1940年代 日本의 渡日韓人 規制政策에 관한 硏究

The Restriction Policy on Korean Immigration to Japan in the 1940s

This paper aims to analyze the Japanese policy about the Korean immigration to Japan in the 1940s, comparing the policy before and after the 15th August, 1945, when Korea was liberated from the colonialism. Until 1945, most Korean immigrants went through the formalities in order to go to Japan but there were some bankrupt peasants who had to go to Japan without the formalities in order to seek for jobs. Because Japan and Korean were in the same labor market at that time, the Japanese authorities could not completely forbid them with legal actions, under the pretext of 'Naisen ittai(Japan and Korean are the same.' Although they cracked down on the individual Koreans as illegal immigrants, they could not label all of them as criminals. But the Japanese authorities always put selective restrictions on Korean immigrants for the reason of security and the stable labor market. Those restrictions were practiced in a few ports of Korean and Japan and the coast used for the entrance route in the 1940s. when Koreans took advantage of the wartime general conscription policy. After 1945, Korean immigration was basically forbidden by the SCAP(Supreme Commander for the allied Powers) who occupied Japan. The military administration of each region, the police and the Maritime Safety Agency checked and arrested any Koreans who immigrated without formal procedure as illegal entrance. There were many cases that Koreans returned to Korean after the war but immediately came bock to Japan because of poverty. In the meantime, the Japanese government established the system that could keep an eye on Korean immigrants through an Act on Foreigners' Registration, which was executed by the prosecutors and included the forceful purge of Koreans from Japan. Before 1945, the Japanese authorities tacitly admitted Korean immigration without formalities, demanding Koreans loyalty as Imperial servants. After 1945, they continued to drive out immigrants without considering human rights in regard to choose where to live. But the Japanese policy toward the former Japanese in the 1940s, the present liberated Koreans was based on the egoistic Japan-centralism because the Japanese government did not need to proclaim the nominal 'cause', which it previously used for the justification of the colonial rule.