A Japanese civic group has disclosed the list of Koreans who were mobilized to the Sado Mine in Niigata Prefecture, a forced labor site during the Japanese colonial period, and requested their government to provide it to the South Korean government.
According to Kyodo News on the 5th, the civic group "Forced Mobilization Truth Investigation Network" sent a request to the Japanese government on the same day, urging them to deliver the list of Korean workers at the Sado Mine and the list of Koreans aboard the Ukishimamaru (Ukishima) ship, which sank shortly after liberation, to South Korea.
The group had previously raised their voices on the 12th of last month, demanding that Niigata Prefecture and the mine management company Golden Sado disclose the list of Korean laborers who worked at the Sado Mine, which Japan is promoting for UNESCO World Heritage registration.
They mentioned that the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) recommended establishing an explanatory and exhibition strategy that comprehensively covers the entire history and equipping the facilities, emphasizing that "the laborer list is indispensable for explaining and exhibiting the entire history."
The Niigata Prefectural Archives is known to hold microfilms of the Korean laborer list, which were photographed during the compilation of local history books by Niigata Prefecture, but they have not made it public.
The South Korean government has insisted that the entire history of the Sado Mine should be reflected in the World Heritage registration. The Ukishima ship was a Japanese Navy transport ship carrying Korean residents in Japan who were trying to return home right after liberation in 1945, heading to Busan. On August 24 of that year, while attempting to dock at Maizuru Port in Kyoto, an explosion occurred in the lower part of the hull, causing it to sink. Japan announced that the Ukishima ship struck an underwater mine and sank, with 524 Korean casualties among approximately 3,700 passengers.
However, Korean survivors and bereaved families claim that Japan deliberately blew up the ship and that among the approximately 8,000 passengers, the number of Korean casualties reached several thousand, demanding the Japanese government to investigate the truth.
The Japanese government had claimed that the passenger list was lost due to the sinking of the Ukishima ship but recently responded to a Japanese journalist’s information disclosure request by releasing three lists.
The lists were released with personal information such as occupation, name, date of birth, and place of origin redacted for privacy protection.
The group pointed out that "concealing lists from 80 years ago is inhumane" and insisted that "since it is an important historical document revealing the existence of the deceased, it must be fully disclosed."
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