일제의 아동, 여성 강제동원에 대한 국제법적 인권 문제 고찰

One of the characteristics of modern International Law is that it strengthens the protection of human rights in times of peace and the application of humanitarian law in times of war in order to protect individuals from the unlimited exercise of power by the state. In Japan, International Law has domestic effect even without domestic legislative measures. Japanese courts tend to avoid the interpretation that domestic law conflicts with International Law as much as possible and have an attitude of maintaining the effect of domestic law. Therefore, the ILO Convention that came into effect based on the principle of respect for International Law has the same status as domestic law. Japan promulgated the National Labor Mobilization Ordinance and strengthened the existing labor mobilization-related laws to forcibly mobilize children, women, and youths aged 12 or older during the Asia-Pacific War. In this way, Korean women and children were mobilized to mines, civil engineering construction sites, military factories, and farms at home and abroad, and were forcibly mobilized under the names of the Korean Women's Labor Corps and the Labor Service Corps. The mobilization of women and children was attempted through allocation and forced conscription using low-level administrative agencies such as the district head, police, and township head, and was forcibly mobilized through fraudulent means by presenting unrealistic conditions. In addition, boys were forcibly mobilized to Japanese coal mines or kidnapped without warrants in late 1944 and early 1945. By this time, it was already difficult to find adults in the villages, and since there was a severe shortage of workers, even children were mobilized. Children under the age of 14 were subject to mobilization, and there were extreme cases where children under the age of 12 were mobilized. In addition, regardless of whether boys or girls, all were mobilized when necessary and were mobilized for labor for domestic and international wars. Korean children were not included in the protection target and were not properly protected at work sites. The Japan did not take any protective measures for Korean girl workers, forcing them to work day and night in two or three shifts and even at dawn, and did not protect them from industrial accidents or poor working conditions. In addition, they did not provide regular education in schools, but rather provided military training through imperial education, further spurring the production of military supplies. In this environment, Korean girls did not receive proper wages and were not allowed to live freely due to strict dormitory management. In the case of boy miners, they worked in hellish labor, starvation, and beatings while mining, and all boys who lost their lives to beatings were treated as soldiers. This was a violation of Japan’s factory law and is not in accordance with international human rights law or the ILO Convention. The mobilization of women, abuse due to child mobilization, and women’s human rights issues by Japan during the Asia-Pacific War can be considered illegal in light of international human rights law such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO conventions, the Convention on the Prohibition of Forced Labor, and the Prohibition of Slavery, and can be seen as cases of violations of Japan’s domestic law and constitution. It must faithfully resolve the human rights issues of children and women during the Asia-Pacific War and comply with domestic and international human rights laws in order for the Japanese government to establish itself as an advanced country in human rights in the international community.