일제의 간도성 ‘朝鮮人特設部隊’ 창설과 재만 조선인 동원(1938~1943)

The Establishment of Joseon Detached Unit(朝鮮人特設部隊) and The Draft in Manchuria by Japanese Empire(1938~1943)

The Joseon Detached Unit(朝鮮人特設部隊) was established in September 1938 and was a regular detachment in the Manchukuo Army active in the Jiandao and Lehe provinces(間島·熱河省) until the Korean independence in 1945. Excluding the commander and some officers, it was composed entirely of soldiers from Korean descent and until moving their jurisdiction in late 1943, they suppressed armed anti-Japanese forces, while continuously maintaining relationship with the Korean society. This paper focuses on the relationship of the special forces and the Korean society, while examining the recruitment and regulation of Manchuria-based Koreans. All the soldiers of the special forces were made up of Korean volunteers in Jiandao province. However, voluntary recruitment was a lie, and its personnel was allotted from different areas. In addition, appropriation for the soldiers fully utilized administrative organs, school, religious and social organizations from different areas. Massive PR for these activities were conducted through newspapers such as the Mansun-ilbo(滿鮮日報) at the start of the year for recruiting new soldiers. In particular, the puffery testimonials of the recruits had an immense effect on not only the young men, but throughout the entire Korean society. Furthermore, the special forces also played a considerable role for teaching Japanese and training the youth in the Jiandao province, while acting as a spearhead for the ‘Imperial Citizen Forming’ movement. From the onset of establishing the special forces, Imperial Japan took into consideration control on the Korean society and it became more systemized through recruiting volunteers, re-education and during the process of mobilizing the local society. For example, the Joseon Detached Unit did not stop at suppressing anti-Japanese forces, but through deceptive recruitment, massive PR and instigation using newspapers, as well as ‘Imperial Citizen Forming’ education, they acted as the nucleus of the Imperial Japanese army that attempted to regulate the Korean society of Jiandao province.