뉴스레터

Japanese Face: People who remember victims of forced mobilization

In September 2019, I met with officials from the Matsushiro Memorial Center of Untold History(hereinafter referred to as the Matsushiro Memorial Center) in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. They are people who have been active for more than 20 to 30 years. Most of them are around 70 years old, but their will is constant. I still remember their faces, which welcomed Korean researchers.

The Matsushiro Memorial Center is a place to preserve and educate the huge underground facilities that Japan built in preparation for the Allied landings at the end of World War II. Above all, it remembers the thousands of ‘Korean’ victims who were mobilized for underground facilities, and finds and organizes related data. And it does not neglect to study based on these. Even a name is unfamiliar to Korean citizens. Thank you so much for those who guard the place, and are committed to teaching the meaning of it, and the community that supports them. And I feel as ashamed and sad as that gratitude.

The Matsushiro Underground Lake

But people have not always looked warmly at the activists at the Matsushiro Memorial Center. According to the Japanese government's policy, there were times when their activities were disapproved. In front of the underground lake of Matsushiro Maizurusan, there is a notification board explaining the underground lake of Matsushiro. Among the contents, the following points are presented.

"It is said that many Koreans and Japanese people were forced to work as workers in the construction of this. There may be no related data at the time. There are many views, including the opinion that 'not everyone was forced.'"

The original notification was said to have been explicitly written that it was 'forced to mobilize'. However, at the time of the first Abe Shinzo Cabinet, the phrase was changed as above. In other words, the phrases that specify forced mobilization were changed unclearly, and the phrases such as 'not everyone was forced' were added because the evidence was uncertain.

Activists at the Matsushiro Memorial Center disagree with this phrase. They explain Matsushiro's past and present, including changes in these phrases, to many people looking for Memorial Center. In each region of Japan, it is easy to see those who reflect on the negative aspects of the past and remember the damage caused by it.

Kitahara Takako of the Matsushiro Memorial Center, 

who describes the structure of the Matsushiro Underground Lake

Our Face: The Committee for the Forced Mobilization

It has been more than 30 years since the subject of forced mobilization began to be studied in Korea. The victim's testimony was published and there were activities of interested researchers and citizens, but our society did not respond until after the 1990s. And when the studies of academia have progressed to some extent, the government has also prepared measures to cope with them.

In November 2004, 'The Committee for the Investigation of damage caused by Forced Mobilization under the Japanese Colonial Rule' was established. The committee received applications from victims and their families to investigate the damage and to establish it academically. In 2008, ‘The Committee for support victims of forced mobilization before and after the Pacific War’ was estabished. They began to support those who were recognized for the damage caused by forced mobilization. In 2010, the two committees mentioned above were combined to launch 'The Commission on Verification and Support for the Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism in Korea'(hereinafter referred to as The Commission).

The Commission had three names in just over five years before it was integrated. It was because the existence was temporarily defined according to the relevant special law. As if to repair the torn clothes, the deadline was extended by explaining to the National Assembly the necessity of maintaining the Commission. Even after that, the Commission was able to live for six months or one year and six months thanks to civic groups and academic experts. However, the Commission, which had difficulty extending its active term, was officially dissolved on June 30, 2016. It handled 226,583 applications, unearthed about 340,000 forced mobilization records, and conducted 32 fact-finding investigations, but the tasks were still in the air. However, the government and the National Assembly no longer recognized the need for the Commission.

The victims' group opposed such a decision. They also submitted a petition to the National Assembly demanding the Commission's survival. Some have argued that the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs at the time "fabricated documents" to abolish the Commission. In November 2015, it was in the process of abolishing the Commission. Japanese civic groups and researchers submitted a petition to the Blue House and the National Assembly to keep the Commission alive. They said the reasons for the petition were: "The commission's activities have given many victims the opportunity to compensate, and the Commission has identified more than thirty people who were killed in the Kanto massacre to find their bereaved families. It is urgent to investigate the facts." Korea tried to abolish it, and Japan demanded its survival.

We are concerned about Japan's right-wing and criticize the Japanese government's attitude toward past history. And we demand that Japan acknowledge and reflect on the damage caused by colonial rule and invasion wars committed in the imperialist era. So did we face this problem in a reasonable manner?

The bereaved family protesting abolition of the Commission (2015. 12. 27.) ⓒYonhap News    

Japanese Face: “I want to listen to the voices left by those who have ruined their lives by Japan.”

