일제 말기 필리핀·버마지역 한인 병사의 강제동원과 귀환

Abstract

The Japanese started invading Southeast Asia immediately after they provoked the Pacific War in December 1942. A large number of Koreans went abroad to each region in Southeast Asia as they were forced to work by the Japanese after the Pacific War. This study investigated how Koreans, who were taken to Philippines and Myanmar, the most ferocious battlefield in the period of Pacific War where Japanese army experienced the greatest defeat, were mobilized, what kind of abducted Korean people did there, and how they returned back home after the war. During the Pacific War, a huge number of people of more than 1.5 million were killed in Philippines, and it was inevitable for majority of Koreans who were forcibly mobilized in war to be sacrificed. Also, the Philippine War is where over 6 million Japanese soldiers were dispatched in and killed close to 5 million soldiers. Likewise, Korean solders, laborers, civilian employees, and comfort women(enforced sex slaves) were forcefully taken to Philippines where a large number of casualties took place, but there is no accurate statistics on the scale of people who have been forcefully taken away and sacrificed. However, it is estimated that over 80% of Koreans who were forcibly taken to Philippines were sacrificed and could not return back home safely. Also, as the Japanese army implemented attacks in Burma in January 1942, approximately 330,000 military strengths were put into a vast area including the entire Burma region and Manipur in India for 3 years and 7 months until August 15, 1945, but it became a battleground where approximately 200,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in an attack by the Allied Forces. Most Koreans, who were taken to Philippines, were admitted to the Muntinlupa POW-camp near Luzon Island Laguna lakeside when the Pacific War ended on August 15, 1945, then returned back home in sequence from November 1945. When the war ended in Burma region as well as the Japanese army surrendered on August 15, 1945, Korean soldiers were admitted into the prison of war camp by the Allied Forces, and Koreans who were transferred to Singapore started returning back home from July 1946.