Japanese Prosecution Records on Korean Independence Worriers Unearthed

Japanese Prosecution Records on Korean Independence Worriers Unearthed. August. 13, 2004 22:00. by Chae-Hyun Kwon confetti@donga.com.

Japan’s prosecution records on Korea’s independence groups and activists during the colonial period of 1935-36 have been unearthed.

On August 13, Shin Guk-ju, the former president of Seoul’s Dongguk University, disclosed Volume 25 of the “Ideology Research Material,” which was published by the crime division of the Japanese prosecution in 1936. The cover of the booklet that Professor Shin owned was marked with a warning of “Top Secret” and “Security Clearance” and a serial number of 409.

The booklet contains analyses by three Tokyo crime prosecutors—Kuriya Shiro, Oda Damizo, and Segawa Akira—who were sent to China to lead 12 intelligence agents in the Japanese consulate general in Shanghai to collect and study data on Korean independence activists and organizations.

It records in detail about the real names, pseudonym, ages, birthplaces, political leanings, and physical profiles of 200 activists.

Regarding Kim Gu, an outstanding independence leader, it describes him as being 180 centimeters tall, having a slightly pockmarked and rounded face, medium sized eyes, and a big mouth. Concerning Kim Gyu-shik, it described him as being 170 centimeters tall, having a dark-skinned long face with thick eyebrows and a golden upper tooth. Its description of Kim Doo-bong and Kim Won-bong, the uncle and the nephew, who chose to stay in North Korea after leading Uiyoldan and the Korea National Revolutionary Party, respectively, as anarchist and nationalist is an eye stealer.

The booklet says the Japanese government not only had just the lists but also pictures of graduates and students of military schools run by Korean independence groups, showcasing the intensiveness of Japanese surveillance on independence warriors.

It also contains a chart of “recalcitrant Korean organizations” that encompassed not just China, but also Russia as well as the U.S. The chart showed the January 31, 1935 death of Lee Dong-hui, the chair of the Goryo Communist Party, and his February 4 funeral.

“The booklet shows the level of intensiveness of Japanese surveillance on independence activists,” said Shin.

“’Ideology Research Material’ was a surveillance report on socialists and independence activists on Japanese soil,” said Prof. Lim Kyung-seok, who teaches modern history at Sungkyunkwan University. “Volume 25, a special edition on independence warriors working in China, has never been disclosed before, and it will become an important material for the study of the Korean independence movement.”