KYODO NEWS
Memorial service held for Korean A-bomb victims in Hiroshima

Friday August 5

(Kyodo) _ A memorial service for Koreans who died in or after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, many after being brought to Japan as forced laborers, was held in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Friday, a day ahead of the 60th anniversary of the bombing.

The ceremony at a cenotaph in the park dedicated to Korean victims drew about 350 attendees including South Korean survivors and relatives of Koreans who died as a result of the atomic bombing of the western Japan city on Aug. 6, 1945.

The participants observed a moment of silence after a book containing the names of 2,617 Korean dead, including four recent additions to the list, was laid at the monument.

In an opening address, Kang Moon Hee, who heads a group for South Korean atomic-bomb survivors, said, "We have the duty to protect the peace that we have now and ensure that no war will ever happen. We must be resolute in trying to work things out always in dialogue and peaceful diplomacy."

Many of the Korean atomic-bomb victims were brought to Japan as forced laborers during its colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Referring to differences between Japan and South Korea mainly over their perceptions of wartime history, Cho Soo Yoong, president of the Korean Youth Association in Japan, said there are recent moves by some people in Japan to "distort history" but that these must not prevail.

"Such moves dampen the efforts of many people to be remorseful and learn from the war...We cannot tolerate this at all as we must protect the value of peace," he said.

Cho was referring mainly to the controversy generated by a history textbook written by a nationalist group. Japan's neighboring countries, especially South Korea and China, have protested that the textbook whitewashes Japan's wartime aggression.

Echoing his sentiments, Cho Hye Mi, a 24-year-old South Korean resident in Kyoto, said that Koreans and Japanese should "not dwell only" on such outstanding issues but look at what can be done in the future.

Cho, who was one of the two Korean women who performed a traditional Korean dance at the start of the ceremony, said, "It is important for our generation, who have not experienced the war, to remember and understand the past, work for future peace and harmony, and pass this on to the young generation."

Following a rendition of a song in memory of the Korean atomic-bomb victims, attendees offered flowers and paper cranes symbolizing peace before the monument.

The cenotaph, a stone tower 5 meters high, has a turtle-shaped base and two dragons carved at the top. The tower was erected in April 1970 mostly with donations from Korean residents in Japan.

The monument for the Korean atomic-bomb survivors is located just a few meters away from the main venue where the city will hold its annual ceremony on Saturday morning, with tens of thousands of people at home and abroad expected to attend.

Days before the ceremony, the city was filled with commemorative events such as conferences by two Japanese antinuclear groups and peace rallies including a "stone walk" pilgrimage by a group of bereaved relatives of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and peace activists from Japan and abroad.