Japan’s Massacre of Koreans under Fire

A spokesperson for the Association of Korean Victims of Forcible Drafting and Their Bereaved Families released a statement on September 1 to denounce the Japanese authorities for their massacre of Koreans.

The statement said:

The sudden great earthquake and the consequent fire on September 1, 1923 engulfed Tokyo, Yokohama and other parts in the Kanto area of Japan in flames and reduced them to ruins, causing lots of casualties and leaving many missing. Public complaints against the government grew stronger as it did not take any relief measures.

In order to escape from the severe social and political crisis consequent on the quake, the Japanese government masterminded a massacre of Koreans.

The massacre of Koreans in the wake of the great Kanto earthquake was neither a spontaneous and accidental case nor an act of terrorism masterminded by some high-ranking officials but an indiscriminate massacre premeditated, organized and perpetrated by the Japanese government which found its way of maintaining its power in inciting national chauvinism.

But even now the Japanese authorities deny their state responsibility for the massacre of Koreans in Kanto, talking nonsense that there are “different views” and “it is an issue to be resolved by historians.”

In Japan, hateful remarks against Koreans are still posted on internet whenever land shakes even a bit, only to repeat the nightmare of the past massacre and pose a serious threat to the life, rights and interests of Koreans in Japan.

Every sin brings punishment.

Despite the lapse of time and the shift in generations, the Korean people will never forget all the unethical crimes committed by Japan against the Korean nation, including the massacre of Koreans in the Kanto area, but force it to pay dearly for them without fail.

KCNA

2022-09-02