THE EMERGENCE OF A FACTORY LABOR FORCE IN COLONIAL KOREA; A CASE STUDY OF THE ONODA CEMENT FACTORY

The first generation of Korean skilled labor force emerged in colonial Korea out of several dozen large capital-intensive Japanese factories erected between 1917 and 1919 and during the wartime industrial growth later in the 1930's. The case of the Onoda Cement Sunghori factory work force is a good example. In 1933, 12 years after beginning operation, the factory had 409 regular workers out of 655 workers. These regular workers were trained for at least three years in the factory and were then certified as skilled workers. Among these 409 regular workers, 301 were Korean.; Approximately one sixth of the work force was always filled by experienced Japanese skilled workers brought from Japan and foremen posts were held by elder Japanese skilled workers. Onoda management adopted the Japanese labor control method using an incentive system and strict rules to discipline Korean workers. Elementary education seemed to be the basic standard of the quality of labor force during the colonial period.; Under careful control by strict rules and encouraged by incentives, the recruits quickly adjusted to the discipline of mechanized industry. The real racial discrimination was in the realm of promotions, social intercourse between Japanese and Korean workers and job responsibilities than just wage differentials. The Korean workers were structurally eliminated from responsible and supervisory posts in the plant.; The Sunghori workers were basically a passive group in terms of response to the management. Labor disputes were all in a non-union pattern of worker resistance. There was no legal protection for the workers' struggle for better labor conditions.; Forced mobilization during the war between 1937 and 1945 lowered the average quality of factory workers while vastly increasing their number. On the other hand the war opened up more responsible work and higher posts for Korean skilled workers as Japanese workers left for the battle fields.