Terrified by rumors of forced labor conscription under the Imperial Army, young Korean women rushed into marriages to escape, prompting officials to hold April 1944 press conference to deny and deflect

This is a 1944 article featuring a damage-control press conference held by Imperial Japanese authorities to publicly address growing panic among Koreans over rumors of an impending forced labor conscription of young unmarried women. Panicked Korean women had reportedly rushed into marriages to avoid being drafted for compulsory labor service with the Imperial Army or Navy under the White Paper Conscription system. The situation apparently became so alarming that the regime felt compelled to hold this press conference to explicitly declare, “There is no female conscription.”

Original Caption: Political Affairs Chief Tanaka speaking with reporters

The rush into marriage seems to suggest a level of desperation and fear that goes way beyond a mere reluctance to work. Why were so many young women so terrified of labor conscription with the Imperial Japanese military that they chose marriage as their only escape? Perhaps they already knew of the grim dangers of forced labor under Imperial Japanese military control: sexual abuse and violence. 

Under the White Paper Conscription system, white paper summons (hakushi, 白紙) were issued to men ordering them to report for “patriotic training” at factories, farms, or construction sites under Imperial Army or Navy command. In reality, however, these so-called training mobilizations functioned as compulsory labor deployments-once a white paper arrived, there was virtually no way to refuse.

Interestingly, the same press conference also touched on another controversy then roiling Korean society: the demotion of a Korean colonial official, Mr. Karasukawa Kyōgen (a.k.a. Jong Gyo-won, 정교원, 鄭僑源), from a high-ranking executive post to a county magistrate. Many saw this as blatant ethnic discrimination by the Japanese authorities. Others, however, despised him as a collaborator. Indeed, he was later arrested as a national traitor after liberation.

TL;DR: Many Korean women were desperately rushing into marriages to avoid forced labor conscription with the Imperial Japanese military, which caused a public outcry and forced Imperial authorities to hold a press conference to explicitly deny that women would be forcibly conscripted.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) April 6, 1944

Outrageous! Marriage to Evade Labor Conscription

“Hey!” As usual, with his cheerful face, Political Affairs Chief Tanaka appeared in the reception room. It was 11 a.m. on April 5th, his first press meeting after returning from the Assembly. “I have something I would like to speak about today,” the Chief began in a bright tone.

[Photo: Political Affairs Chief Tanaka speaking with reporters]

Political Affairs Chief Tanaka Speaks to the Press

“With regard to general labor conscription, there have been rumors that women will also be conscripted, and it seems that, because of this, there has suddenly been an increase in the number of women marrying to evade conscription. This is unacceptable. There is no such thing as labor conscription for women.

“If it is a proper and genuine marriage, that is a happy thing, of course. But to rush into marriage merely to avoid labor conscription is unbecoming in the current national situation. While men are fighting bravely on the battlefront, it is the women who must naturally take their place and protect the home front. The notion of marrying because of unwillingness to work must be completely rejected. In Tokyo and elsewhere, daughters of respectable families are already actively taking up work.”

Although women are not subject to compulsory labor, Tanaka emphasized that women should voluntarily step forward to work. Then the conversation shifted as he began criticizing bad habits in Korea, giving concrete examples.

“In Korea, there has long been a bad habit of speaking ill of others when they are doing well,” he said. “Recently, when Mr. Karasukawa Kyōgen (a.k.a. Jong Gyo-won, 정교원, 鄭僑源) from the Agricultural Land Development Corporation was appointed as county magistrate, there were immediately people who began to slander him.

“Mr. Karasukawa is not merely an executive in name, but a hands-on leader. Burning with the desire to reform administration at the grassroots level, he had long wanted to serve as a county magistrate. When the Government-General confirmed his determination, we found it to be firm and resolute, and so he was appointed to the post. There are many similar cases like this in mainland Japan, and even the township (myeon) leaders in Korea have carried out grassroots administration reform as well.”

