Governor-General of Chōsen
朝鮮総督
Seal of the Government-General of Korea
Longest serving Viscount Saitō Makoto 12 August 1919 – 14 April 1927 17 August 1929 – 17 June 1931
Status	Abolished
Residence	Official residence of the Governor-General of Chōsen
Seat	Government-General Building, Keijō
Appointer	Emperor of Japan
Precursor	Resident-General of Korea
Formation	1 October 1910
First holder	Terauchi Masatake
Final holder	Nobuyuki Abe
Abolished	12 September 1945
Superseded by	Soviet Civil Administration United States Army Military Government in Korea

The Governor-General of Chōsen (Japanese: 朝鮮総督, romanized: Chōsen Sōtoku; Korean: 조선총독, romanized: Joseon Chongdok) was the chief administrator of the Government-General of Chōsen (Japanese: 朝鮮総督府, romanized: Chōsen Sōtokufu; Korean: 조선총독부, romanized: Joseon Chongdokbu) (a part of an administrative organ established by the Imperial government of Japan) from 1910 to 1945.

The governor-general of Chōsen was established shortly after the Korean Empire was formally annexed by the Empire of Japan in the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 to replace the title of Resident-General. The governor-general of Chōsen was appointed from Tokyo and accountable to the emperor of Japan. The governor-general of Chōsen was responsible for the administrate ministry of the Chōsen regionin, including infrastructure, culture, justice, censorship, and the suppression of the Korean independence movement.^[1][2]

The governor-general of Chōsen was seated in the General Government Building in Keijō after its completion in 1926.^[3] Pending its completion, the Governor-General resided at Namsan.^[4]

After the annexation of Korea to Japan in 1910, the office of resident-general was replaced by that of governor-general. However, the position was unique in among Japan's external possessions, as the governor-general had sweeping plenipotentiary powers, and the position also entailed judicial oversight and some legislative powers. As of 1944, the governor-general did not command the Imperial Japanese Army or Imperial Japanese Navy units stationed in Chōsen.^[5] Given the powers and levels of responsibility, only ranking full generals in the Imperial Japanese Army were selected for the post, with the sole exception of Viscount Saitō, a retired admiral.

The governor-general of Chōsen had a police organisation, which may have been partly involved in having Korean women working as comfort women.^{[6][better source needed]}

After the Japanese defeat in World War II, the Korean Peninsula was administered by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. The governor-general building was demolished during administration of South Korean president Kim Yong-Sam on August 15, 1995.

Four individuals who held the position of the governor-general of Chōsen also held the office of the prime minister of Japan. Three, Terauchi Masatake, Saitō Makoto, and Koiso Kuniaki, were governors-general before becoming prime ministers. One, Abe Nobuyuki, was prime minister before his appointment as governor-general. Ugaki Kazushige was named prime minister-designate, but he could not take office because he was unable to form a cabinet.

In addition, Resident-General Itō Hirobumi served four terms as prime minister prior to his appointment to Korea.

After the annexation of Korea to Japan in 1910, the office of resident general was replaced by that of governor-general.

1. General Count Terauchi Masatake 寺内 正毅 (1910–1916)
2. Gensui Count Hasegawa Yoshimichi 長谷川好道 (1916–1919)
3. Admiral Viscount Saitō Makoto 斎藤 実 (1919–1927)
4. General Ugaki Kazushige 宇垣 一成 (1927)
5. General Yamanashi Hanzō 山梨半造 (1927–1929)
6. Viscount Saitō Makoto 斎藤 実 (second time 1929–1931)
7. General Kazushige Ugaki 宇垣 一成 (second time 1931–1936)
8. General Minami Jirō 南次郎 (1936–1942)
9. General (ret'd) Koiso Kuniaki 小磯 國昭 (1942–1944)
10. General (ret'd) Abe Nobuyuki 阿部信行 (1944–1945)

• Governor-General of Taiwan
• Rulers of Korea
• Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea
• Japanese militarism
• Japanese nationalism

• Kim, Djun (2005). The History of Korea. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-33296-7.

• Rulers

v t e Korea under Japanese rule
Colony of the Empire of Japan from 1910 to 1945
Government	Governor-General of Chōsen (list) Japanese Korean Army
Cultural policies	Chōsen Art Exhibition (1922–1944) Chosun Exhibition (1929) Colored Clothes Campaign (1920–1945) Office of the Yi Dynasty Sōshi-kaimei (1939–1945) Shinto in Korea State Shinto
Economy	Bank of Korea (1909–1950) Hwacheon Dam Korean yen Sup'ung Dam Companies Chōsen Anthracite Company Chōsen Government Railway Chosen Railway Oriental Development Company
Controversies	Comfort women (list) Sakhalin Koreans Forced labor Aso Mining forced labor controversy Hashima Island Korean Women's Volunteer Labour Corps Sado Island Slavery during World War II Utoro, Uji Events 105-Man Incident (1911) March First Movement (1919) Jeamri Massacre (1919) Battle of Fengwudong (1920) Battle of Samdunja Battle of Qingshanli (1920) Gando Massacre (1920–1921) Shinano River incident (1922) Kantō Massacre (1923) June 10th Movement (1926) Gwangju Student Independence Movement (1929) Hongkou Park Incident (1932) Battle of Pochonbo (1937) Korean Language Society Incident (1942) Collaborators Five Eulsa Traitors Hong Sa-ik Iljinhoe Korean History Compilation Committee Park Yeong-hyo Refrain Club Park Jung-yang Song Byeong-jun Yi Yun-yong Independence movement Declaration of Independence Independence Club Korean National Association List of militant independence organizations List of independence activists Provisional Government
Places and structures	Altteureu Airfield Gyeongbokgung Government-General Museum of Chōsen Heijō Shrine Hyochang Park Japanese General Government Building, Seoul Keijō (Seoul) Keijō Post Office Keijō Shrine Keijō Imperial University Seodaemun Prison
Legacy	Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea Anti-Korean sentiment in Japan Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine Japan–Korea disputes Japan–North Korea relations Japan–South Korea relations Japanese history textbook controversies List of war apology statements issued by Japan Division of Korea (1945–) Koreans in Japan (1945–) Hibakusha (1945–) Treaty of San Francisco (1952) Treaty on Basic Relations Between Japan and the Republic of Korea (1965) Independence Hall of Korea (1987–) Murayama Statement (1995) Special Law to Redeem Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property (2005) Museum of Japanese Colonial History in Korea (2018–) Comfort women Futsukaichi Rest Home (1946–1947) The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (1990–) Wednesday demonstration (1992–) Kono Statement (1993) Asian Women's Fund (1994) Shimonoseki Trial (1998) Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery (2000) United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121 (2007) Japan–South Korea Comfort Women Agreement (2015)