Photo : YONHAP News
The government plans to meet with bereaved families of Korean victims of the controversial explosion and sinking of Japan’s Ukishima Maru vessel in 1945.
According to groups representing the families on Saturday, the interior ministry’s team tasked to provide support for past affairs notified them of the upcoming meeting on September 26, requesting a tally of its members wishing to attend.
Seoul’s foreign ministry has received 19 out of some 70 documents from Japan regarding the list of Korean passengers onboard the Ukishima Maru.
At the meeting, the Seoul government will present an analysis of the passenger list, how the documents were obtained, and its future plans, including compensation, before collecting the families’ opinions.
Shortly after Korea’s liberation from Japan in August 1945, the Ukishima Maru was carrying thousands of Koreans who were seeking to return home after being forced into wartime labor. However, the ship exploded and sank in waters off Japan’s Maizuru Port.
Japan, for many years, had denied the existence of the passenger list, claiming that it had been lost in the sinking.