“Yet some people say things like, ‘See? Even Mr. Karasukawa has been demoted from an executive to a county magistrate,’ as though he had been treated poorly. Some even personally attack him. But the idea that he was dismissed because he is Korean is utterly false. We, for our part, look forward to the fine work that County Magistrate Karasukawa will do.”

Amid this very informal conversation, the Political Affairs Chief called upon all 25 million residents of the Korean peninsula to engage in self-reflection.

Finally, turning once again to another topic, he expressed satisfaction in discussing the South Pyongan Industrial Expansion Promotion Association, which has become a major driving force in strengthening war production, and spoke proudly of the united effort of the military, government, and civilians in South Pyongan Province that he hoped to extend throughout all of Korea.

Afterward, just past noon, the Chief disappeared into the adjoining office.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年4月6日

以っての外だ
徴用逃れの結婚とは

”やあー”と、例によって元気な顔で田中政務総監は応接室に現れた。五日午前十一時、議会から帰って初の記者団との会見である。『きょうはこちらから話したいことがある』と総監は朗らかに語りはじめた。【写真＝記者団と語る田中総監】

田中政務総監：記者団に語る

一般徴用に関聯して、女子に徴用があるという噂によって徴用をまぬかれようと急に結婚が増えだしたということだが、これはいけない。女子に徴用はないのである。正当な結婚であればおめでたいことだが、徴用を免れんがために結婚を急ぐということは時局下よろしくないことだ。男子は戦線で奮闘しているとき、当然男に代って銃後を護るべき女子が、働くのがいやだから結婚する、などという考えは絶対に排撃しなければならぬ。東京などでは既に相当な家庭の子女がどしどし働いている。

徴用はされずとも女子自ら進んで働くことを促す監督であった。話題は一転し朝鮮の悪癖を衝き実例を挙げて語り出す。

朝鮮には昔から、他人がよくなると悪く言う、という悪い癖がある。最近も農地開発営団の烏川僑源君が郡守に出たら、早速これを悪くいう者がある。烏川君は平重役ではなく実務をもった重役だが、本人は末端行政の改革をやってみたい思念に燃え、かねて郡守でもやりたいと思っていたのである。総督府でも本人の決意の程をたしかめたところ、牢固たる信念が判ったので今度出てもらったわけである。内地でもこんな例は沢山あり、朝鮮の面長でも実行したのである。ところが『それみよ、烏川君も重役から郡守に出された』などといかにも冷遇したかの如くいう者がある。また烏川君の個人攻撃をやる者もあるが、朝鮮人であるが故に退けたなどということは全くなく、我々としては今後烏川郡守の活躍に期待しているのである。

非常にくだけた話の中に、総監は半島二千五百万民衆の反省を求めるのである。ここで話題は再び転じ、戦力増強に大きな推進力となっている平南生拡推進会の問題にふれ、平南の軍官民一体の総力態勢を全鮮的に押し拡げようと満足気に語り、総監は正午過ぎ隣の総監室に姿を消した。

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also: 

• Koreans tried to bribe their way out of Imperial Japan’s forced labor conscription, but patriotic student informants turned them in (June 1945) (link)

Koreans tried to bribe their way out of Imperial Japan’s forced labor conscription, but patriotic student informants turned them in (June 1945)

During the final phase of Imperial Japan’s rule over Korea, conscription orders came printed on different colors of paper, each color denoting a different type of mobilization. Red (akagami, 赤紙) and pink (kōgami, 紅紙) summonses were for active military service, while blue (aogami, 青紙) papers called civilians to short-term homeland defense duties, such as air-raid response. White (hakushi, 白紙) papers, however, were used for “educational conscription” (教育召集), “training mobilization” (演習召集), and “roll-call inspections” (簡閲点呼). Both the Army and Navy could issue white-paper summonses, which often sent young Korean men to factories, farms, and construction sites under the guise of patriotic training. In practice, this became a form of compulsory labor, with almost no way to refuse once a summons arrived.

This post focuses on the white-paper conscription system and why many Koreans experienced it as forced labor. As wartime shortages deepened, evasion became nearly impossible, and some resorted to bribing local officials to escape service. The articles, translated below from the Keijō Nippo newspaper published in February and June 1945, reveal both the desperation and the risks.

