Japanese Korean Army

Japanese Korean Army
Surrender of Japanese Forces in Southern Korea
Active	March 11, 1904 - August 15, 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Allegiance	Emperor of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Army
Garrison/HQ	Keijo

The Japanese Korean Army (朝鮮軍, Chōsen-gun^?, literally "Korean Army") was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army that formed a garrison force in Korea under Japanese rule.

Japanese forces occupied large portions of the Empire of Korea during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and a substantial Korean Garrison Army (韓国駐剳軍, Kankoku Chusatsugun^?) was established in Seoul to protect the Japanese embassy and civilians on March 11, 1904. After the Annexation of Korea by the Empire of Japan in 1910, this force was renamed the Chosen Chusatsugun, and was further renamed the Japanese Korean Army on June 1, 1918. The primary task of the Korean Army was to guard the Korean peninsula against possible incursions from the Soviet Union; however, its units were also used for suppression of nationalist uprisings and political dissent within Korea itself. The Korean Army also came to the assistance of the Kwantung Army in its unauthorized invasion of Manchuria in 1931. In 1941, the Army was subordinated to the General Defense Command.