Hong Sa-ik

Hangeul	홍 사익
Hanja	洪思翊
Revised Romanization	Hong Sa-ik
McCune- Reischauer	Hong Saik
See also : Korean name

Hong Sa-ik ( Japanese ホ ン ・ サ イ ク , Hon Saiku as Japanese reading of the Hangeul syllables or Kō Shiyoku as Japanese reading of Hanja ; * March 4, 1889 in Anseong , then Korea , now South Korea ; † September 26, 1946 in Manila , Philippines ) was a Lieutenant General in the Japanese Army and the most decorated Japanese of Korean descent convicted of war crimes committed by the Japanese Army in the Pacific War .

Early career

Hong was born into a Yangban family in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do in 1889 . After the conclusion of the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty of 1905 , he entered the Imperial Korean Military Academy . After its dissolution by the Japanese in 1909, he moved to the Central Japanese Military Elementary School on a scholarship from Crown Prince Euimin .

A short time later, he moved to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy , where he was one of several Korean students at the time. After the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, some of them left the academy to join the struggle of the Korean independence movement. The majority, however, followed the leadership of Ji Cheong-cheon , who convinced them to complete their Japanese military training only as a loyal student, and then to join the independence movement with the skills they had gained. Few, among them Hong, stayed away from these movements and remained loyal to their now Japanese emperor. Because of this, they were largely excluded from their Korean classmates.

In 1914 he graduated from the Army Academy with the rank of lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army . In 1923 he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army College .

Around this time he was contacted again by Ji Cheong-cheon, who deserted in 1919 and defected to the guerrilla forces of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea , which had its center in Shanghai . Although Hong refused the offer again, he continued to be friends with Ji and supported his family with his personal fortune, although this was also a great danger for him.

Advance through the ranks

With the introduction of the Sōshi-kaimei policy, Hong came under heavy pressure to give up his Korean name in favor of a Japanese one, which he ignored. However, due to his outstanding achievements, Hong continued to rise in the military hierarchy. From 1939 to 1940 he was part of the China Expeditionary Army , from 1940 to 1941 he served in the 1st Depot Division and in 1941, after being promoted to major general, he became commander of the 108th Infantry Brigade. In March 1944 he was transferred to the Japanese-occupied Philippines, where he became commander-in-chief of all prisoner - of- war camps . In October of the same year he was promoted to lieutenant general. He remained in the Philippines as part of the 14th Regional Army until the fighting there ended.

War Crimes Trial and Execution

While Hong was the commander in chief of the prisoner-of-war camps in the Philippines, various atrocities had been committed against the prisoners by his subordinate guards, often of Korean origin. Since this was under his command, Hong was placed before an Allied military tribunal in place of the guards in Manila . This sentenced him to death as a war criminal on April 18, 1946 .

Hong is said to have converted to Christianity during his internment . On 26 September 1946 his was followed by execution by the train . Before the execution he asked that someone read Psalm 51 to him .

Hong's family

After the surrender of Japan , the Hong family was considered outlawed. His eldest son Guk-seon, who graduated from Waseda University in Japan and then worked in the Bank of Chōsen , the forerunner of the Bank of Korea , was dismissed on personal instructions from Rhee Syng-mans . Guk-seon and his mother later emigrated to the USA to escape oppression.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chun Young-gi: War criminal, general, but still Korean ( Memento of March 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ). In: JoongAng Daily of March 5, 2004 (English).
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Kim Young-Sik: The US-Korea relations: 1910–1945: A brief history of the US-Korea relations prior to 1945. (No longer available online.) Association for Asian Research, October 22, 2003, archived from the original on October 11, 2006 ; Retrieved November 25, 2006 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Case No. 21: Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita. United States Military Commission, Manila, (8th October – 7th December, 1945), and the Supreme Court of the United States (Judgments Delivered on 4th February, 1946). Part II . In: HMSO (Ed.): Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals. Selected and Prepared by the United Nations War Crimes Commission . Volume IV. London 1948 ( uwe.ac.uk ). Case No. 21: Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita. United States Military Commission, Manila, (8th October – 7th December, 1945), and the Supreme Court of the United States (Judgments Delivered on 4th February, 1946). Part II ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Case No. 21: Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita. United States Military Commission, Manila, (8th October – 7th December, 1945), and the Supreme Court of the United States (Judgments Delivered on 4th February, 1946). Part VI . In: HMSO (Ed.): Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals. Selected and Prepared by the United Nations War Crimes Commission . Volume IV. London 1948 ( uwe.ac.uk ). Case No. 21: Trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita. United States Military Commission, Manila, (8th October – 7th December, 1945), and the Supreme Court of the United States (Judgments Delivered on 4th February, 1946). Part VI ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

literature

• Shichihei Yamamoto: 洪思翊 中将 の 処刑 (The Execution of General Hong Sa-Ik), Chikuma Shobo, Japan 2006.

Web links

• Hong Sa-ik in the World War II Generals Database

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Hon is the family name, Saiku the first name.

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Hong is the family name here, Sa-ik is the first name.