ABSTRACT
Korea’s role within the Japanese Empire changed drastically during the 1930s. As Japanese ultra-nationalists gained control of the Japanese government and embarked upon major military campaigns in Manchuria and China, Korea became less a colonial outpost and more a vital military rear support base. This transformed the nature of Japanese colonial rule as the colonial government mobilised Korea and Koreans to support this war effort. In 1931 food and agricultural production still dominated the colonial economy, but as Korea’s growing infrastructure began to direct manpower and supplies northward to Japan’s new frontiers its immense pool of agricultural labour was pressed into service in the new mines and factories which opened up. By 1940 production in mining, heavy and chemical industries such as oils, rubber, fertiliser, drugs and medicine had also become significant. Meanwhile, many Koreans left their homeland, and by 1945 nearly 4 million Korean soldiers and civilians, or roughly 16 per cent of the total population, were working abroad within the Japanese Empire.
