“Neither Japan nor the United States have ever apologised to the Korean hibakusha (A-Bomb Survivors.)”
The English translation of this article follows the Japanese version below.
日本原水爆被害者団体協議会の受賞について
広島県朝鮮人被爆者協議会の会長が心境を明らかに
「ハンギョレ新聞日本語版」（2024年10月16日）
https://japan.hani.co.kr/arti/international/51363.html
15日にハンギョレの電話取材を受けた広島県朝鮮人被爆者協議会の金鎮湖（キム・ジンホ）会長（78）は、今年のノーベル平和賞の受賞団体として「日本原水爆被害者団体協議会」（日本被団協）が選ばれたことについて、複雑な心境を示した。金会長は「原爆を投下した米国だけが間違っていたのではなく、植民地朝鮮から無数の朝鮮人を連れて行き、最終的に原爆被害を受けさせた日本政府も責任が大きい」として、このように述べた。
11日にノルウェーのノーベル委員会が日本被団協を今年のノーベル平和賞の受賞団体に選定し、過去70年あまりの間、反核活動を行ってきた同団体に対して、「肉体的な苦しみや痛みを伴う記憶を、平和のための希望と参加に用いることにした生存者を賛えたい」と明らかにした。
しかし、「苦しむ生存者」として朝鮮人被爆者は言及されなかった。日本の石破茂首相と米国のジョー・バイデン大統領のノーベル平和賞の祝賀メッセージにも、戦争当事者だった日本を除くと最多の被爆者である朝鮮人は言及されなかった。
2010年に「対日抗争期強制動員被害調査及び国外強制動員犠牲者等支援委員会」が出した資料によると、原爆によって被爆した朝鮮人の数は、広島で5万人、長崎で2万人と推定される。死者は約4万人と推定されるが、資料の消失のため正確な被害規模は分からない。
このような状況は今回が初めてではない。2016年に米国のバラク・オバマ大統領（当時）は現職の米国大統領として初めて被爆地である広島を訪問し、日本被団協の関係者たちと面会したが、朝鮮半島出身の被爆者は参加できなかった。オバマ大統領は当時、広島平和記念公園の「原爆死没者慰霊碑」に献花したが、同じ方向に位置する「韓国人原爆犠牲者慰霊碑」には立ち寄っていない。
韓国人被爆者が日本人被爆者と同じ医療・生活支援を受けられるようになったのも、被爆者と日本の市民団体が数十年間の困難な闘争の末に成し遂げた成果だった。日本政府は1957年に「原子爆弾被爆者の医療等に関する法律」、1968年に「原子爆弾被爆者に対する特別措置に関する法律」を制定し、医療費と援護手当を被爆者に支給したが、対象を日本国内の居住者に限定し、韓国人を事実上排除した。日本が2つの法律を統合した「原子爆弾被爆者に対する援護に関する法律」を改正し、日本国外に居住する被爆者が日本の在外公館を通じて援護手当を申請できるようになったのは、2008年になってからだった。
しかし、その後も日本と国交が結ばれていない北朝鮮の被爆者は、援護手当の支給対象にすらなっていない。金会長は「北朝鮮でも2008年に調査を終えて、被爆者1900人あまり、生存者380人あまりを確認した」として、「これらの人たちに対する治療と補償は、国籍の問題ではなく人道的な事案」だと強調した。
広島と長崎で朝鮮人被爆者が多かった理由は、多くの朝鮮人が軍需工場の多かった両都市に、強制動員や徴集によって来ていたためだ。二重・三重の被害を受けた朝鮮人被爆者は、日本の法廷でこれに対する被害補償を要求する訴訟を起こしたが、1965年の韓日請求権協定などをもとに、日本の裁判所は受け入れなかった。
これらの人たちに残された時間は長くない。特に「被爆第1世代」の生存者はほとんど残っていない。韓国の国家人権委員会は2005年、存命の被爆者の規模を7500人あまりと推算したが、大韓赤十字の統計では、昨年時点では1834人しか残っていなかった。被爆者は加害国の謝罪・補償とともに「核のない未来」を要求している。
金会長は「日本政府は、犠牲者遺族に後からでも被害を補償し、米国も同様に加害国として必要な措置を取らなければならない」として、「特に日本は核兵器禁止条約（TPNW）に加盟して、原爆被害国かつ戦争加害国として『核のない世界』の先頭に立たなければならない」と訴えた。
一方、韓国の被爆者2世の患者の集まりである「陜川（ハプチョン）平和の家」などの陜川地域にある韓国人被爆者の諸団体は、今年のノーベル平和賞の受賞者として日本被団協が選ばれたことについて、15日にお祝いの声明を発表した。これらの団体は「現在の韓国では、政府と社会の無関心の中で苦しい生活を送っている被爆者2世・3世の悲惨な生活が続いている」として、「日本はもちろん、世界中の被爆者と市民社会とのコミュニケーションと連帯が緊密になることを希望する」と訴えた。
東京/ホン・ソクジェ特派員 (お問い合わせ japan@hani.co.kr)
https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/international_general/1162686.html
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広島県朝鮮人被爆者協議会の金鎮湖会長(ハンギョレ新聞) Kim Jin-ho, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Council of Korean A-Bomb Survivors |
“Neither Japan nor the United States have ever apologised to the Korean hibakusha (A-Bomb Survivors.)”
