■ Monument in Memory of the
Korean Victims of the A-bomb
The monument’s presence poses the question why a large number of Koreans encountered the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Korean sufferings under Japanese colonial rule engraved in stone
The Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. In 1999, the memorial was moved to its current location from a spot outside the park.
The monument was completed 29 years earlier, in 1970. It was raised at a place about 100 meters west of the current site, on the opposite bank beyond the Honkawa Bridge, because the City of Hiroshima had already established a policy of not permitting new monuments to be built in the park. The place was said to be where Prince Lee, a descendant of the Lee Dynasty and a staff officer in charge of education at the Second General Army of Japan, was rescued after the A-bomb blast. He later died from his injuries.
But in the 1980s, voices of criticism, contending that the monument’s location outside the park amounted to ethnic discrimination against the Korean people, began to be heard. Partly because of the strong request made by the Hiroshima Headquarters of the Korean Residents Union in Japan, which oversees the monument, as well as requests from citizens and students visiting Hiroshima on school trips, it was finally moved to its current location inside the park.
The monument, 4.5 meters in height, was hewed from Korean stone in South Korea. The foundation of the monument is in the shape of a turtle with its head raised. Rising from the back of the turtle is the memorial pillar, on top of which is a crown engraved with two dragons. Inscribed on the monument, in Korean, are the heartrending cries of the Korean people over the scourge of Japanese rule, words to comfort the souls of the dead, and a pledge for peace.
From the 1920s, a large number of Koreans moved to Hiroshima from the Korean Peninsula, which was under Japan’s colonial rule. During World War II, these Koreans were drafted as soldiers or forced to work for Japan’s war efforts. A significant number of Koreans were exposed to the atomic bombing, but the whole picture of the A-bomb damage suffered by Koreans has not been confirmed. Within the monument’s stone chest is a register bearing 2,663 names of Korean A-bomb victims who have been identified. Each year on August 5, a memorial ceremony is held in front of the monument.
(Originally published on December 5, 2011)