The February 1945 report describes a wide-scale bribery scandal in which over a hundred people paid bribes to more than twenty ward-office employees in Seoul to avoid being conscripted, only to be caught and threatened with "severe punishment." The June 1945 story is more personal: it recounts how one man, Urushibara, pleaded for exemption, citing the hardship his absence would cause his family. When that failed, he tried to obtain leniency from his neighborhood cell leader by bribing him with food and drink, but they were exposed by a mobilized student, Yang Ryang (양량, 梁亮), celebrated in the article as a model patriotic Korean youth.

A related news story from the same period told of another conscript who had no choice but to leave his wife and children behind for labor duty, forcing his family into poverty until a sympathetic police officer stepped in to care for them. Together, these stories illustrate how devastating such labor summonses were for Korean households, and how difficult it was to receive exemptions or deferments for them.

TL;DR: Imperial forced labor summons were very hard for Korean men to evade. If you tried bribing your way out, you ran the risk of getting caught by informants turning you in. 

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) February 9, 1945
What Is This? Evading Labor Conscription by Bribery
Corruption of Government Officials: Both Parties to Be Severely Punished

On February 8th, Prosecutor Shizunaga of the Economic Division of the Seoul District Public Prosecutor’s Office met with reporters and commented on the corruption case involving employees of the Labor Sections of the Jung Ward and Jongno Ward offices of Seoul. He ordered those involved in conscription and candidate selection matters to pay attention, and warned that hereafter those who attempt to evade labor conscription will be met with severe punishment. His remarks are as follows:

"There has never been a time as today when the responsibility of government officials is so highly emphasized. In that sense, the corruption case involving the Labor Section employees of Jung Ward and Jongno Ward is very regrettable and should not be regarded merely as a small incident. This matter is currently being handled by the provincial police department. I do not know the detailed figures, but there are over twenty persons on the bribe-taking side and over one hundred persons who paid bribes.

Why is it that Korean youth and their parents, who respond to military conscription with joy and eagerness, on the other hand detest labor conscription? Of course, the principal reason must be a lack of understanding about labor conscription, but might not the cause also lie in the existence of loopholes such as those revealed by this corruption case? That seems to allow some of the lower-level government officials to further enable the bad attitude of evading labor conscription.

I am by no means pessimistic about labor mobilization on the Korean peninsula. I believe that people are responding more readily than might be supposed. If hereafter the public understanding of the value of labor and the measures to support labor improve, still better results should be achieved. In that context, the fact that some negligent lower-level government officials exist and exert harmful influence is, I believe, a grave problem for the completion of the sacred task of strengthening our war potential. From this standpoint, I intend to take a stern stance toward such incidents.

Furthermore, the general public must properly recognize labor conscription and should take the lead in responding to this honorable mobilization. If anyone attempts henceforth to evade labor conscription by various means, the policy will be to arrest and prosecute them without mercy."

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) June 27, 1945
Conquering Labor Conscription Evasion

There has been an admirable and upright act in which a mobilized student, rising resolutely to dedicate himself and fight courageously in his field of duty, splendidly conquered the tendency to evade labor conscription.

Yang Ryang (양량, 梁亮), a 22-year-old third-year student at the Takushoku College of Economics (present-day Korea University), has since the end of March been mobilized to serve in the Labor Section of the Seongdong Ward Office. Without a single day of absence, he has fought courageously day after day. On June 22nd, when he issued a labor conscription order to one Urushibara Tokuhō of Sageun-dong within his jurisdiction, Urushibara pleaded the hardship of his family’s livelihood and refused to accept the order. Yang, explaining patiently, sought to rescue him from the sin that springs from ignorance, by earnestly preaching the national demand and honorable nature of labor conscription.

However, despite the pure sincerity and kindness of this young student Yang, Urushibara tried to go into hiding in an attempt to evade labor conscription. Yang then went to visit Urushibara's patriotic group (neighborhood cell) leader, Kang Sun-bong (강선봉, 康先奉), to seek his cooperation regarding Urushibara. Before long, however, the two—Urushibara and Kang—secretly conspired. Urushibara arranged a drinking party, and tried to bargain for an exemption by treating Kang to food and liquor.