On March 28, Lee Hak-rae, a victim of forced mobilization, died at 96. He was a Civilian Component of the Japanese army, which was mobilized in the name of monitoring Allied prisoners at the end of the Japanese colonial rule. He was in the Allied POW camp in the tropical Southeast Asia. His job was to get the Japanese orders to work the prisoners. While the orders of the Japanese were very absolute to him, he had never learned international regulations on prisoner treatment, such as the Geneva Convention, which he should have known. Eventually, after the war, the Allies pointed to Lee Hak-rae as the perpetrator. He was sentenced to hanging on March 18, 1947.

Fortunately, Lee Hak-rae was commuted and released in 1956. But he couldn't go home with the tag "war criminal." He was in prison and set up a group called 'Hyangsoohoe: People who miss their hometowns'. Their bodies can not go, but their minds were staying there on the day they left their hometown. The Hyangsoohoe was changed to the Haninhoe, and again to the Dongjinhoe. And from this point on, a long struggle against the Japanese government began.

Lee Hak-rae demanded an apology and compensation from the Japanese government until his death. He was taken to Japanese status, and his sentence was also received as a Japanese. But now Japan said, "You are Korean, so we can't do anything." He was angry. As time passed and his comrades died, he vowed to unravel their grudges. And after more than 60 years of willingness, he eventually died. But there were many people who remembered him. The media mourned the life and death of Lee Hak-rae. And there was a voice in Japan that was saddened by his death.

“What is the Justice or common sense of this country? The responsibility of the people who have overlooked politics and the omission of politics is asked. Lee Hak-rae, a Korean-Japanese, passed away last month. He was 96 years old. In the last war, many people were mobilized as 'Japanese' in Joseon and Taiwan. However, at the time of the announcement of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952, the Japanese government deprived Japanese nationality from former colonial people. So they were placed outside the boundaries of administration. It is unreasonable for them. Moreover, the bitter gaze of the homeland made the "war criminals" more troublesome. They were just collaborators with Japan even when they returned to Korea. Some people eventually took their own lives because they were not accepted by the surrounding people. I value this country. That's why I want to listen to the voices left by those who have ruined their lives by Japan.”

It may have been published in the Korean media, but surprisingly, the above article was left by the Asahi Shimbun in Japan on April 7th. The Japanese government and the National Assembly are still indifferent to apology and compensation for the damage of people including Lee Hak-rae. Some lawmakers have prepared the bill, but it is far from legislating. Nevertheless, Japan has the same opinion as the Asahi Shimbun. I think it was the most heart-moving farewell to Korea and Japan.

Victim of war crimes, Chairman of Dongjinhoe, Lee Hak-rae (2021. 4. 7.) ⓒYonhap News

The Two Faces of Janus in Korea and Japan, and the Past History of Universal Value

Like a person, the state has several faces depending on the age, situation, and members. Currently, the Japanese government shows the face of injustice denying the damage caused by forced mobilization and sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army. But there are still a lot of faces in it that do not give up justice and conscience, peace and human rights. What about our society? We ask Japan to reflect on past history and to protect human rights. In the meantime, we often make conflicting faces. There is nothing to mention the authors of 'the Anti-Japanese Tribalism'. This is the process in which the Korean government has dealt with past affairs such as forced mobilization.

It is important to carefully examine the position and change of the Japanese government's past history after the 1965 Korea-Japan Agreement and to prepare alternatives. However, while we were keenly aware of the remarks of the Japanese prime minister or a senior government official, many civic groups and researchers in Japan distanced themselves from their government's position. We must remember that they have kept a 'universal value-centered past history'.

I hope that the Korean and Japanese governments can look at the history of the last century from a perspective that goes beyond real politics. But politics has only political habits. Education must fulfill its mission, and history must fulfill its responsibilities. Faces that share precious values need to meet more often. I hope NAHF can be at the head of such a thing.

Janus is a god in Roman mythology. Because of the two different faces, it is mainly used as a negative meaning to refer to people with different sides and insides. Both Korea and Japan have Janus aspects. In the international community, we can not always expect the good will of the other party. It is natural that we should have different faces depending on the situation of the other country. It will take one of the two faces according to the flow of domestic politics and international politics. Nevertheless, we already know the answer. In the first half of the 20th century, we have experienced two great wars and have established universal values ​​that humanity should never undermine.

In the fall of 1944, representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and China gathered at Dumbaton Oaks in Washington, D.C., to agree to establish an international organization. The UN, which was established in this way, was part of an effort by mankind to save itself from catastrophe. Through this, the universal value that must be kept from peace, human rights, and the environment has been established. What Japanese face will we look at? And what face will we show to Japan? The two countries have historically deep relationships to live in conflict all the time, and the distance between countries is closer than any other country. Fortunately, Janus is sometimes called ‘the God of Start’. As we know, the etymology of January also came from Janus. A new start is always possible depending on what face we correspond to.