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The dark history of conscription and forced labor behind Japan's Hashima Island

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vindheim
Published
하시마섬 유네스코 세계유산 등재 2년... 그 후?

Hashima island.
One of dozens of controversial sites Japan pushed to gain UNESCO World Heritage recognition.
A proud symbol of the nation's rapid industrialization.
Contrary to the image Tokyo is promoting it's where hundreds of Koreans were taken and forced into labor in deadly undersea coal mines.
Oh Jung-hee met with the few survivors to bring to light the true face of that inescapable hell on earth.

A 15-second-long video has been lighting up New York's Times Square since Monday.
It aims to shed light on a less well-known aspect of Hashima Island -- one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage sites.


"It's a fact that the island is listed as a world heritage site. So our ad starts with this fact, and then delves deeper into forced conscription and the 120 victims. It ends by saying that Hashima's true name is 'island of hell.'"

Roughly 15 kilometers away from the city of Nagasaki in southwestern Japan... lies the uninhabited island of Hashima.
Surrounded by a sea wall, and full of abandoned concrete buildings,... the island resembles a battleship, which is why it's commonly called Gunkanjima or "Battleship Island."
The island is recognized as a symbol of Japan's rapid industrialization,... but has a dark history of conscription and forced labor.

From 1940 to 1945, five hundred to eight hundred Koreans were forcibly taken to Hashima Island.
Kim Hyung-seob is one of them.
The exact date that he was taken to Japan -- November 17th, 1943 -- is one he can never forget.


"I don't even want to talk about it. I can't explain how much we suffered. Eating was the biggest problem. They gave us dried sweet potato, beans and bean dregs. That's what they called 'food' for us."

Korean laborers were neither well-fed nor well-paid..
And they had to spend more than 12 hours a day in the coal mine,... which is 1-thousand meters under the sea.

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