Hong Sa-ik (; 4 March 1889 – 26 September 1946), also known by the Japanese reading of his name , was a lieutenant general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

and the top-ranking ethnic Korean in Japan to be charged with

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

relating to the conduct of the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A graduate of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

, Hong was placed in command of the Japanese camps holding Allied (primarily U.S. and Filipino) prisoners of war in the Philippines during the latter part of World War II, where many of the camp guards were of Korean ethnicity. Hong was held responsible for all the atrocities committed by Imperial Japanese Army prison guards against Allied POWs in Philippines, and was hanged in 1946.

Early career

Hong, a member of the Namyang Hong clan, was born in 1889 to a ''

yangban The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats wh ...

'' family in

Anseong Anseong (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, south of Seoul. Anseong promotes itself as "The City of Masters". It is known for producing brassware and arts and crafts. From late spring to fall, Anseong holds its own Namsadang Neuri ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

. In 1905, when the Eulsa Treaty was signed, he entered the military academy of the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

. With the abolition of the academy in 1909, he transferred to Japan's as a government-financed student along with Crown Prince Yi Un on the orders of dethroned

Emperor Gojong Gojong (; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919), personal name Yi Myeongbok (), later Yi Hui (), also known as the Gwangmu Emperor (), was the penultimate List of monarchs of Korea, Korean monarch. He ruled Korea for 43 years, from 1864 to 19 ...

. Soon after, he advanced to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. At that time, several students from the Empire of Korea were enrolled at the military academy, and with the 1910 annexation of Korea by Japan, a few left the Academy to join the movements for Korean independence, but most followed the lead of Ji Cheong-cheon, who argued that they should leave to fight only after having studied and developed their skills. A few, such as Hong, attempted to stay aloof from either movement, and largely parted ways with their classmates. In 1914, Hong graduated in the 26th class of the Academy and was commissioned as a lieutenant into the Imperial Japanese Army, and in 1923 graduated from the Army War College. However, despite this, he secretly maintained his friendship with Ji and other anti-Japanese activists in the Korean Liberation Army, and even supported Ji's family with his own funds, an action which could have put Hong himself in danger if he made even a small mistake.

Rising through the ranks

With the implementation of the ''

sōshi-kaimei was a policy of pressuring Koreans under Japanese rule to adopt Japanese names and identify as such. The primary reason for the policy was to forcibly assimilate Koreans, as was done with the Ainu and the Ryukyuans. The Sōshi-kaimei has been ...

'' policy, Hong was under strong pressure to change his Korean name to a Japanese-style name, but he ignored the pressure and in the end did not change his name and kept his surname as Hong. Hong continued to demonstrate exceptional ability and was rapidly promoted through the ranks, eventually rising to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. From 1939–40, he was with the

China Expeditionary Army The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1939 to 1945. The China Expeditionary Army was established in September 1939 from the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army, and was ...

. From 1940–41, he was assigned to the 1st Depot Division, and in 1941, he became the commander of the IJA 108th Infantry Brigade as a major general. In March 1944, he went to the Philippines to command all

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

s. He was promoted to

in October of the same year, and remained in the Philippines with the 14th Area Army, serving as its chief

logistics officer A logistics officer is a member of an armed force or coast guard responsible for overseeing the support of an army, air force, marine corps, navy or coast guard fleet, both at home and abroad. Logistics officers can be stationary on military base ...

until the cessation of hostilities.

Trial and execution

After the war, Hong was tried in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

before a military tribunal by the Allies over the conduct of his prison guards while he was commandant. The Manila tribunal sentenced Hong to death as a war criminal on 18 April 1946. He was executed by hanging on 28 September 1946. Hong, who converted to Christianity while in custody, asked a clergyman to read Psalm 51 from the Bible in his final moments.

Later views

After Korea regained its independence, Hong's family became the target of blame and ostracism by various factions in Korea. His eldest son, Hong Guk-seon, graduated from Japan's

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

and afterwards worked in the Bank of Joseon, but was removed from his position on the orders of

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965), also known by his art name Unam (), was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisiona ...

. He and his mother, Hong's widow, later emigrated to the United States.Lee Gyu-Tae, quoted by

Bibliography

* *

References