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More facts about crimes related to Japan's forcible drafting of Koreans disclosed

KCNA

    Pyongyang, March 5 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Measure Committee for Demanding Compensation to "Comfort Women" for the Japanese Imperial Army and Victims of Forcible Drafting carried out an investigation into the whereabouts of survivors and their families for several years on the basis of a copy of list of Koreans who had been forcibly drafted to Hyogo Prefecture in the period of the Japanese imperialists' colonial rule over Korea. It obtained from the Fact-Finding Group for Probing the Truth Behind the Forcible Drafting of Koreans to Hyogo Prefecture. The results of the investigation have confirmed the following facts. A Korean by Japanese name of Yoshu Matsumoto on the list is now alive in Nyongbyon county, North Phyongan Province. His name is Pak Yong Su and he was born on March 22, 1923. Another man whose Japanese name is Meishun Kaneyama is also alive in Wiwon county, Jagang Province. His name is Kim Myong Jun and he was born on February 7, 1923.
    They testified to more facts about the forcible drafting of Koreans for forced labor at the Harima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Japan.
    The measure committee issued a report on the results of the investigation on March 4.
    The report says:
    The company (Harima Ishigawashima Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. at present) was built in Aioi city, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan in 1912.
    It was selected as the first munitions company in January 1944 to build warships and transport ships for war as the Japanese imperialists decided to escalate the war of aggression.
    According to testimonies made by Pak and Kim, they were forcibly taken to the company after threats were posed not only to their existence but to that of their families and mental and physical pressure was put on them.
    The draftees had to do slave labor under the supervision of military police.
    Young and middle-aged Koreans were driven to do earth work for building a new dock and build ships there. Accidents often occurred, killing many Koreans.
    A lot of them were killed during the U.S. air raid at around 7:00 on July 28, 1945.
    The crimes related to the forcible drafting of Koreans and forced labor imposed upon them were state-sponsored crimes against humanity the government and the military of imperial Japan committed in close collaboration with businesses.
    Therefore, the Japanese Government should own due responsibility for these crimes.
    The recent reinvestigation into Japanese Government documents confirmed the fact that the Japanese imperialists forcibly drafted more than 8.4 million innocent Koreans from 1938 to 1945.
    The Japanese Government has the international obligation to admit its legal responsibility for the forcible drafting of Koreans by the Japanese imperialists for forced labour on the basis of war laws and regulations and on the principles of international law on humanitarianism and human rights and take effective measures to restore the honor and dignity of those who fell victim to such crimes in the past.
    If Japan wants to live as a full-fledged member of the international community, though belatedly, it should sincerely apologize for the crimes against humanity the Japanese imperialists committed in the past and probe the truth behind them and immediately take appropriate measures to restore the rights of the millions of victims trampled down by the Japanese imperialists.