Guidelines on Mediation for Migration of Koreans to the Homeland (1942)

Office of the Governor-General of Korea

The migration of Korean workers to the homeland through mediation in accordance with the Labor Mobilization Plan shall, apart from matters separately stipulated, be implemented based on these Guidelines.

1. General Rules

• Korean workers who are to migrate to the homeland in accordance with these Guidelines shall all engage in work in labor-mobilization-industries.
• The number of Korean workers who are to migrate to the homeland in accordance with these Guidelines shall be restricted to the number indicated in the annual Labor Mobilization Plan.

Regarding the replacement of Korean workers who have returned to Korea after the termination of the period of dispatch, the migration of the same number of workers thereafter may be implemented in accordance with these Guidelines.

• The treatment of Korean workers who are to migrate through mediation in accordance with these Guidelines shall as far as possible be no different from that of workers in the homeland.
• The period of dispatch of Korean workers who are to migrate to the homeland through mediation in accordance with these Guidelines shall in principle be two years.

2. Application and Process for Mediation

• Employers who are to receive mediation services for Korean workers in accordance with these Guidelines, among employers receiving permission of the prefectural authorities regarding the migration and employment of Korean workers, shall submit the following documents to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea.
• Two originals and copies of the Korean worker mediation application form (attached Form 1)
• Copy of the prefectural Korean worker migration and employment permission certificate
• When necessary, an employee of the industrial organization to which the employer belongs may stay in Korea and conduct the procedures stipulated in the previous clause on behalf of the employer and may contact the Office of the Governor-General of Korea and related provinces concerning mediation services for workers on behalf of the employer.

When an agent or representative acts on behalf of the employer as indicated above, a document serving as evidence for this shall be submitted to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea.

• When the Office of the Governor-General of Korea receives the second application form, in cases where it has received notification of authorization of the Korean workers for migration and employment from the prefecture concerned, it shall examine the contents, consider the urgency of fulfilling the need for workers, existing human and local connections and overall coordination of labor in Korea, determine the persons undertaking mediation and the period of mediation in each province and report this to the related provinces using the attached Form 2.
• When the related provinces receive from the Office of the Governor-General of Korea the allocations of workers stipulated in the previous clause, upon consideration of the existing connections and local conditions, they shall determine the workers to be selected from each city, county and island within five days, and immediately notify this to the employment placement office and city, county or island concerned using the attached Form 3, and report it to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea and the employer using the attached Form 4 and Form 5, respectively.
• When the employment placement office and the city, county or island receive the notification of allocations of workers stipulated in the previous clause, they shall determine the persons to undertake mediation in each town and township, immediately inform each town and township of this using the attached Form 6 and report it to the provinces concerned using the attached Form 7.
• Employment placement offices, cities, towns and townships shall keep themselves well informed of trends in the labor situation within their jurisdiction and, upon consideration of the location of manpower that can be provided and fluctuations in the periods of provision, and keeping in close contact with the military police, Korean Labor Association, and Korean League for National Concerted Power and other related organizations, shall complete the selection of the allocated workers in cooperation with the worker-guidance-officer.
• When the employment placement offices and the cities, counties, islands, towns and townships have completed the compilation of the lists of allocated workers, they shall immediately report this to the authorities concerned.
• When the authorities of the related province receive the report stipulated in the previous clause, they shall immediately notify the employer of its contents and the next handover location.
• When the employer receives the notifications stipulated in clause 4) and clause 8) above, either at the designated time or at the time considered necessary, the employer or its representative shall go to the related employment placement office or city, county or island and receive instructions.

