Newsletter

"I have some sad news to relate."

The obituary to announce the death of Lee Hak-rae, chairman of the Dongjinhoe, began with a short sentence. He was the last Class-B/Class-C war criminal as a Korean. Fuji Konosuke runs 'The East Wind Bookstore' in Ikaino, Osaka, where Zainichi lives in a group. He posted on Facebook that Lee died on March 28 at the age of 96.

"Lee hit his head and broke his leg in a fall at his home on March 26. He was taken to the hospital for treatment but passed away at 2:10 pm on March 28. Until his last moment, Lee kept thinking about his deceased colleagues and trying to pass legislation(to provide relief for Class-B/Class-C war criminals). That legislation was blocked by the administration of Abe Shinzo."

Lee Hak-rae, chairman of the Dongjinhoe

Picture-taking in April 2015 (Provided by the author)

A 22-year-old Korean Youth Who Became a War Criminal

Fujii explained that Class-B/Class-C war criminal Lee's life was dominated by his struggle against the injustice of the Japanese state. Lee was born in Boseong, South Jeolla Province, in 1925, the first of three children. In the spring of 1942, the mayor of his township unexpectedly asked him to come by. "They're recruiting prison guards for prisoner-of-war camps in Southeast Asia, and you should sign up!" the mayor explaining that the job would last for two years and his monthly salary would be 50 won. The 17-year-old boy applied because he thought he could avoid forced labor and conscription if he suffered for only two years. And on August 19, 1942, he boarded a ship from Busan to Southeast Asia. Three years later, the Japanese imperialists were defeated in the war. He was sentenced to death in an Australian military court for abusing prisoners of the Allies. It was the beginning of his painful life.

Japan caused the Pacific War in December 1941 and continued to win the Southeast Asian front. Hundreds of thousands of Allied prisoners were captured in the process. The Japanese government recruited 3,012 Korean youths to watch over them. Lee was assigned to Thailand. The Japanese army did not supply enough food, medicines, and clothing, but forced prisoners to work hard. The POWs had to work on building the Thai-Burma Railway, which became famous for the film "The Bridge on the River Kwai"(1957).

The Documents Related to the Australian War Crimes Trials about Lee Hak-rae

 (Provided by the author)

Lee Hak-rae, who lived as a Japanese prison guard Hiromura Kakurai. After the war, he is charged with abusing prisoners at the 1st Australian War Crime Section of 1946. He was dismissed for "not worth the punishment" at his first trial and was able to board a ship back home. But he was arrested again in Hong Kong where called for fuel supply. In the second trial, he was sentenced to death and commuted to 20 years.

Why would this happen? I obtained the record "War Crime Proceeding of Military Tribunal Korean Guard Hiromura Kakurai" of the second Australian trial. And I reported it in the March 2007 issue of <Hankyoreh 21>. This record is composed as follows. △ a brief summary of the process of trial in military court △ a report by the Australian Army judge advocate general recommending commutation △ a report written by Japanese military lawyer △ court filing △ a statement of Australian prisoners who testified about Lee Hak-rae's crime. The trial was held in Singapore for three days from March 18 to 20, 1947. His charges were inhumanely dealt with by forcibly mobilizing prisoners when the Thai-Burma Railway was built in Hintok, Siam (now Thailand), in March–August 1943.

The Thai-Burma Railway, filmed on October 19, 1945

 (Source: Australian War Memorial)

Lee Hak-rae was a prison guard at Hintok. Numerous POWs lost their lives because of intense labor required to build railway lines on cliffs. Just a month after March 1943, 25% of the 800 Australian prisoners were injured. And when the construction was over, more than 100 people were killed. Lee had to fill the workforce demanded by the Japanese construction battalion. So he often had spats with colonel Ernest Dunlop, an Australian medic. At that time he was a civilian employed by the Japanese army, and a ‘civilian worker’ below ‘private’ in the rank system of the army. However, the 'Precis of Evidence' in the military court record says 'He occupied the position of the Camp Commandant.' This is because Australian Army Prosecution adopted the statements of soldiers who were taken prisoner under Lee as evidence without objectively reviewing them.

This is the record of the 29th meeting of the first Korea-Japan talks(1952.2.15.~4.21.) 

'The minutes of Committee on Legal Status of Korean Residents in Japan'(held on February 4) that started in 1952. 

This is the only description of Class-B/Class-C war criminal in the documents related to the Korea-Japan agreement. 

When South Korea asked about the Japanese government's policy on Class-B/Class-C war criminal, Japan replied, 

"It is a separate problem, so we will study it on another way."

The absurdity of history, It hit Lee Hak-rae

Most of the Australian prisoners who are not good at Japanese did not know Lee's Japanese name 'Hiromura Kakurai'. They distinguished between the Japanese Army and the Korean prison guard by nickname. Lee’s nickname was ‘Lizard’. ‘The lizard’ who killed sick comrades on the construction site. For Australian prisoners, Lee was a war criminal who deserved to die. There are 129 Korean people who were used as 'tools' like Lee in the war caused by Japan. They were convicted of abusing POWs in a war crimes tribunals organized by the Allies. Fourteen of them were sentenced to death and executed. Lee's death sentence was commuted. But he soon had to face the opprobrium of society. Koreans denounced him as ‘Japanese collaborator’, while Japanese despised him as ‘war criminal’.

