×

News

Korean A-bomb survivors pledge to continue efforts to support North Korean survivors

by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer

On July 28, the Council of Atom-bombed Koreans in Hiroshima held a ceremony in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its founding. About 100 A-bomb survivors and second-generation family members of survivors and victims attended the ceremony. They pledged to continue making diligent efforts to support A-bomb survivors in North Korea who have not had access to support measures due to the lack of diplomatic relations between North Korea and Japan.

The council was established in August 1975 as the first group of Korean A-bomb survivors in Japan. It has continued surveying the conditions of A-bomb survivors living in North Korea and calling for public assistance from the Japanese government. Looking back at the council’s activities, Lee Sil Gun, 86, the chair of the group, declared in his address, “Based on the concept that ‘A-bomb survivors are A-bomb survivors wherever they are,’ we must voice our criticism of the Japanese government’s current policy. We will make every effort to ensure that the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law will be applied to the survivors living in North Korea as soon as possible.”

At the ceremony, commemorative publications which summarize the footsteps of the council’s past 40 years were distributed and a performance of dance and narration which expressed the anguish and suffering of the Korean A-bomb survivors was presented. Sunao Tsuboi, 90, chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo), took the stage to reward Mr. Lee for his achievements and promised to deepen their cooperation.

The council has determined that there are about 160 Korean A-bomb survivors living in Hiroshima Prefecture. This past March, children of the council members founded an association of second-generation Korean A-bomb survivors to help carry on their parents’ activities.

(Originally published on July 29, 2015)

Archives