Korean Victim Memorial
Monument to Korean Victims and Survivors
At the end of World War II there were about 100,000 Koreans living in Hiroshima as soldiers, civilian employees of the army, mobilized students and ordinary citizens.
When the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6th, 1945, the sacred lives of more than 20,000 Koreans were suddenly taken from our midst. Of the 200,000 Hiroshima citizens lost to the bomb, approximately 10% were Koreans. This tragic figure cannot be quietly left unnoticed.
The Korean victims were given no funerals or memorial services and their spirits hovered for years unable to pass on to heaven. Then, on April 10, 1970, this monument was erected in this corner of Hiroshima, the City of Peace, by the Hiroshima Prefectural Branch of the Organization of Korean Residents in Japan. This monument was erected in the hope that the souls of our compatriots, brought to misery through force, will be able to rest in peace. It is also an expression of our demand that the A-bomb tragedy will never be repeated.
We pray, of course, for the solace of those lost souls longing for their homeland, but killed on foreign soil. However, we also pray that the plight of the Korean survivors, poorly understood even today, will emerge into public awareness and that reasonable assistance for these survivors will be provided immediately. A memorial service for the Korean victims of the bomb is held here every year on August 5th.
The Junior Federation of Commerce and Industry of Korean Residents in Japan and Concerned Volunteers
Submitted by
Bryan Arnold
@nanowhiskers