The first absurdity that Lee Hak-rae faced was Nationality Policy of Japan. Just before the Treaty of San Francisco took effect, the Japanese government announces Notification No. 438 of the Civil Affairs Director of the Ministry of Justice on April 19, 1952. Its contents are as follows. “Joseon and Taiwan are separated from Japanese territory from the date the treaty came into force. Therefore, Koreans and Taiwanese lose their Japanese nationality, including those living in Japan.” At one time, Japanese imperialism pushed Koreans and Taiwanese to the battlefield, claiming that "you are all the people of the Emperor".However, Japan unilaterally deprived their Japanese nationality.

When he was released from prison with the disgrace of 'war criminal', 

the Korean prison guards for prisoner-of-war camps were in their mid-30s. 

They formed a fraternity group called the Dongjinhoe in 1955, 

and began a struggle to demand apology and compensation from Japan. 

(File photo: 「Hankyoreh」)

The Japanese government did not provide aids to Class-B/Class-C war criminals such as Lee Hak-rae in postwar recreation. Heo Young(1955) and Yang Wol-sung(1956), who gained the stigma of ‘war criminal’, eventually took their own lives while suffering from life. About 70 Korean Class-B/Class-C war criminals who were driven into a dead end set up a group called Dongjinhoe in April 1955. They demanded aid and compensation against the Japanese government. The young man Lee Hak-rae said sadly. “When we were suffering from the stigma of war criminal, you called us Japanese. But now that you have to compensate us, you now consider us Korean.”

The discussion of Class-B/Class-C war criminals in The Korea-Japan Agreement is only two sentences

The Korean government has abandoned Lee Hak-rae. The South Korean and Japanese governments have undergone a fierce normalization of diplomatic relations for 14 years. So how did they deal with the issue of Class-B/Class-C war criminals? From the bottom line, they didn't deal with it.

A short conversation appears in the records related to the Korea-Japan talks(summary record of the Korean side) released by the Korean government in 2005. Let's look at the record of the 29th meeting(held on February 4) in ‘the minutes of Committee on Legal Status of Korean Residents in Japan’, the first session of Korea-Japan talks that began in February 1952(1952.2.15 ~ 4.21). South Korea asked about the Japanese government's policy on Korean war criminals imprisoned in the Sugamo Prison. Japan replied, "It is a separate problem, so we will study it on another way." However, there is no record that Korea mentioned the treatment of Korean Class-B/Class-C war criminals. However, after the Korea-Japan Agreement was concluded in June 1965, Japan insisted that all the problems related to Anspruch were "completely and finally resolved." And they unilaterally suspended talks with Korean Class-B/Class-C war criminals like Lee Hak-rae.

Lee Hak-rae and his colleagues started their legal battle. The lawsuit filed with the Tokyo District Court on November 12, 1991, lasted as long as five years until the first trial was ruled. On September 9, 1996, in the first trial, the court ruled in the plaintiffs' loss. The logic of the Japanese court was that the damage caused by the war should be tolerated. They decided that "all the people should endure the damage suffered in an emergency in which a national crisis occurred." They unilaterally deprived the nationality of those who were mobilized in the war as Japanese citizens and suffered great damage. And when the victims sued to 'compensate our damage', they said, "It's what you went through because you're a Japanese citizen, so bear it." Perhaps the Japanese court was ashamed of this conclusion. Eventually, they passed the ball to the National Assembly and added their opinion. “We must seek compensation for civilian attached to the Japanese military and their bereaved families, but this is a matter of national legislative policy.” This view continued to the High Court's ruling(July 13, 1998) and the Supreme Court's ruling(December 20, 1999). Lee was determined every time he was frustrated. “All of the comrades who had the same difficulties were dead. I was the youngest of them, and I am the only one alive now.”

There was a time when we expected this issue to be resolved. It was in May 2008 when the Japanese Democratic Party submitted a bill to pay 3 million yen per victim. This was done by the opposition party at the time accepting the court's recommendation. In fact, money did not matter to Lee, who succeeded in taxi business. In the end, the bill was abolished because of the indifference of most lawmakers. And the Democratic Party, which became the ruling party, did not listen to the voice of the victim anymore.

Can Kawamura's promise be kept?

Lee Hak-rae's last activity was a press interview held at the Japanese National Assembly on June 15, 2020. Lee Hak-rae said at the time. “Annuities were paid to Japanese who were ‘war criminals’ like us. But we didn't have any compensation, and we didn't get an apology. This is too absurd. I hope you will be able to resolve it at the next extraordinary session of the National Assembly.” The Japanese chief secretary of the Korean-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, who attended the meeting, replied: “I will keep my word when Lee is healthy.” After all, this promise was not kept.

On April 1, four days after Lee Hak-rae's death, a meeting was held to commemorate him at the Japanese National Assembly. According to the Mainichi Shimbun published the next day, 11 Japanese lawmakers attended. According to the Mainichi Shimbun published the next day, 11 Japanese lawmakers attended. Kawamura said, "I tried to do something when he was alive, but I have nothing to say. It is not a good thing to pass by." But is history changing? Asahi Shimbun reporter Hayashi Rumi attended Lee Hak-rae's funeral and left a message saying: “It was a funeral for his family, but the reporters were gathering to see his end. When we started covering the victims, all reporters were in their 20s and 30s. But now we are all nearing retirement age. I think again about the absurdity that has not been solved so far, and how long the struggle was.”

I read a resigned sentence with sadness and ask about Japan's conscience. Is it really good like this? Will we just leave this issue as it is?