[KS] Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 129, Issue 23

[Frank Hoffmann]

Yes Bill, that is understood. My last posting was just a *loosely 
related* add-on note, and it was not meant to be any more than that.

For further clarification: the Germans did not ship uranium oxide to 
Japan (they were rather interested in getting that FROM Korea, but the 
blockade made that impossible at the very time they would have needed 
it for their arms industry). Instead they handed on the blueprints for 
methods for using uranium oxide in e.g. the process of strengthening 
steel and producing rocket fuel. It should be said that over the years 
they handed on a whole bulk of war related technological master plans, 
but Japanese technicians and the technical setup in Japan were at that 
time not yet as advanced; the Japanese did also not yet have the 
machinery to follow up with the production of highly sophisticated 
machinery. They did try, as we know in very much detail as regards to 
mentioned fighter motors, but run into a seemingly endless series of 
problems with details. In the end, except for the older Daimler motors 
(DB 601, for example, from 1939) they could not make full use of 
advanced technical plans they received, especially not under war-time 
conditions of production, with all kind of material shortcomings. 


Frank




On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:12:56 -0700 (PDT), Bill Streifer wrote:
> Frank,
> 
> This subject might not be "your thing" but you consistently come back 
> with the most interesting responses. Yes, my interest is Japan's 
> atomic program in Konan, Korea during WWII, but German shipments of 
> uranium oxide to Japan is not part of my evidence or interest.
> 
> I am not even sure if I heard that the uranium shipped to Japan might 
> be related to strengthening steel for use in rocket engines, but I'm 
> not surprised. The NZ plant at Konan, also believed related to the 
> atomic bomb, turned out to be related to the jet fuel Z-stoff (German 
> rocket fuel).  But what's most interesting, whatever NZ is related 
> to, the Soviets continued to pursue that technology at Konan 
> (Hungnam) until 1948 and beyond. 
> 
> If I could post a map here, I would show you a 1948 map of Hungnam 
> that clearly shows one of the buildings (actually part of a building) 
> marked "NZ." If you want a copy, please contact me directly.
> 
> -- Bill Streifer

--------------------------------------
Frank Hoffmann
http://koreanstudies.com