JCP Chair Shii begins visit to South Korea with visit to former Japanese prison

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JCP Chair Shii begins visit to South Korea with visit to former Japanese prison

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on September 5 began his visit to the Republic of Korea as the first JCP leader to ever visit the country. He was accompanied by JCP Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo and International Bureau Deputy Director Kasai Akira.

On arriving in Seoul, Shii visited the Seodaemun Prison History Hall and toured the museum guided by its director Park Kyung-mok. Shii offered flowers and paid silent tribute to a monument on which names of independence movement activists killed in the prison are engraved.

The Seodaemun Prison, in which tens of thousands Korean independence activists struggling against the colonial rule of Japan were jailed, tortured, and executed, has been regarded as a major facility of repression by Japanese imperialism against the anti-Japanese national independence movement.

Built in 1908 as the Seoul Prison by Japan, which was pushing ahead with its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the prison was renamed in 1933 Seodaemun Prison. The number of those who died there under the rule of Japan is estimated from between 400 to 4,000.

Asked by South Korean reporters for his impression, Shii said, "I am deeply affected by the realities of the atrocities committed by the harsh colonial rule of Japan and the strength of the courageous struggle for independence of Korean patriots."

The reporters asked him why he chose the museum as a place to visit at the beginning of his visit to South Korea. Shii said, "Because I wanted to express my sincere respect to the Korean patriots who had waged the struggle against the ruthless repression by the Japanese government."

Shii also said, "The JCP is proud of the historical struggle it waged since its foundation in 1922 in solidarity with the Korean struggle for independence. Therefore, I come here to pay my respect and tribute to our 'historical comrades'."

Shii added, "At the same time, I am here hoping to establish true friendship between the Japanese and South Korean peoples."
- Akahata, September 6, 2006