Behind the Curtain: Japan and Korea

Just saw an informative deep-dive on NHK into efforts to recover the remains of Japanese and Koreans lost in industrial accidents during WWII. 長生 Coal Mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 1942, February 3: a cave-in occurs, claiming the lives of 136 Korean forced laborers and 47 Japanese. Until this summer, no remains had been recovered, though descendants of the Japanese victims had petitioned their own government in vain for help. Steps up the Korean government, dispatching divers to help in the search. Result: discovery of some remains, and bope of more to follow. Who made this happen? Groups representing Japanese families, their Korean counterparts, and the Korean government. Japanese authorities have been MiA. Why the reluctance to help? Doing so would require the country to confront the issue of Korean forced labor. A touchy issue, even 83 years on? One wonders. No, one doesn't. Consider the 30-year campaign (resolved in 2024) by Sado Island, Niigata, to have 佐渡金山 recognized as a World Heritage Site. Same complication: forced labor, Korean. Back to the coal mine: ironically, Yamaguchi Prefecture was home to the late right-wing PM Abe, murdered for his (and his political party's) ties to the Korean Unification Church. Ironies upon ironies. (Japan- Korea fraught- from the Japanese perspective, at least. Also, let's not forget wartime so-called comfort women, which Japan hasn't recognized as sex slaves, hence the "comfort women" fudge.) Mainichi Shinbun story here photo