August 8, 2024

Japanese Communist Party Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji at a press conference held on August 7 in the Diet building announced that the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHLW) submitted to him a list of 75 books named as “registers” regarding to the 1945 Ukishima-maru incident.

The Ukishima-maru tragedy occurred on August 24 in 1945, when a transport ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy carrying Koreans, including those who were taken to Japan as forced laborers, was sunk off the coast of Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture on its way to Busan, Korea due to an underwater mine placed by the U.S. military. The incident killed more than 500 people.

According to Kokuta, 15 of the 75 books contain documents labelled as “passenger lists” or “boarding lists”.

Kokuta requested that the MHLW provide the South Korean government with a list of Korean victims’ names with the masking (blackout) sections removed. A MHLW official responded positively, saying, “The MHLW intends to proceed in a way that will not fall short of anyone’s expectations.”

Kokuta at the press conference said that providing the list to South Korea would “be a step toward settling the many historical issues of contention between the two countries.”

As the exact number of people on board the Ukishima-maru and the number of casualties were supposedly unknown, Korean bereaved families in court have long demanded the disclosure of “boarding lists and other similar documents” in order to identify the victims. However, the Japanese government has claimed that it cannot confirm the existence of such lists.

Past related article:
> Gov’t admits to existence of lists of Korean victims of 1945 Ukishima-maru incident [June 1, 2024]