Return from the Gallows: Half a Century of Zainichi Korean Political Prisoners

What comes to mind when you hear the word "spy"? Is it the British intelligence agent 007, James Bond? Or perhaps Richard Sorge, the Soviet spy who operated in pre-war Japan? This book is a work of non-fiction that depicts the modern and contemporary history of Korea and Japan, focusing on three Zainichi Koreans who were detained by the South Korean government on suspicion of being "spies for the North" while studying abroad in South Korea half a century ago, and whose death sentences were finalized.

Why were they Zainichi Koreans? In areas where many Koreans lived, people affiliated with Chongryon and Mindan lived together in close proximity. For Zainichi international students, contact with people from Chongryon was a part of daily life. Therefore, it was easy for the South Korean government to fabricate "spy charges" against Zainichi students. After severe torture by the authorities, the students "confessed."

Why did "spy" incidents occur so frequently in the 1970s? The catalyst was the unification of Vietnam. In the spring of 1975, the North Vietnamese Army achieved the armed unification of Vietnam. South Korean President Park Chung-hee felt an increased sense of crisis and sought to tighten domestic control in South Korea by frequently making arrests in spy cases.

Sacrifices of the division. At the end of World War II, the Allied Powers presented the Potsdam Declaration to Japan (July 26, 1945). Japan's political leadership hesitated over the continuation of the Emperor system, and ultimately accepted the Potsdam Declaration on August 14.

What happened during those three weeks? On August 6, the US military dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On August 9, the Soviet army crossed the Manchukuo border and occupied the northern half of Korea. On the same day, the US military dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

The US and the Soviet Union bear great responsibility for the division of Korea, but Japan's responsibility is also not small. Against the backdrop of this division of Korea, the Park Chung-hee administration chose Zainichi Korean international students as sacrifices for the survival of the regime.

Democratization prompted the return of the death row inmates. In 1987, democratization was declared in South Korea, and the fabricated "spies for the North" were released and won their innocence in retrials.

The latter half of the book describes the actual situation in South Korea after democratization, but in Japan, as seen in the Hakamada Case, the Code of Criminal Procedure remains as it was in the Taisho era. Meanwhile, anti-espionage laws are entering the political process. The South Korean cases show that spies can be easily "fabricated."

Most of the young men who were turned into spies are of the same generation as the author; I want many people to know about their harsh youth.

Return from the Gallows: Half a Century of Zainichi Korean Political Prisoners

Hideki Nishimura

San-ichi Shobo

248 pages, 2,420 yen (tax included)