뉴스레터

Sado Mines, Land of Greed Owned by Mitsubishi

The Sado Mines have been known as the production center for alluvial gold since the Heian period in Japan. Silver mining started in the 16th century and continued from 1601 up to 1989 through a forest reserve. During the Japanese Invasion of Korea, Hideyoshi Toyotomi used silver from the Sado Mines to fund the military campaigns. Those in power during the Edo Shogunate used gold and silver as the governing funds. During the Pacific War, it was a source of raw materials for war supplies for aggression. In other words, the Sado Island was a land of greed, and there were Koreans who were mobilized by force amidst Japan’s war of aggression.

The Mitsubishi Group owned the Sado Mines for 103 years from 1896 to 1989. After all mining activities stopped in March 1989, Golden Sado, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Materials, took over the operating rights.

Forced mobilization of Koreans to the Sado Mines

The forced mobilization of Koreans to the Sado Mines began in February 1939. It was seven months earlier than the mobilization of Koreans to Japan by the authorities which started in September of that year. In February 1939, the Labor Department mobilized Koreans by reason that “For there are many pneumoconiosis patients among local (*Japanese) workers in the mines, the output does not meet the expectations, and young people in Japan have to serve in the military.”

The mobilization of Koreans started in this way and continued until July 1945. The number of Korean laborers recorded in the Local History of Aikawa was ‘1,200 in total’ and the manuscript of (unpublished) records 1,519.

Death or Lung Disease, Flashy Sado Mines Exchanged with the Lives of Koreans

Koreans walked through rough mountain passages for three hours round-trip to work in the pit every day. The rewards for walking across mountains and working in the mines were injuries and sequela of pneumoconiosis.

“For charcoal dust, *sequela does not appear, but stone dust penetrates into the body. You will not be healed,” said Hong Dong-cheol, who labored here for about two years, in his sickbed.

Not long after returning to his hometown, he became ill and died, vomiting blood, at the age of 45. It was pneumoconiosis.

Hong Dong-cheol was not the only one who died of pneumoconiosis. Among the 148 victims of the Sado Mines who were recognized as victims by the Commission on Verification and Support for the Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism in Korea under the Prime Minister, there were 45 reported cases of pneumoconiosis. Im Tae-ho, who left a verbal record, also died.

The number of people that died in the lone and isolated Sado Island was not small. Twelve of the Sado Mines victims who reported the damage to the council died on the site. Yoo Seong-hyeon from Cheongyang-gun, Chungcheongnam-do died in an accident inside the pit just three months after being mobilized.

The scale of Forced Labor of Koreans to Sado Mines (Unit: Persons)

* Total number of people at the time of the investigation (man-days)

** People remained for reasons such as escape, transfer, or layoff after mobilization (Operable people who were actually put into labor)

Perpetrator Hiding Data; Materials and Records Revealed

During the National Mobilization Period (1938-1945), companies kept a list of all manpower mobilized to military factories, coal mines, and engineering and construction sites according to the instructions of the Japanese authorities. On June 17, 1946, the Labor Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan required the submission of the name, domicile, date of birth, and unpaid wages of Koreans mobilized by companies during the war. However, Mitsubishi Mining did not submit the list of Koreans who worked at the Sado Mines. It is a typical case of concealing information by the perpetrator by taking advantage of the situation where the victim cannot produce public documents. As a result, there is currently no list of victims of the Sado Mines produced by the Japanese government and companies. However, these perpetrators’ schemes cannot last forever.

We are still collecting and matching pieces, the materials of the mobilizer (two reports prepared by the Sado Mines, data on the status of deposits) and records of victims (results of committee’s investigation, verbal records of Im Tae-ho) were revealed to the world. Other materials include the ‘List of Persons at the Ages Designated by the Japanese Government-General of Korea,’ and the ‘List of Tobacco Distribution for Koreans.’ The list provided by the Japanese government in 1992 includes seven people who died at the Sado Mines.

‘If there is a document indicating forced deportation, show it!’

This is the rhetoric of the perpetrators always used in the battle over the issue of the Japanese military ‘comfort women.’ It is a type of attack that takes advantage of the weakness that ‘victims cannot produce public documents.’ It can be exhausting to respond to the 'positivism of negativity' every time. However, Japan has begun to distort history in earnest after registering the ‘Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution’ in 2015, and is trying to continue with the Sado Mines. The situation cannot be overlooked. We must confront the 'positivism of negativity' seriously with academic sincerity about the 'facts that existed.'