Korea in World War II

Korea had been an occupied province of Japan since 1910. In reality Japan had controlled the government since 1905. The Korean Army was disbanded and the Korean language and culture were outlawed.

Exiled Korean leaders tried to get the Korean issue into debate at the League of Nations, while in 1939 Korean units joined the Chinese against the Japanese. Japan recruited pro-Japanese units and sent them against their Korean countrymen.

While there were no formal Korean armed forces, many men were conscripted into labor battalions, and thousands of women were forced into the role of "comfort women." Many of these conscripts, men and women, were killed when the Japanese islands were attacked or bypassed and left to starve.

In Cairo in 1943, the allies made a statement of intent to free Korea. When the Soviet Union entered the war on August 8, 1945, it also made this pledge. Soviet units entered North Korea on August 12, and Allied landings were made on September 8.

The two nations agreed to halt on the 38th Parallel, which became the formal demarcation line between two governments sponsored by the former Allies, now Cold War enemies. On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel, starting the three-year Korean War.

Internal Links

Japan

The Post War World

Internet Links

Hong Sa-ik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comfort women - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

South Korea - World War II and Korea

Lesson Plan no. 84 | Korea's Involvement in World War II | AskAsia.org
Based on a review of selected issues of and events in World War II, students will describe Korea’s involvement in that war. Working in groups they will identify different points of view of the same events and construct hypotheses based on evidence.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Korean WWII sex slaves fight on
A bitter dispute over the campaign to win justice for former sex slaves of the Japanese army in World War II is poisoning relations between Japan and South Korea.

FOXNews.com - Former South Korean Sex Slaves Recall Humiliation, Brutality - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
Former South Korean Sex Slaves Recall Humiliation, Brutality, South Korean women forced to work as sex slaves under Japanese rule recalled their humiliation as the Japanese prime minister said there was no proof these 'comfort women' had been coerced into prostitution.

Japanese Officer Admits Coercive Sex Slave Trade

老力碍痢扁
Pictures of Korea During the Japanese Occupation (in Japanese)

Eyewitness: A North Korean Remembers
A North Korean participant of the Korean War recalls his youth growing up in North Korea and living though the War

 

Bibliography From Amazon.com

 

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