Enraged by the shamelessness of these two men, Yang resolutely rejected their shameful behavior and, with the fervor of one spitting fire, admonished them, saying that their actions were doubly and triply unforgivable, unpatriotic conduct. Unable to endure the reproach of their own consciences, the two were moved to tears, repented all their past wrongdoing, and swore to devote themselves courageously as honorable men answering the call of labor conscription.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1945年2月9日
何事ぞ、贈賄で徴用逃れ
官公吏の涜職：両者とも断乎厳罰

京城地方法院検事局経済係静永検事は八日記者団と会見。京城府中区鐘路区両区役所勤労課職員の涜職事件に言及つぎの如く：徴用銓衡関係者の注意を喚起すると同時に以後徴用を忌避する者に対しては厳罰をもって臨むと警告した。

今日ほど官公吏の責任が重要視されるときはない。その意味で中区、鐘路区勤労課職員の涜職事件は非常に遺憾なことで単に一小事件としてみるべきではないと思う。この事件はいま道警察部が行っていて詳細な数字は知らないが、収賄側が二十余名、贈賄した者は百名余である。

徴兵に対しては喜び勇んで応ずる半島青年層およびその親達がこれと反対に徴用を忌み嫌うのはどういう理由に基くか。勿論徴用に対する認識の乏しさから来るのが大一に挙げられるべき点だが、涜職事件で現れたようにこうした抜け道があるところにもその原因が潜んではいないか。これでは一部の末端官公吏が徴用忌避の悪い精神を更に助長さすようなものだ。

私は半島の労務動員に対して決して悲観視しない。みなが案外素直に応じているものと思う。これから勤労観の認識と勤労援護がよくなればもっと好成績をみせるだろう。このとき一部不心得の末端官公吏がいて悪影響を及ぼすことは戦力増強聖戦完遂上に由由しき問題だと思う。この観点からこういう事件に対しては峻厳な態度で臨むつもりだ。
また一般も徴用をよく認識して率先光栄ある動員に応じなければならない。なお以後徴用を忌避して種々手段を弄する事があれば、容赦なく検挙する方針だ。

京城日報 1945年6月27日
徴用忌避を征服

蹶然と立ち上って職域に挺身敢闘する勤労動員学徒が徴用忌避を見事に征服した頼もしい廉潔行為がある。拓殖経済専門学校三年生梁亮君（二二）は三月末から城東区役所勤労課に動員学徒として一日の欠勤もせず、連日敢闘しているが、二十二日管内沙斤町漆原徳奉に徴用令書を交付したところ、漆原は家族の生活困難を愬え、受理を拒絶するので、梁君は徴用の国家的要請と名誉たる所以を諄々と説き、無智なるが故の罪から救い上げようとした。

若き学徒、梁君のこの純真な厚意と親切にも拘わらず漆原は姿を晦まして徴用の忌避を企てようとするので、梁君は班長康先奉さんを訪れ、漆原の協力方を求めたところ、何時の間にか二人は相謀って酒の席を設け、饗応をもって免除を交渉してきた。恥を知らない二人のあさましい行為に憤激した梁君は断乎とこれを拒絶し、二人の行為は二重三重に許すべからざる非国民的行為であると火を吐くが如き純情をこめて説諭。二人も良心の苛責に堪えず感涙に咽びながら過去の一切の非を改め、誉れの応徴士として挺身敢闘を誓った。

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also: 

• Bilingual Japanese-Korean wartime propaganda poster celebrating "White Paper Conscription" (October 7, 1944) (link)
• ‘Selfless’ Imperial Japanese policeman visits pregnant Korean mother daily and delivers her baby after forcing her husband into Imperial war service: a 1945 ‘heartwarming’ propaganda tale (link)

  

In 1944, Imperial Japan launched an “all-out campaign” to erase Hangul from public life, mobilizing teachers and Korean youth to destroy Korean signs, books, and even phonograph records

This 1944 news announcement represents one of the darkest moments in the history of the Korean language. In April and May of that year, the Imperial Japanese colonial government in Korea launched a destructive “all-out campaign” to eradicate the visible and audible presence of Hangul from public life. Street signs, advertisements, and signposts written in Korean were torn down. Books, phonograph records, and even the metal typesets used to print Korean newspapers and publications were confiscated and melted down.

