Comments on: Notes on the Works on Korean War Criminals in WWII

By: chris

chris — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:28:14 +0000

It’s always the victims that are treated unfairly. These so called tribunals are nothing but “legal” way of retaliation and revenge. Why else would the positions filled with the same nationalities of POW? Name wars where the POWs were treated kindly? Koreans were forced into the Japanese army to do their dirty work. Have you ever been in a situation where you had no desire to do certain thing but you had to make a choice quickly in a life or death situation? It’s innate desire to choose between you or them. So don’t give me some shit about how you wouldn’t have done what these prison guards were forced to do during wars.

By: Ahem

Ahem — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:20:25 +0000

Whitewash means to cover up something bad that someone actually did. And you are right, it is white washing. Those men, themselves, did wrong. They are not “victims” of the Japanese any more than another Japanese citizen at that time might have been. If these men are absolved of their crimes because they were brainwashed, what about the Japanese soldiers who were brainwashed? Didn’t they live in intolerable conditions too in the jungle, all imposed by their government, the same government that ruled Korea at the time? No, each individual has to make a decision. Those guards tortured people, they are scum, plain and simple, whatever their “reason” (excuse) they are scum.

By: Donghee

Donghee — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 10:30:02 +0000

I hope you succeed in your efforts to whitewash the crimes of Korean POW guards. The Koreans didn’t do anything wrong. Its all the fault of the Japanese. Please help spread a new truth that actually the Koreans guards saved lives. The Koreans actually saved lives and were all very kind like Yonsama. The evil japanese are tricking people into blaming the innocent and kindly Koreans.

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:49:41 +0000

I found out about your research from 우물 안 개구리. I am in fact researching the same topic for my Master’s thesis. After taking the qualifying exams in a couple of weeks I was planning on spending some time at the Truth Commission looking over the documentation they have gathered and might be able to tell you more then. For now I can provide you with some links to additional articles too if you would like, but like you I have found very little information in terms of academic research. (Part of the reason I selected this as a topic.) If you’re interested in those articles feel free to shoot me off an e-mail.

By: Sayaka

Sayaka — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:47:02 +0000

The classification of war crimes is based on the kind of crime they committed:　Class A is “crimes against peace,” Class B is “conventional war crimes,” and Class C is “crimes against humanity,” although Class B and C are usually not distinguished in sentences. Class A war criminals were put on trial in the Tokyo Trials, and Class B/C ones are tried in local war tribunals set up by former colonial states. They were mainly Kempeitai and prison guards who were tried for torturing and mistreating POWs and/or massacring local populations

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:27:43 +0000

What is the difference between A class, B class, and C class war crimes? Were the B and C class war criminals the more local guys, like Beat Takeshi’s character in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, while A class was reserved for the policy makers, like Tojo?