korea punished anyone who allegedly spread rumors regarding “comfort women.” This aspect is confirmed by the fact that another POW, Giyeon Kim, could not answer the questions about “comfort women” in his questionnaire.
The U.S. forces seemed to have paid attention to anti-Japan sentiment among Korea regarding forcible conscription of Korean girls as “comfort women.”
Contributors
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] City of Seoul, Women and Family Policy Affairs Office 2011~
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] National Archives and Records Administration 1934~
#JIC #MIS #special_questions #psychological_warfare
Download file: https://international.ucla.edu/media/files/US-17-MIS-CPMB-Extract-of-Interrogation-1538-Composite-Report-on-Three-Korean-Navy-Civilians,List-No.-78-Dated-28-Mar-45-Re-Special-Questions-on-Koreans-lz-20t.pdf
LESSON PLAN
Note to teachers:
1. 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.
2. Direct students to read from the beginning to the Preamble section on page 1 and #18 on page 3. The beginning section offers general information about this document, and #18 is the only section about "comfort women" in this document.
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the document:
- conscription: compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces
- interrogate: ask questions of (someone, especially a suspect or a prisoner) closely, aggressively, or formally
- preamble: an introduction
- prostitute: a person, in particular a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment. It refers to the "comfort women" in the document.
- PsW: 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 the document?
2. What's the title of this document? What does the title tell you?
3. What does the big red letters on top of the document say? What does that tell you?
4. What are the physical characteristics of this document?
a. Is it handwritten or typed?
b. Are there any marks? Is so, what are they?
c. Any other physical features do you notice?
d. Does any of these physical characteristics interest you?
5.What year was the report created?
6. What was the historical context in East Asia during the time?
7. Based on the Preamble, what was the Korean sentiment toward the Japanese? What caused that sentiment?
8. Based on #18, how were the "comfort women" recruited according to the Korean prisoners of war?
9. Why does the document say, "This is proper in the Korean way of thinking?" What does this piece of information tell you about the Japanese recruiting methods?
To facilitate student understanding, after they provide some possible answers, the teacher could tell them (the following words are copied from the annotation):
For the "comfort women"-related questions, the POWs said that all Korean "comfort women" ("prostitutes" in the original document) that they say in the Pacific were volunteers or had been sold by their parents into prostitution. The POWs stated that direct conscription of women by the Japanese would be an outrage that the old and young alike would not tolerate.
Within Korea, it was difficult for Koreans to obtain accurate information about "comfort women," because the Governor-General in Korea punished anyone who allegedly spread rumors regarding "comfort women." This aspect is confirmed by the fat that another POW, Giyeon Kim, could not answer the questions about "comfort women" in his questionnaire.
10. What questions do you have for this document?
11. Where can you find the answers?
* This lesson plan was designed by Jing Williams, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at University of South Dakota.