When public signs were written in Chinese characters (Hanja), the authorities ordered that Japanese kana readings be appended alongside the characters to ensure that no one would “mistakenly” read them in Korean. For instance, a sign reading 京城, the colonial-era name for Seoul, might have the Japanese reading けいじやう (Keijō) written beside it, to force readers to pronounce it the Japanese way instead of Gyeongseong. Countless Korean cultural artifacts, from printed materials to audio records, were likely lost forever in this campaign of linguistic annihilation.

This policy was the brainchild of Governor-General Kuniaki Koiso, who, in January 1943, declared that Korea was like a disabled body whose brain could not communicate with its limbs. He argued that “in order for the four limbs to move in an orderly fashion under the command of the brain and nervous system, there is no other way but to forcibly put into practice the training of Imperial subjects for everyone, regardless of whether they are government officials or ordinary people.” From this ideology emerged the final and most aggressive phase of Japan’s linguistic colonization—culminating in the April–May 1944 campaign described in this article.

This also explains why, immediately after liberation in August 1945, Korean newspapers could not publish in Korean. The Hangul typefaces had been melted down during this campaign, leaving only the Maeil Sinbo—the last surviving Korean-language paper—with usable type. As a result, newspapers had to continue publishing temporarily in Japanese until new Hangul typefaces could be manufactured.

Finally, the article reveals a chilling pattern familiar in authoritarian movements: the mobilization of youth as enforcers of ideology. Students and children were deployed to lead the destruction of their own language, guiding adults who had not yet “mastered” Japanese. Like later totalitarian revolutions, Imperial Japan understood that the minds of the young were the most malleable—and that by weaponizing their idealism, even cultural self-destruction could be made to look like patriotic duty.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) March 24, 1944

Drive Hangul Out of the Streets!
Practical Campaign for the Thorough Adoption of the Japanese Language in Daily Life

It has been quite some time since the call for the regular use of the Japanese language was first announced. Yet thorough implementation has still not been achieved. As the Korean Federation of National Power recognizes that the first step in imperializing the people lies in living entirely through the Japanese language, it is now drafting specific plans to launch the “Campaign for the Thorough Adoption of the Japanese Language in Daily Life.”

The regular use of Japanese has been promoted repeatedly in the past, but each effort has been short-lived, like a sparkler that quickly fizzles out. This time, however, the movement aims for complete and enduring realization. The campaign period is set from early April through the end of May, under the slogans “Let us practice Japanese in our daily lives” and “Let all residents of every city, town, and township use Japanese together.” Every organization connected to the national body will be mobilized, devoting its efforts to eliminating those who have not yet mastered Japanese.

Educators, students, and children are to take the lead, guiding those who have not yet learned Japanese. At the same time, signs, advertisements, and signposts written in Hangul are to be removed, or Japanese kana readings are to be appended alongside the characters. Metal type for Hangul that has been lying unused is to be collected and supplied for metal resources. Korean-language phonograph records are to be melted down and reused as material for record production. Unneeded Hangul books are to be disposed of. Hangul bibles and hymnals used in churches are to be replaced with Japanese ones. Within households, the “One Japanese Word a Day” campaign is to be carried out.