3. Training and Guidance of Groups

• Formation of labor organizations
• Labor organizations of Korean workers dispatched in accordance with these Guidelines shall be organized as “groups.”
• One unit shall consist of five to ten persons, two units to four units shall be one squad, and about five squads shall be organized into one group.
• As far as possible, groups shall be formed in each city, county or island, and squads shall be formed in each town or township.
• Assignment of workers to each factory shall in principle maintain the group organization in place at the time and this organization shall also be used to the extent possible at the place of work.
• Employment placement offices and cities, counties and islands shall, through prior discussions with the related parties, form group organizations preferably at the location in the corresponding cities, counties and islands.
• The name of the group shall as far as possible start with name of the city, county or island, followed by “labor dispatch group.”
• When the formation of the group has been completed, five copies of the register of members of the dispatch group shall be drawn up using the attached Form 8.
• Towns and townships shall draw up registers of members of workers they have selected using the attached Form 8 and shall store them.
• Selection of Group Leader and Members
• The selection of group members shall be conducted by the employment placement office and city, county or island from among persons that meet the following requirements.
• Persons who are sound in thought, background, and body
• Persons who preferably understand the Japanese language
• In addition to the requirements stipulated in the previous item, the group leader shall be appointed by the employment placement office or the city, county or island from among persons that meet the following requirements.
• Persons who are popular with their colleagues and have leadership ability
• As far as possible, persons with an educational level of a primary school graduate or above
• As far as possible, persons who are thirty or more years old
• The squad leader shall be appointed by the employment placement office or the city, county or island in accordance with the requirements for the group leader.
• The unit leader shall be appointed by the employment placement office or the city, county or island, selecting a person of high quality from among the group members.
• Guidance of Groups and Employers
• Provinces, cities, counties, islands, employment placement offices and the Korean Labor Association shall thoroughly instruct group members in advance concerning the purpose of dispatch by the group organization, shall make them fully aware of the national mission and of the great importance of their work responsibilities, and shall in particular make them aware of the following matters.
• They shall contribute to the nation by engaging in work in designated industries
• They shall receive six months’ training after their passage to the homeland
• They shall be provided with background knowledge concerning work methods and the living environment after their passage to the homeland and given instruction so that they can adapt quickly to living customs in the homeland after their arrival.
• They shall be thoroughly instructed regarding their employment conditions, be familiarized in particular with the aims and contents of the Wage Control Ordinance, and made fully aware of the natural disparities that should arise in individual income in accordance with ability.
• They shall be thoroughly familiarized with the aims and contents of the Labor Coordination Ordinance and they shall not without reason transfer to another place of employment.
• They shall join the Kyowakai and carry their membership card at all times.
• They shall save their wages apart from the amount necessary for their living expenses.
• They shall bear hardships and privations and not take holidays without reason apart from public holidays.
• They shall obey the instructions of staff of national vocational guidance offices, police officers, and Kyowakai staff.
• Employment placement offices, cities, counties, islands, and the Korean Labor Association shall, prior to the dispatch of the group, as far as possible provide orderly training to the group.
• Employers shall study the necessary matters for the management of Korean workers and shall in particular swiftly implement the following.
• They shall thoroughly establish an organization for guidance

They shall assign an instructor to each group

Instructors shall instruct group leaders, provide guidance to group members in all aspects of work and daily living, and provide them with all necessary information.

Appropriate persons shall be carefully selected to serve as instructors

• They shall establish training facilities.
• They shall instill proficiency in the Korean workers and shall provide technical education to particularly outstanding group members.
• They shall promote technically outstanding persons to responsible posts.
• They shall to the extent possible conduct orderly daily life training at a designated place during the training period.
• They shall establish appropriate recreation and amusement facilities.
• They shall give particularly careful consideration to the treatment of the group leader, squad leader and unit leader.

4. Worker Guidance Officers

• The employer shall, in accordance with the following allocation, select appropriate persons to assist with mediation in the provision of workers by the authorities in Korea.

Two persons shall be appointed for every 100 Korean workers for whom application for mediation is made and one person for every additional 100 workers. In cases of 500 or more workers, however, one person shall be appointed for every additional 300 workers.

• The governor of the province shall entrust (without payment) the person to provide assistance stipulated in the previous clause with services related to the provision of workers, and shall give that person the title of “worker guidance officer.”

In such a case, the governor of the province shall have the chief of the police station with jurisdiction investigate the person’s background and confirm whether there is any problem with the appointment.

• The worker guidance officer shall be the employer or a person employed by the employer or an employee of a related organization and shall be a person of sound background.
• The worker guidance officer shall be directed and supervised by the authorities and shall diligently assist in the selection of workers.
• The costs required for the worker guidance officer shall all be borne by the employer.

5. Handing Over and Leading Groups

• The employment placement office and the city, county or island shall hand over the group that has been formed to the employer or its representative at the place of departure.

The place of departure shall generally be a location in the city, county or island.

