The Korean Soldier who was Captured on D-day Fighting for Germany

Yang Kyoungjong - Korean soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army
Yang Kyoungjong - Korean soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army

It is unknown what purpose the Russians intended with him, but he was likely used as service or a supply soldier.

When the allies stormed the Normandy beaches on D-Day they quickly moved inland and captured many of its defenders. But the roll of prisoner names was a surprise. Among ordinary German names was the name Yang Kyoung Jong. And he was not alone–several Korean men were captured wearing German uniforms.

How he got there almost seems like a strange modern-day retelling of Homer’s Odyssey of a warrior stranded far from home.

Their odyssey started in their homeland of Korea which then was a vassal state of Japan. Japan had taken control over Korea numerous times in its history, most recently at the turn of the 20th century.

Korean volunteers in the Imperial Japanese Army, January 1943
Korean volunteers in the Imperial Japanese Army, January 1943

Korea was used as a breadbasket and a pool of manpower to fuel Japan’s conquests. Additionally, young Korean men were frequently conscripted into the Japanese military and used as occupation troops in captured Chinese territories.

Japan invaded China in 1932 following several trumped-up border incidents. After conquering large swathes of the countryside, Japan installed a puppet government in Manchuria. The puppet government’s desire to increase its territory ran afoul of Soviet Russia and a number of border incidents were soon followed by battles at Khalkhin Gol and Nomonhan.

Japanese soldiers creeping in front of wrecked Soviet tanks
Japanese soldiers creeping in front of wrecked Soviet tanks

The Soviet forces were under the command of then unknown Georgy Zhukov who used prototype combined-arms tactics to force the Japanese back, and in the process destroyed much of their equipment and captured many men.

https://youtu.be/3coQ8Px2H8A

Korean conscripts were among these men. As with any other captured prisoner, Yang Kyoung Jong was sent to a gulag. After years of hard labor he was given a sort of reprieve in the form of the German invasion of Russia. Interestingly, the Soviets decided to conscript many of the gulag inmates into their own forces to boost their manpower.

This marked his first change of uniform. It is unknown what purpose the Russians intended with him, but he was likely used as service or a supply soldier.

Yang Kyoungjong
Yang Kyoungjong

In 1941 the German blitzkrieg assault on Russia overran vast territories and all the men they encountered. Ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, and various other groups flowed into their prison camps. Among these, was the long-suffering Korean conscript.

Along with the other captured soldiers, he was taken to a large open-air camp on the steppes where he was soon presented with a choice between a lingering death in a hellish camp or the chance to serve in the German army. He elected to become a conscript of the Wehrmacht.

The Germans had a history of conscripting captured men into their army. Whether by choice or by force, it formed an essential source of manpower in the Second World War.

The Germans had two classes of foreign conscripts– fighting men and so-called hilfswillige, or “Hiwis” who were volunteers to help in mostly non-combat roles. Hiwis were usually used as supply troops or as construction labor. Unfortunately, as the war went on many of the Hiwis would be pressed into combat roles.

Cossacks in the Wehrmacht under the Swastika flag, 1942. South-western Soviet Union. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1975-099-15A / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Cossacks in the Wehrmacht under the Swastika flag, 1942. South-western Soviet Union. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1975-099-15A / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Conscription has been a part of warfare for a very long time. Armies from time immemorial have depended on recruits who were coerced into service, and the armies of Alexander the Great and the Romans, among countless others, counted conscripts among their ranks.

Conscription still exists today, although it is limited to citizens rather than captured men. In fact, it is against international law to conscript another country’s citizens.

Yet in 1944, Germany neither had a choice nor care that it was breaking international law. The Eastern Front had chewed up the German Army and they needed men to defend the fortresses along the Atlantic Wall.

German troops on the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa, 1941. Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-209-0090-29 / Zoll / CC-BY-SA 3.0
German troops on the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa, 1941. Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-209-0090-29 / Zoll / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Convalescent battalions and older German men were not enough. Foreign conscripts were, therefore, necessary, with Czechoslovakians and Koreans among those conscripted to resist the Allied landings.

It might have almost been a relief for them when the Allies punctured through the defenses and captured the foreign conscripts. To have served in any of the Japanese, Russian, or German armies and survived was a miracle itself. Considering he unwillingly served in all three is just tempting fate.

Kuniaki Koiso, Japanese Governor-General of Korea, implemented a draft of Koreans for wartime labor.
Kuniaki Koiso, Japanese Governor-General of Korea, implemented a draft of Koreans for wartime labor.

The story, fortunately, ends there for our Korean friend. He is reputed to have moved to the US where he lived a long peaceful life.

Read another story from us: “Never Surrender” The Japanese Soldier who Kept Fighting 30 Years After WW2 Ended

Nonetheless, some scholars insist the story is false and that the image of the Asian man in a German uniform is mislabeled or somehow staged. Some posit that the man was actually an ethnic Georgian conscript.

One has to admit that the story of a Korean soldier in the Wehrmacht strains credulity. But at the same time, it was total war and strange things are known to have happened during the war.

Joseph O'Brien

Joseph O’Brien is a Military History and Firearms Expert located in the Midwest. After receiving a B.A. in History, O’Brien has worked in the retail firearms business as well as branching out into militaria/firearms appraisal and movie armorer work. He has written on a wide variety of topics and eras, and is always looking to increase his knowledge and collections of militaria. O’Brien has been recognized nationally by organizations, including the Association of the United States Army, and multiple museums for his outstanding knowledge and passion for Military history.

Education B.A. History St. Norbert College

Military History, Firearms and Militaria Expert

Rockton, IL

@og1927a1 facebook.com/joe.obrien.716