LABOR FORCE SURVEY DOCUMENTS BY JAPAN

[Anchor Lead]

Records of a nationwide labor force survey, conducted by the Japanese Government General of Korea during the colonial era prior to forcibly conscripting Koreans, have been disclosed for the first time. The documents serve as crucial evidence in proving that Japan thoroughly planned forced recruitment of Koreans.

[Pkg]

In 1941, right before the Pacific War broke out... Japan launched a survey to conscript Koreans to fight in the war. These documents were drafted at the time by the Japanese Government General of Korea and sent to each provincial governor. They say that the purpose of the survey is to compile statistics on labor resources in rural areas in line with the wartime labor mobilization policy. This means that Japan prepared thoroughly for conscripting Koreans by force ahead of its war with the allied forces.

[Soundbite] NOH YOUNG-JONG(NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF KOREA) : "These records show that the Government-General of Korea had already conducted a survey to carry out its labor conscription plan in 1940."

The report listed 1,160,000 people as available workforce in Korea. Only 22 percent of them, or some 260,000 left their homes in search of jobs. Less than 9 percent, or 20,000, were women. However, Japan planned to conscript more than 710,000 laborers, and in reality the number of forced laborers reached two million. This shows that Japan planned forced conscription of Koreans in advance.

[Soundbite] LEE SO-YEON(NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF KOREA) : "The documents prove people were forcibly recruited and provide the exact number of victims."

The documents had been disclosed only partially in the past through academic papers. This is the first detailed disclosure of the original documents drafted by the Japanese colonists.