These items are being considered as part of the action plan. Those who complete Japanese language training courses will have their results officially recognized and will receive a “Certificate Badge.” There will also be awards established for habitual use of Japanese. With such measures, the movement intends to unfold an all-out campaign for the complete adoption of the Japanese language in daily life.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年3月24日
街から閉出せ諺文
国語生活の徹底へ実践運動

国語常用が叫ばれてから既に久しい。だが未だに徹底しないので、皇民化の第一歩は国語生活にあると国民総力朝鮮聯盟は『国語生活徹底運動』に乗り出すため目下具体案を練っている。国語の常用は幾度か繰り返されてきたものであるが、その都度線香花火的であり永続性を欠き、いつの間にか消えていたのであるが、今度の運動は徹底的に実践せんとする意図で陽春四月から五月末をその機関とし、『国語生活を実行しよう』『府邑面民揃って国語を使おう』等の実践申合せを行い、あらゆる国体の組織網を総動員し、国語未解得者の解消に挺身する外教育関係者、学生、生徒、児童は陣頭に起って未解者を指導すると共に諺文看板、広告、標柱等を撤去若しくは国語仮名書を併記し、また死蔵諺文活字の供出、朝鮮語音盤を再生し音盤資材として供出、不要諺文図書の処分、教会等の聖書、讃美歌を国語化し家庭内の『一日一語運動』等が実践項目として考えられており、国語講習会修了者の成績を認定し『認定章』をつけ或は国語常用賞を制定、佩用する等徹底的な運動を展開せんものと意気込んでいる。

Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also:

• Governor Koiso likened Korea to a disabled body whose brain (regime) could not talk to the limbs (Korean people), so an ‘exclusive use of Japanese’ policy was forced on Koreans, starting with Seoul city employees who were labeled ‘inferior’ and ‘weak-willed’ if they still spoke Korean at work (link)
• Korean staff at Keijo Nippo took over news operations from their former Japanese bosses in Nov 1945 and then sent this message to Korean readers announcing continued publication in Japanese for the time being until Korean typefaces are ready for use (link)
• 1943 editorial calls for Korean language to be wiped out (link)
• Colonial officials claimed 'Korean must naturally stop being spoken as a result of the spread of Japanese' 'no words in Korean can express the essence of the Japanese spirit in a straightforward way' 'Korean will one day be regarded as just another local dialect like the Kyushu dialect' (June 1943) (link)
• Imperial Japan waged an aggressive Japanese language campaign on Korean villages in the '30s and '40s, entering homes to attach Japanese labels on household objects, putting residents under 55 in mandatory classes, applying an "unyielding whip" to "break down their customs and stray dreams" (link)

Imperial officials fanned out across rural Korea visiting townships one by one to indoctrinate villagers in Imperialist ideology in ‘Grassroots Penetration’ Campaign (March 1944)

For this post, I am examining two wartime propaganda articles to explore the hierarchical administrative structure that Imperial Japan used to forcibly and systematically indoctrinate all of Korea into becoming Japanese. During the final years of Imperial Japanese colonial rule over Korea, the Governor-General’s Office in Seoul frequently invoked the slogan “末端滲透” (mattan shintō)—“grassroots penetration.” This was not only about exerting the central government's authority in rural areas, but also about ideologically cleansing the countryside, where ordinary Korean villagers were still largely hostile to Imperial Japanese ideology and refused to identify as loyal “imperial subjects.”

To address this perceived shortcoming, the colonial government launched a coordinated campaign to send officials from Seoul out into the countryside to personally embed themselves in township (myeon, 面) offices. These officials were following the example of Governor-General Koiso, who made a spectacle of traveling to rural areas and holding face-to-face meetings with local officials in his much-publicized inspection tours of rural Korea.

The officials would travel to remote townships, live for several days inside the township office, and work alongside the local myeon leader and staff. They were there not only to provide “administrative guidance,” but to indoctrinate the township leaders with wartime ideology: mandatory Shinto religious observance, pushing for agricultural overproduction, enforcing conscription, and encouraging compulsory savings (see 1944 article below). During the inspection tours, Koiso asked the local myeon (township) leader in Gapyeong whether he had been conducting “rensei” (錬成, “training”), which was a euphemism for ideological indoctrination: compulsory bowing toward the Imperial Palace every morning, mandatory visits to Shinto shrines, adoption of Japanese language, Shinto purification rituals like misogi, and other practices intended to transform Koreans into loyal imperial subjects. 

