February 3, 2013

A ceremony to unveil a monument to commemorate the victims of an undersea coal mine disaster 71 years ago took place on February 2 in Ube City in Yamaguchi Prefecture with the attendance of bereaved families of Korean victims.

The accident at Chosei Coal Mine occurred in February 1942, two months after the outbreak of the Pacific War, in a tunnel one kilometer offshore from a beach in the city.

Of all 183 workers killed in the accident, 137 were from the Korean Peninsula carted off to Japan against their will.

Since 1992, a memorial service has annually taken place on February 2, the day of the accident.

In this year’s memorial, Ube citizens performed a recitation play titled, “Aboji (father) is at the bottom of sea”.