Koreans in Japan pushing to build monument for Koreans killed in WWII atomic bombing

A group of South Koreans living in Japan is pushing to build a memorial monument for Koreans killed in the atomic bombing during World War II, the South Korean consulate general in Fukuoka said on Sunday.

With the support of the South Korean government, the federation of Korean residents in Japan is seeking to build the monument inside the Nagasaki Peace Park that commemorates victims of the atomic bomb dropped on the city by the U.S. during the war.

Koreans were also killed by the bombing, mostly those who were mobilized for forced labor, but little has been done to compensate or remember them. Korea was colonized by Japan from 1910-1945 before gaining independence with the end of the war.

If successfully installed, the monument will become the second of its kind in Japan, following the first one set up in the 1970's inside a similar peace park in Hiroshima, another Japanese city struck by the atomic bomb during the war.

The city of Nagasaki is currently reviewing the plan, the consulate general said.

"During the last 68 years, almost nothing has been done about the victims. And (the latest plan) is likely to become an exemplary case for cooperation with the city of Nagasaki," an official at the consulate general said.

The official said that the monument would not contain any criticism of Japan. He said the intent was fully explained to the Japanese host city in response to some Japanese reports opposing the plan. (Yonhap News)