From there, the expectation was that the indoctrinated myeon leader would spread these same ideas down the chain—to hamlet (ri) leaders within the township, who would then indoctrinate their own village residents (see 1943 article below). In theory, this trickle-down approach could have transformed the Korean countryside into a loyal outpost of Imperial Japan, but it did not work that way. The Japanese authorities underestimated the resilience of Korean national identity, language, and cultural autonomy. 

The indoctrinated myeon leader would have also been trained by the Seoul officials into techniques to persuade villagers into providing as much grain as possible to the Imperial Army. This 1944 article illustrates how the myeon leader may have overseen some horrific scenes of hardship and starvation as local farmers worked day and night, even cutting into their own personal grain supplies to meet the ambitious quotas imposed by the Imperial Army.

The colonial regime had mechanisms in place to try to ensure ideological compliance even after central officials left. Governor Koiso encouraged hamlet leaders to bypass the township chief and report directly to higher authorities like the county leader or police chief if they believed their myeon leader was not sufficiently loyal. This created a culture of surveillance and snitching, ensuring that everyone—from the top down—was watching each other for signs of ideological weakness. This was what “grassroots penetration” meant in practice: an oppressive system of top-down ideological enforcement, staged in the name of unity with Imperial Japan.

TL;DR: In 1943–44, Governor-General Koiso launched a top-down “grassroots penetration” (末端浸透) campaign of indoctrinating the Korean people in wartime Imperialist ideology and boost agricultural production. Seoul officials would tour the entire country and visit each township for a few days at a time to indoctrinate the township leaders, the township leaders would visit each hamlet to indoctrinate the hamlet leaders, and finally the hamlet leaders would indoctrinate the villagers.

[Translation]

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) March 4, 1944

Devoted Service Deep in the Mountains
Bureau of Rural Affairs Chiefs Carry Out Grassroots Administration

The grassroots penetration of government administration, such as the delivery of agricultural products and other goods, encouragement of savings, and conscription procedures, is becoming increasingly important. Governor-General Koiso has continued to emphasize this at every opportunity.

In response, the Bureau of Local Affairs of the Government-General has dispatched a team of approximately ten staff members, including Chief Ōkubo, Administrative Officer Murakami, and Director Tanaka. Beginning on February 7, 1944, they embarked on a direct field survey of the realities of rural administration.

This initiative is not a conventional inspection or mere investigation. Rather, the officials are residing and working at township (myeon) offices, quietly carrying out duties themselves. By leading through action rather than words, they are teaching myeon officials administrative tasks and working to deepen their awareness of the wartime situation.

For instance, two days after leaving Sinuiju, Director Tanaka has already gone to the myeon office in Oksang-myeon (옥상면, 玉尚面), Uiju County, located thirty ri (approximately 12 kilometers) into the mountains of Uiju in North Pyongan Province. He stayed at the myeon office for one week, personally taking on the tasks of the myeon chief and clerks, cutting ration tickets, and leading by example in guiding the staff at the myeon office, all while closely observing actual conditions.

Administrative Officer Murakami is currently deployed to Ongjin County in Hwanghae Province, and other personnel are likewise active in Bocheon-myeon (보천면, 普天面) in South Hamgyeong Province, and Seosan County in South Chungcheong Province.

Chief Ōkubo will soon make an official visit as well, but in Seosan County, there is even a report that local villagers, moved by seeing central government officials taking the initiative to shovel snow, offered a small token of appreciation in gratitude.

In mountain villages where central government officials had never previously set foot, both myeon office staff and local residents have been greatly moved. Their recognition of the wartime situation has deepened significantly, and the campaign is yielding considerable positive results.

Gyeongseong Ilbo (Keijo Nippo) October 13, 1943

Governance that “Lives Together with the Residents”

Government-General Studies Permanent Residency of Township Staff in Hamlets
Reform of Grassroots Administrative Structure

With the establishment of new food departments in each province, the intensification of production, labor reinforcement measures, and institutions such as the Korea Research Institute, the decisive war structure of the embattled Korean Peninsula is moving forward ever more aggressively on all fronts. Governor-General Koiso’s vision is becoming increasingly sharpened and concrete. All twenty-five million people of the Korean peninsula are hastening to their respective positions on the battlefront of production as vanguard warriors.