In the event of handing over as stipulated above, the employment placement office or the city, county or island shall prepare three originals and copies of the handover report (the attached Form 9), the employment placement office or the city, county or island shall keep the originals and the province and employer shall keep the copies.

The register of group members shall be attached to the above-mentioned handover report.

The employment placement office or the city, county or island shall hand to the employer two copies of the register of group members with a letter of introduction from the chief of the police station with jurisdiction over the location attached at the end.

• When the handover of the group is completed, the employment placement office or the city, county or island shall report the situation immediately, attaching a copy of the handover report.
• When the handing over of workers allocated from the provinces is completed, this shall be reported immediately to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea.
• After handing over is completed, the Korea Labor Association shall provide assistance regarding transportation within Korea and leading and transporting the group from the place of embarkation in Korea.
• The employer shall take note of the following matters in relation to receiving the handover of the group, leading and transporting it.
• The employer or other responsible person shall lead the group
• There shall be at least one leader for every fifty workers.
• The person to lead workers shall carry a “leader certificate” issued by the national vocational guidance office with jurisdiction over the place of employment.
• The person to lead workers shall submit a register of the group members to the chief of the police station with jurisdiction over the place of embarkation and shall have the designated statement of certification attached.

6. Measures after Arrival

• In the event of a disaster, disturbance or other serious incident affecting Korean migrant workers, the employer shall without delay report it to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea and to the province concerned.
• The employer shall report the working condition of Korean migrant workers to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea at the end of June and end of December every year.
• In the event that a group leader, squad leader or unit leader is recognized as unsuitable after arrival in the homeland, the employer may replace him with another suitable person.
• The group leader, etc. may, if necessary, be appointed as an officer of the Kyowakai.

7. Measures for Transfer

• When it is necessary to continue employment after the termination of the period of dispatch, the extension of the period of dispatch may only be permitted for those who wish to continue working.

After the termination of the period of dispatch, when it is necessary to continue engaging workers in work at the same type of factory managed by the employer at a different location, employment it may be handled in the same way as before.

• In the event of the reduction, abolition or termination of work before the termination of the period of dispatch, when it is necessary to engage laborers in work at the same type of factory managed by the employer at a different location, this may only be permitted for those who wish to continue working.
• In the event of the termination of the period of dispatch, or in the event of the reduction, abolition or termination of work before the termination of the period of dispatch, when it is necessary to continue to engage laborers in work at the same factory under a different employer, this may only be permitted for those who wish to continue working.
• In the circumstances described in the previous three clauses, after receiving the authorization of the prefecture concerned, a report shall be filed with the Office of the Governor-General of Korea and the provinces concerned.

When it is necessary to continue employment after the termination of the period of dispatch for engagement in civil engineering and construction work, the prefecture concerned shall discuss this with the Office of the Governor-General of Korea beforehand.

• When it is necessary to engage in the same kind of work at the factory of a different employer after the termination of the period of dispatch or before the termination of the period of dispatch due to the reduction or abolition of work, this may only be permitted by the prefecture concerned for those who wish to engage in this work after prior discussion between the prefecture and the Governor-General of Korea.
• When persons to return to Korea have been determined, the prefectures concerned shall without delay notify the Office of the Governor-General of Korea and related provinces of the birthplace, name, port of disembarkation in Korea, date of return and date of receiving mediation of each of the returning workers for each employer.
• In the event that workers are to return to Korea in accordance with the period of dispatch (including the reduction or abolition of work), the employer or its representative shall without delay notify the related city, county or island of the names and dates of return of the returning workers.

8. Other Matters

• Employers or the Japan Employment Association shall pay in advance to the Korean Labor Association advertising expenses for mediation, group formation expenses, leading and transportation expenses (travel expenses of employees) and miscellaneous expenses.
• When a group arrives at the factory, the employer shall without delay report this to the Office of the Governor-General of Korea and related provinces.

9. Supplementary Provision

These Guidelines shall come into force on February 20, 1942.

(Attachments omitted)

 This entire sentence is difficult to parse. Not sure if “entrust” is really the correct word. “Make responsible for” is one alternative. Could also rewrite using passive expressions: The person to provide assistance who has been designated in the previous clause shall be entrusted by the governor of the province with services related to the provision of workers, and shall be given the title of “worker guidance officer” by the governor.