Japanese policy for Korean rural immigration to Manchukuo, 1932--1945

This is a study of Japanese policy pertaining to Korean rural immigration to Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state created in 1932 following the 1931 Manchurian Incident. The Manchukuo period (1932-1945) was but the final stage of Korean immigration to Manchuria, which started in the late 1860s and ended in 1945. Nevertheless, the establishment of Manchukuo and the formulation of diverse Japanese policies greatly affected Korean rural migration into and settlement in Manchuria.;Prior to 1931, measures employed by Chinese authorities in Manchuria had tended to restrain or offset attempts by the Japanese to influence Korean migration. From 1932, however, the Japanese had a free hand to deal with the question of Korean migration. This study raises the following questions: what did Japanese policy toward Korean rural immigration to Manchukuo entail; and what were the results of that policy?;This study argues that Korean rural immigration policy developed through complex intergovernmental arrangements and that Japanese policy was not a fixed one. The Kwantung Army in Manchukuo, the Government-General of Korea, and the central government in Japan initially held different views as to the desirability of Korean immigration to Manchukuo. Domestic issues in each of the three jurisdictions, together with the exigencies of the continental and Pacific wars, continued to influence the positions of these governing bodies towards Korean immigration. Meanwhile, from 1932 to 1936 the Manchukuo government maintained a laissez-faire policy; between 1937 and 1945 it adopted specific measures for controlling immigration and settlement. Within this framework of control, the Japanese endeavored to promote stipulated amounts of Korean rural immigration.;This study suggests that the Japanese were unable to implement policies for Korean rural immigration to Manchukuo as effectively as they had envisioned. Neither did they endeavor to "promote" such migration as consistently or positively as most accounts imply. Yet, legacies of these policies include the settlement of Koreans along the Manchurian borders and the presence today of approximately two million Koreans in China's three eastern provinces.