Minister of War & Governor General of Korea
From 1924-1927, Ugaki served as Minister of War in the Kiyoura, Katō Takaaki and First Wakatsuki Cabinets. While Minister of War, Ugaki strove to protect the superior position of the Imperial Japanese Army in Japanese politics, fearing a loss of influence to the Imperial Japanese Navy, should the United States be judged "Hypothetical National Enemy No. 1". Ugaki's plans called for an Army of 50 divisions.
Nevertheless, despite Ugaki's strenuous opposition, the Katō Takaaki cabinet continued with its fiscal retrenchment policy (from 1 May 1925) and Ugaki was forced to eliminate four infantry divisions (the IJA 13th Division, IJA 15th Division, IJA 17th Division, and IJA 18th Division), which resulted in the release of approximately 2,000 commissioned officers. He was also forced to shorten the period of time conscripts served with the remaining divisions. This made Ugaki an extremely unpopular figure within the Army, and in 1927 Ugaki accepted a posting as Governor-General of Korea rather than continue as Minister of War.
In 1929, Ugaki was promoted to full general. He became Minister of War once again under the Hamaguchi cabinet.
In 1931, although Ugaki refused to cooperate with them, he also failed to punish the insurgents responsible for the March Incident, an attempted coup-d'etat by young officers and ultranationists in the Sakura Kai who sought to make him prime minister. Having lost the support of his fellow officers, Ugaki resigned from the military and once again accepted a posting as Governor-General of Korea.
During his second period in Korea, Ugaki made concentrated efforts to build up the industrial base in the Korean peninsula, especially in the areas of heavy industry and munitions, which he felt would be invaluable in an upcoming war with China, which he considered unavoidable in the near future.
Read more about this topic: Kazushige Ugaki
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