Korean BC Class
War Criminals
TIME CHART(1941-1998)
|
Histry of Korean BC Class War Criminals TIME CHART(1941-1998) |
Please click yellow words to view photographs.
1941
After the Pearl Harbor attack and the invasion
of Malay Peninsula, Japan entered the war against the United States.
May,1942
The Japanese imperial colonial government
hired war prison guards throughout Korea.
Although they were "hired", in many cases they were coerced. For
example, because the government stopped food rationing, a number of Korean
youths had to become a prison guard to survive. At about the same time,
the Japanese decided to start drafting. Some Koreans thought it would be
better to become prison guards than soldiers.
June,1942
3223 Korean young men were assigned to the
Imperial Japanese Army Pusan Training Division.
They were trained not as prison guard but as regular soldier. They learned
neither the languages of the probable prisoners such as English or Dutch
nor existence of the international treaties regarding prisoners of war.
Instead, they went through military training and indoctrination. They were
taught to blindly obey the command of the superiors as if it was the command
of the Japanese emperor himself and to die as a soldier rather than to survive
as a prisoner. The training was so rigorous and unexpected that some of
them became mentally sick.
August,1942
These Koreans were assigned
to work at prison camps in Thailand, Malay and Java.
The Japanese forces were constructing railways, major roads and airfields
throughout South East Asia most notoriously the Taimen Railway, which was
called "Death Railway". Although exploitation of prisoners as
labor force was prohibited, the Japanese forced the prisoners to work at
these construction sites. Due to lack of food and medicine, a lot of prisoners died. The Korean prison guards were the ones to force the prisoners
to work.
August
15,1945
Japan lost the war and Korea
was liberated.
In many places in South East Asia, the Allies arrested war crime suspects
and established BC class war crimes tribunals. The Korean guards, who were
at the bottom of the Japanese imperial forces and did not have any authority,
did not even imagine to be arrested as war criminal. However, they were
the ones who dealt with the prisoners. Their faces were remembered and they
were the object of revenge. They were arrested after a simple identification
process by former prisoners and then prosecuted.
1946～1947
In various BC Class war crimes tribunals,148
former Korean guards were proven guilty and 23 of them got executed.
There was no appropriate witness. Nor was there interpreter. The prosecutors
did not consider the fact that they were born and raised in the colony rather
than in the soverign nation. Perhaps, this is because the prosecutors themselves
had benefited from their own colonies. As a result, 23
of the Korean guards got either hanged or shot
and 125 of them received
prison terms in various prisons in South East Asia.
1950～1951
The war criminals got transferred
to Sugamo Prison in Tokyo (which was back then run by the American Forces
in Japan).
April 28, 1952
Due to the San Francisco Treaty, Japan became an independent country.
Sugamo Prison was placed under the jurisdiction of the Japanese government.
The Korean BC criminals lost their Japanese nationality. Since they were
no longer Japanese, they demanded immediate release from the prison. Three
months later, the supreme court rejected their appeal for the reason that
they were Japanese when they were prosecuted.
1955
In the 1950's, a lot of Korean BC class
war criminals were paroled
or released.
When they got out, they were given military uniforms and little travel expense
(the sum of which was so small that they could travel only to the border
of Tokyo prefecture). They had no family or friends to rely on. They lived
in extreme poverty and, as a result of hardship, two such Koreans took their
own lives. They realized that they would not be able to survive. The ex-Korean BC class war criminals
and surviving family members established "Society of Korean War Criminals"
which was later renamed as "Society of Koreans". Collectively,
they demanded Japanese Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama that the Japanese
government provide livelihood assistance.
1956
For the first time, they demanded not livelihood assistance but individual
compensation including the one for the survived family members.
Since then, for forty years, every time a new cabinet formed, they have
demanded individual compensation.
1956
The last of the Korean BC war criminals got released.
The length of their prison terms contrasted that of the Japanese A class
war criminals. The Japanese A class war criminals, who were the decision
makers in the war, had already been released in the 1940's and many of them
went back into the Japanese political scene. Shinsuke Kishi, who became
prime minister, was one of them. To prime minister Kishi, the Society of
Koreans sent an appeal for individual compensation in a later year.
1965
The Japan-Korea Normalization treaty was signed.
After this treaty, the Japanese government claimed that "the compensation
issue was already settled" and stopped seriously considering the appeal
for individual compensation. In sum, the ex-Korean BC class war criminals
were proven guilty as "Japanese" but cannot get compensation because
they are "Koreans".
1991
The ex-Korean BC class war criminals filed a lawsuit against the Japanese
government at Tokyo Prefectural Court.
Now the plaintiffs are in their 70s and 80s. Some of the ex-Korean BC class
war criminals have already deceased. They thought they could not wait any
longer and decided to bring their case to the court. Right before the trial
started, "the support group of the BC Class war criminals who were
held responsible in place of Japanese" was founded.
September
9,1996
The verdict was scheduled
to be issued at the Tokyo Prefectural Court.
Judge Maszou Nagano of the 33rd civil case section rejected the appeal of
the ex-Korean BC Class War Criminals.
September 19,1996
The ex-Korean BC Class War Criminals appealed to the high court.
February 24,1997
The court sessions at the high court have started.
The applicants (plaintiffs) and attorneys (lawyers) will speak in the courtroom
and point out the wrongs of the preliminary verdict.
February
2,1998
Mr. Mun Tae-bok Died.
Chairperson of the Society of Koreans (Doshinkai), head of the plaintiffs
in the trial against the Japanese government.
He has led the movement and trial efforts for such a long time. He died
right before the final hearing. He was 74 years-old.
February 25,1998
The final hearing at the high court.
July 13,1998
Judgement is expected to be issued.
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