Senior Hiroshima official honors Korean survivors of atomic bomb

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Senior Hiroshima official honors Korean survivors of atomic bomb

Published: 14 Jul. 2025, 14:00 Updated: 14 Jul. 2025, 18:36

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Hiroshima Vice Gov. Mika Yokota, center, bows her head in tribute at the Korean atomic bomb victims’ memorial altar at the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victims Welfare Center in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang on July 12. [JOONGANG ILBO]

HAPCHEON, South Gyeongsang — Mika Yokota, vice governor of Hiroshima Prefecture, on Saturday traveled to the rural town long known as “Korea’s Hiroshima” and publicly acknowledged the pain of Korean survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing, a historic first for a sitting Hiroshima vice governor.

Yokota met with Korean atomic bomb survivors at the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victims Welfare Center, marking the first official visit of its kind by a Hiroshima government representative. The trip came weeks ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing on Aug. 6.

“I felt the pain you have endured for 80 years more deeply today," Yokota said. "With respect and reverence for the painful path you have walked, we will do our part to carry your message across various platforms."

Yokota, dressed in a black suit, spent nearly an hour listening to the testimonies of about 10 first- and second-generation survivors, as well as officials from the Korea Atomic Bomb Victims Association, the Korean Red Cross and Hapcheon County.

“I will report everything you shared directly to the governor,” she said. “We will also refer to your comments when considering future policy.”

Hiroshima Vice Gov. Mika Yokota, second from right, listens to Shim Jin-tae, head of the Hapcheon branch of the Korea Atomic Bomb Victims Association, explain the impact of the atomic bombing on Koreans at the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Museum in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang on July 12. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Earlier in the day, Yokota and four other Hiroshima officials visited Hapcheon's atomic bomb museum and memorial shrine honoring Korean victims. At the shrine, she bowed her head in silence before a memorial tablet inscribed with 1,167 names, offered incense and laid a wreath. In the guest book, she wrote: “In solidarity with A-bomb survivors around the world, I earnestly hope for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.”

The visit underscored a shift in tone from Japanese authorities toward Korean survivors, who have long criticized Tokyo’s failure to apologize or offer official compensation.

“This is the first time a senior Hiroshima official has come,” said Shim Jin-tae, head of the Hapcheon branch of the Korea Atomic Bomb Victims Association.

Hapcheon, a quiet farming county in South Gyeongsang, earned its nickname due to the disproportionate number of atomic bomb victims from the area. Of the roughly 70,000 Korean survivors of the Hiroshima bombing — out of 700,000 Koreans who lived in Japan during World War II — historians estimate 70 to 80 percent were originally from Hapcheon. Many had migrated to Hiroshima for work or were forcibly conscripted by Japan’s colonial government.

“In Hiroshima, if you met a Korean on the street, there was no need to ask where they were from — everyone would say Hapcheon,” Shim said.

Survivors in Hapcheon still bear the scars of the bombing and its aftermath. As of December, 243 of Korea’s 1,643 surviving atomic bomb victims lived in the county, according to the Korean Red Cross. About 60 to 70 live in the welfare center where Saturday’s meeting took place, the largest number after Busan and Daegu.

“I was born in Hiroshima after my father was taken by force into the Japanese army,” said Lee Bu-yeol, 87. “That’s where I was bombed.”

Kim Cheol-joo, also 87, spoke of his decades-long suffering.

“The injuries and illnesses caused by the bomb, the discrimination and stigma, the fear that radiation might affect our children and grandchildren — and above all, Japan’s refusal to provide official compensation or an apology, and its failure to eliminate nuclear weapons in 80 years — these have been the hardest to bear,” he said.

Lee Bu-yeol, a first-generation Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor, shows his twisted index and middle fingers while recounting his experience at the time of the bombing at the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victims Welfare Center in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang on July 12. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Junko Ichiba, head of a Japanese civic group that supports Korean atomic bomb victims, also called for Tokyo to reckon with its colonial past.

“I hope the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Aug. 6 includes an apology to the Korean victims who suffered not only from the bomb but also from Japan’s colonial rule,” she said.

Lee Kyu-yeol, chairman of the Korea Atomic Bomb Victims Association, pressed Japan to do more.

“We ask the Japanese government to provide accurate data and ensure that the souls of the victims can be enshrined at our memorial altar,” Lee said.

Yokota acknowledged the gaps in the historical record.

“There is a severe lack of historical records, and 80 years have passed. I sincerely apologize for the gaps in information,” she said. “But we remain committed to building a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.”

After three hours of solemn commemorations and conversations, the Hiroshima delegation departed Hapcheon, leaving behind a gesture of recognition that, for many survivors, came decades too late.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY AN DAE-HUN [[email protected]]