Copy of attachment (1)

 

Policy for Utilization of Korean Workers

 

Cabinet Resolution, February 13, 1942

 

1. Aims

With the increase in military personnel, the shortage of laborers engaging in heavy work in key industries in the homeland has become particularly severe and great strain has been placed on the agricultural labor force, which has hitherto been the source of supply of such laborers, making it very difficult to replace draftees. In this situation, it has become an urgent task to seek a source of supply in Korea, where there is still elasticity in the supply and demand of such laborers, and thereby secure production. Accordingly, there are increasing expectations for the utilization of Korean workers in projects in fields such as civil engineering and transportation, where great reliance has been placed upon Korean workers up to the present.

 

However, there are various complicated issues with regard to sending Korean workers to the homeland and employing them, and the provision of guidance within Korea is not necessarily implemented consistently, which has given rise to various abuses. In view of the quality of workers currently employed in the homeland, the utilization of Korean workers in Japan is an essential requirement. Taking advantage of this opportunity, it is of the utmost importance to reflect on past experience and, while integrating and reforming these measures, to establish a thorough policy for guidance and to implement it swiftly. Accordingly, while promoting the overall policy of governing Korea through the utilization of workers and their education, the workers who have been trained can return these benefits to Korea, thereby contributing to the strengthening of the status of Korea as a base for Japan’s advance on the continent.

 

2. Policy

• This Policy shall be implemented in accordance with the basic concept of thoroughly promoting the comprehensive harnessing of national strength through the utilization of appropriate manpower in Korea for general mobilization, in view of the worker mobilization situation in the homeland accompanying the increase in military personnel.
• In accordance with this Policy, suitable young men shall be selected as Korean workers, provided with the necessary training, and sent to the homeland.
• The above-mentioned Korean workers shall be employed under sufficient guidance and protection of the nation and trained as excellent workers of the Empire. After a certain period (generally two years) they shall be replaced in order to strengthen the national human resources in Korea.
• The sending of workers to the homeland in accordance with this Policy shall be conducted under the strong guidance of the Governor-General of Korea and, whenever necessary, the National Requisition Ordinance shall be invoked in order to secure the necessary manpower.
• With the strengthening of the work regulations in the homeland and in Korea, the existing policy for the employment of Korean workers in the homeland other than in accordance with this Policy shall be integrated with this Policy so that it is conducted along the same principles.
• With the implementation of this Policy, the strengthening of labor mobilization shall be promoted, such as the drafting, or participation in the National Patriotic Labor Corps, of Koreans currently residing in the homeland.

 

3. Main Points

• The selection and training of required personnel in Korea shall be conducted as stated below.
• The required personnel shall in general be men seventeen to twenty-five years old who are sound in body and mind. However, in the event that it is difficult to select suitable personnel, the age range may be expanded.
• Making use of youth training facilities, in addition to spiritual education and Japanese language education, the personnel shall receive the necessary basic training for group actions and communal living and the required leaders shall be trained.
• Personnel who understand the Japanese language shall be appointed to each unit of the corps organizations.

 

(2) The following measures shall be taken in the homeland for the employment of Korean workers in accordance with this Policy.

(a) The factories where the required personnel are to be employed shall be selected giving priority to facilities requiring heavy labor and which possess facilities suitable for their employment, and their scope shall gradually be expanded.

(b) Factories shall be designated considering the circumstances under which required personnel are appointed through recruitment, and preparations shall be made so that they can swiftly accommodate these personnel.

(c) The treatment of the said personnel shall not be materially or institutionally different from that accorded to people of the homeland.

 

• In view of the situation regarding food, housing and transportation, workers to be sent to the homeland in accordance with this Policy shall not be accompanied by their family.
• An organizational structure shall be fully established for mobilizing personnel in Korea for the purpose of implementing this Policy and necessary measures such as the strengthening of police functions will be taken.

In line with the implementation of this Policy, training for young men will be promoted and strengthened, particularly with respect to its mutual relationship with the volunteer soldier recruiting system.

• Regarding the facilities necessary for implementing this policy, use shall be made of existing facilities as far as possible and separate budgetary measures shall be taken in unavoidable circumstances.

Regarding the personnel mobilization mechanisms and supplementation of personnel at training organizations accompanying the implementation of this Policy, the related agencies shall cooperate fully in accordance with the circumstances.

• Adequate measures shall be taken to conduct studies regarding problems of food supplies and transportation arising in the implementation of this Policy.
• The Governor-General of Korea shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the transportation of outside workers to the homeland in accordance with this Policy is conducted in accordance with the aims of the regulatory laws and ordinances regarding labor, such as confirmation that permission has been granted by the government offices concerned in the homeland.
• The agencies concerned shall conduct separate specific discussions concerning the time and method of initiating the swift implementation of this Policy.
• This Policy shall be sequentially applied as necessary in the overseas territories.