ABSTRACT
The armed forces of the Japanese empire during the Pacific War included soldiers from Japan’s colonial territories in the same way that the U.S. armed forces included Filipino troops and the British Empire and Commonwealth forces included Indian soldiers. However, the Japanese military did not create units made up exclusively of Koreans or of Taiwanese, but placed them in Japanese units so that their presence would not stand out. In deciding where to assign Korean soldiers, and in what numbers, the Japanese military applied the following criteria and quotas: frontline combat forces, up to 20 percent; rear echelon troops responsible for logistical support (securing transport and supplying matériel) and other duties, up to 40 percent; and rear units responsible for field hospitals, the internment of prisoners, and so on, up to 80 percent. Thus, more Korean soldiers were assigned to support activities at the rear than to combat duties at the front.1 This chapter examines the mobilization of Koreans to serve as soldiers.
