Korean pilots with Japanese

[steve51]

Hello everyone,

I'm reading 'With the Yanks in Korea' by Cull and Newton, and there is a brief mention about Colonel Lee Keum Sok, a South Korea who flew with the Japanese during WW2. I was completely unaware of the fact that other nationals flew with the Japanese. Are there any sources, either books or online, that discuss these pilots?

Thank you for any information.

[JoeB]

As you know, Korea was part of the Japanese empire from 1910 until 1945. Although the Japanese generally proceeded on the assumption of Japanese cultural/racial superiority, Koreans did serve in the Japanese forces, eventually were subject to conscription. They generally served as enlisted personnel and in second line units but a few were Army officers and a few were enlisted Army pilots; though I know of no Korean IJN pilots.

Lee Keum Sok became a Japanese Army pilot in the 1930's and was serving with the 77th Sentai at the outbreak of the Pacific War, flying the Type 97 Fighter. He was downed in combat with the AVG and RAF over Rangoon December 25 1941 and became the first 'Japanese' POW in that theater. After the war he became a founding pilot in the ROKAF as mentioned in the Cull/Newton book. He is also referred to by either his adopted Japanese name Aoki Akira, or Japanized pronounciation of his Korean name, Ri Kontetu.

Lee Whal, one of the most senior pilots in the Korean Peoples Army AF (ie. North Korean AF) at the outbreak of the Korean War, had also been an IJA pilot.

These websites have brief biographies of Korean IJA kamikaze pilots, first one in Japanese, second in Korean if that helps at all; there are no English language books or articles dealing with this topic, AFAIK.
http://www.tamanegiya.com/totkoutotyousennjinn.html
http://koreada.com/jboard/?p=detail&...&id=162&page=8

Joe

[steve51]

JoeB,

Thank you for that informative reply and those web links. I had been aware of Koreans being conscripted but always assumed they were used as infantry or laborers. So these men flew in combat including Kamikazes missions. It seems that there must have been a number of these men. It's always wonderful to discover some new information about the very complex history of that time. Thank you again for taking the time.