Korean A-Bomb Survivors Remember

The audience at this remembrance ceremony rises to its feet as the South Korean national anthem is played. Six decades ago, many of the people here were forced to pledge their allegiance to Imperial Japan.

At that time, Korea was a Japanese colony. Many Koreans were conscripted to work in Japan.

As the Second World War came to an end, 70,000 Koreans were living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“There was a sudden bluish flash”

On Aug. 9, Kim Han Soo, a conscripted solder, was working at a Nagasaki factory. Today he is 90 years old. He says he had no idea at the time that a nuclear bomb had been used in the attack on Hiroshima just a few days earlier.

"I was inside the office looking at my colleague’s broken watch. Suddenly, there was a bluish flash all over and my Japanese colleague ran away shouting: ‘Enemies!’. I tried to follow him and opened the door.”

“Suddenly the building collapsed with a thundering sound and I lost consciousness. After a while, I opened my eyes but at first I couldn’t see. I could smell my burnt hair and could hear people shouting and asking for help. I could see, though it was very blurry, many dead bodies all over the place. I then dragged myself into shelter."

In total, 40,000 Koreans died in the two nuclear attacks.

27,000 Korean A-bomb survivors

Kim Yong Gil represents a group that advocates for A-bomb victims in Seoul. He survived the Hiroshima attack but he says life did not become easier for the 27,000 Korean survivors when they went back home after the war.

“They faced discrimination because of their visible skin lesions and the general resentment toward Koreans who had lived in Japan during the occupation. They were neglected and received almost no medical care for their conditions. Fewer than 3,000 Korean victims are still alive today.”

Japan has longed provided financial and medical support to A-bombs survivors. But in 1974, Tokyo stopped giving benefits to victims living outside Japan. However, the government was forced by court order to resume payments in 2003.

3,000 Koreans want compensation from Japan

Now, the Korean survivors want the missing money that they did not receive for almost 30 years. They have filed a lawsuit to get it.

Advocate Kim Yong Gil explained that they want “consolation money because the victims suffered both physically and mentally during those years. It comes to 10,000 dollars per person.”

Analysts say that the Korean survivors have a good chance of winning, looking at similar cases.

However, Nagasaki survivor Him Han Soo is not sure if he'll still be around if the money does finally come in: “Over the years, my health has been fine, but these days I don’t feel so good. I sense that it’s time for me to prepare for my death."

Author: Jason Strother
Editor: Anne Thomas