Below are interesting discussions and topics that could potentially lead to further research.
First, Chae refers to a work by a Japanese journalist, Nomura Susumu, and discusses the reason why there was a wide-spread rumor that Korean prison guards were more cruel in their torture of the POWs than the Japanese. According to Chae, Nomura revealed that the local people who believed in the rumor in the Southeast Asia used to distinguish the Koreans from the Japanese based on arbitrary physical features, and there is no reason to believe that anyone could accurately distinguish the two peoples. Moreover, some Korean prison guards saw secret Japanese military documents in Thailand that indicated that the Japanese authorities propagated, “it was Koreans who have been torturing POWs, not the Japanese” from 1943 until the end of the war. It seems that there are many Western POWs who testified along the lines of the rumor that was spread. It would be interesting to investigate the source of the testimonies of the Westerners.
Second, probably because of the possibility of broadcasting of rumors mentioned above, Chae thinks that the Japanese government, from the very beginning of their recruitment, intended to blame the Koreans and Taiwanese for the crimes of torturing POWs. In contrast, Utsumi is ambivalent when addressing whether the Japanese government had such plans when they conducted their recruitment. I wonder if there is any way to investigate the decision-making process of the recruitment policy in the colonies.
Third, in Utsumi’s book, the Korean war criminals tell stories of meeting with Korean comfort women. For example,
（朝鮮人）軍属たちは金も持っていた．．．。酒保もあるし、兵隊慰安所も開設されていた。朝鮮からつれてこられた女性が慰安婦として働かされている。異郷の地で ”うちの国のひと”と出会った時の気持ちは、何とも表現のしようがないほどだとある朝鮮人軍属は語っていた．．．。日本帝国主義の戦争に狩り出された者同士の哀しい気持ちが相通じることもあったろうし、”自分たちの言葉”で話し合えるうれしさもあっただろう。バンドンでの勤務は週一回の外出もできたし、酒を飲むことも、慰安所へ通うこともできた。ｐp．５７−５８
日本軍のゆくところどこでも慰安所がついてまわる。「女」の値段が民族によって決められていた．．．。（敗戦後）自活を始めた朝鮮人軍属の中には、かねてなじみの慰安婦のところへころがりこんだものもいた。結婚した者もいた．．．。しかし、45年12月31日、帰国乗船命令が出た。帰国を前に、男と女の間に潜在していた亀裂がはっきりしはじめた。男は、朝鮮へ帰るという。女はとても朝鮮には帰れないから日本へ行きたいという。こして、行く組かの朝鮮人軍属と朝鮮人慰安婦の結びつきもあっけなくこわれた。143ー145
(In short, the Korean military personnel were allowed to go to the comfort women stations in some areas, where they met Korean comfort women. They were extremely delighted to see them and share their feelings as Koreans in their mother tongue. The second quote is about the aftermath of the war. Some Korean prison guards escaped and lived with Korean comfort women there, some of whom got married. However, when they were ordered to return to Korea in 1945, the Korean prison guards wanted to go home, while the Korean comfort women were not willing to return to Korea, but wanted to go to Japan, instead. Thus, their relationships came to a quick end. )
These testimonies might also add another perspective to the study of the Korean comfort women. It might challenge ethnicity/nationalism-based narratives, and shed more light on the feminist interpretation of Korean women’s experiences, especially considering the silence in the postwar Korea that those Korean men maintained over the issue of the comfort women.
Forth, in 1942, there were 1000 white POWs shipped to Korea. The Japanese government tried to show the superiority of the Japanese race over Westerners. Utsumi introduces Japan’s governmental report about people’s reactions to those white POWs. (Utsumi p.107-110) Some are very interesting. For example:
(one of Korean people’s reactions): 基督教関係者は、英米人より指導を受けた関係上、拝外思想が抜けきらなかったが、俘虜を見た時日本人の誇りと日本基督教の確立をせねばならぬという強い示唆を受けた。(Christian people could not stop worshiping the Westerners since they were trained by them, but when they saw the POWs, they strongly determined to establish pride as Japanese and found a Japanese style Christianity.) p.108
(German people’s reaction): 英米の非人道ぶりには、我々も非人道を以て報ひてきた。うんと虐待してもらいたい。（We retaliated against the inhumane methods of the English and Americans with our own inhumane actions. Please abuse them a lot.) *The Japanese translation already sounds weird. p.110