However, unless these policies penetrate thoroughly into the very grassroots, their effectiveness will be incomplete. Governor-General Koiso has repeatedly emphasized this point. At a time when this necessity is becoming ever more pressing, the Government-General is responding by initiating reforms of the grassroots administrative machinery, and under the direction of Chief of Civil Affairs Tanaka, is undertaking a careful study.

Specifically, this refers to the organizational reform of township (myeon) offices. At the core of this reform is the idea previously expressed by the Chief of Civil Affairs: “Permanent residency of myeon officials in hamlets.”

That is, mid-level myeon officials would be assigned to hamlets—one or two officials per hamlets—where they would reside, dive into the hearts of the farming communities, and conduct administrative duties. They would share in the daily life of the villagers, morning and evening, while providing guidance and encouragement in all areas such as food production increases, food contributions, food storage, and resource collection. This system aims to reinforce the penetration of administrative functions to the grassroots level.

[Transcription]

京城日報 1944年3月4日
山奥に挺身執務
府地方課長ら末端行政

農作物その他の供出、貯蓄奨励、徴兵事務など行政の末端滲透は益益重要となっており、小磯総督も機会ある度に強調しているが、総督府地方課は大久保課長、村上事務官、田中理事官以下約十名の職員が出動し去る二月七日から地方行政の実態調査に乗り出しているが、之は従来の査察とか、単なる調査ではなく、職員が面事務所で起居し自ら黙々と執務し、口先きのみでなく身をもって面職員に事務を教え、或は時局認識の徹底を図っているもので、既に田中理事官は新義州から二日間、義州から三十里の山奥である平北道義州郡玉尚面の面事務所に約一週間泊り込み、面長の仕事、書記の事務を執ったり配給票を切ったり、率先して面職員を指導する傍ら実態を調査しており、村上事務官も目下黄海道甕津郡に出動しており、その他の職員は咸南道普天面や忠南道瑞山郡等にも出動中で、近く大久保課長も出張するが、瑞山郡では本府職員が率先して雪かきを行っているのを部落民が見て若干の謝礼金をだしたという事実もあり、かつて本府職員が行ったこともない山奥の面では、面職員をはじめ部落民が非常に感激し時局の認識も深め多大の効果を挙げつつある。

京城日報 1943年10月13日
住民と共に生きる政治
本府面職員の部落常駐を研究
末端行政機構改革

各道食糧部の新設、生産増強、労務強化対策、朝鮮研究所等々戦う半島の決戦体制は各面に亘り愈々強行進軍を開始し小磯理念は益々鋭く具体化しており、二千五百万の半島民衆は生産戦の尖兵として一人残らず戦闘配置に急いでいるが、これらの施策が更に徹底的に末端へ滲透しなければならぬことは小磯総督が幾度か強調したことであり、その要は加速度的に重要化しているとき総督府ではこれに対応し末端行政機構の改革に着手。田中政務総監の手もとで慎重に検討している。
即ち面事務所の機構改革がそれであるが、これはかつて政務総監が語った『面職員の部落常駐』がその骨子となっているもので、面の中堅職員が一部落に一、二人が居を構え農民の懐ろに飛び込んで事務を執り朝、夕起居を共にし、食糧の増産に供出に貯蓄に資源回収にと凡ゆる面に亘り指導督励に当らんとするものであり、これにより行政の末端滲透を強化せんとするものである。

Source: Source: National Library of Korea, Digital Newspaper Archive 

See also:

• Koiso’s 1943 ‘Great Leader’ Strongman Tours: Surprise village inspections to intimidate local leaders and impose Japanese language and culture all over the Korean countryside (link)

• Korean rice farmers barely survived eating grass roots as they worked tirelessly to meet the rice quotas imposed by the Imperial Army in 1944, even sacrificing their own personal rice supplies to face starvation under pressure from the police inspector and the township chief (link)