In light of the announcement that the Japan Confederation Council of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, the chairman of the Hiroshima Prefecture Council of Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors has expressed his sentiments. He asserts that neither Japan nor the United States has ever offered an apology to the Korean hibakusha.
Hangyeoreh Newspaper (Japanese edition, October 16, 2024)
In a telephone interview with the Hangyeoreh Newspaper on 15 October, Kim Jin-ho, 78, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Council of Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors, expressed mixed feelings about the selection of the Japan Confederation Council of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations (Nihon Hidankyo) as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Chairman Kim asserted that both the United States, which dropped the atomic bombs, and the Japanese government, which relocated numerous Koreans from colonial Korea to Japan and ultimately subjected them to the atomic bombings, were collectively responsible for the tragedy.
On 11 October, the Norwegian Nobel Committee selected the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations as the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. In announcing the decision, the Committee informed the organisation, which has been engaged in anti-nuclear activities for approximately seven decades, that its intention was to ‘commend the survivors who have chosen to utilise their physical suffering and painful memories as a source of hope and participation in the pursuit of peace.’
However, Korean hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) were not referenced as "suffering survivors." In their respective congratulatory messages on the conferral of the Nobel Peace Prize, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and US President Joe Biden did not acknowledge Koreans, who constitute the largest number of hibakusha, with the exception of Japan, which was a party to the war.
According to data released in 2010 by the Committee for the Investigation of Damage Caused by Forced Mobilisation during the War against Japan and Support for Victims of Overseas Forced Mobilisation, the number of Koreans exposed to the atomic bombs is estimated at 50,000 in Hiroshima and 20,000 in Nagasaki. The estimated death toll is approximately 40,000, however, the precise extent of the damage is uncertain due to the loss of relevant documentation.
This is not the first occasion on which this has occurred. In 2016, the then US President, Barack Obama, became the first incumbent US President to visit the city of Hiroshima, which had been devastated by atomic bombs during World War II. He met with officials from the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organisations. However, atomic bomb survivors from the Korean Peninsula were not permitted to attend. At the time, President Obama offered flowers to the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, but did not stop by the Cenotaph for Korean Atomic Bomb Victims, which is located in the same park.
The fact that Korean hibakusha were able to receive the same medical and living assistance as Japanese hibakusha was also a significant achievement, achieved after decades of challenging efforts by hibakusha and Japanese civil society organisations. In 1957, the Japanese government enacted the A-bomb Survivors Medical Treatment Law for A-Bomb Survivors, while in 1968, the Act on Special Measures for Atomic Bomb Survivors was passed. These acts provided medical expenses and relief allowances to hibakusha, but their coverage was limited to residents of Japan, effectively excluding Koreans. It was not until 2008 that Japan amended the Law on Relief for Atomic Bomb Survivors, which combined the two laws and permitted A-bomb survivors residing outside Japan to apply for relief allowances through Japanese diplomatic missions abroad.
Nevertheless, since that time, North Korean hibakusha, with whom Japan has no diplomatic relations, have not even been eligible for relief allowances. Kim underscored that the treatment and compensation of these individuals is a humanitarian concern, not contingent on nationality. He noted that a survey conducted in North Korea in 2008 identified over 1,900 hibakusha and 380 survivors.
The significant number of Korean hibakusha in Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be attributed to the fact that a considerable number of Koreans had been forcibly mobilised and recruited to work in munitions factories in both cities. Korean hibakusha who had sustained multiple damages initiated legal proceedings in Japanese courts, seeking redress for these losses. However, the Japanese courts declined to entertain the case, citing the 1965 Japan-South Korean Claims Settlement Agreement.
The remaining lifespan of these individuals is limited. In particular, the number of survivors of the “first generation” of A-bomb survivors is dwindling. In 2005, the Korean National Human Rights Commission estimated the number of surviving hibakusha to be approximately 7,500. However, statistics from the Korean Red Cross indicate that only 1,834 individuals remained as of last year. The hibakusha are demanding a nuclear-free future, as well as an apology and compensation from the perpetrating countries.
It is imperative that the Japanese government provides compensation to the bereaved families of the victims, regardless of the timing, and that the United States assumes its role as the aggressor state by implementing the necessary measures. In particular, Japan must join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and spearhead the creation of a "world without nuclear weapons," given its status as both an atomic bomb victim and am aggressor state.
Meanwhile, a number of organisations representing Korean hibakusha in the Hapcheon region, including the Hapcheon Peace House, an association of second-generation Korean hibakusha patients, issued a statement of congratulations on 15 October on the selection of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organisations as the winner of this yea’s Nobel Peace Prize. The aforementioned Korean organisations asserted that the unfortunate circumstances of second- and third-generation hibakusha in South Korea persist due to governmental and social apathy. They consequently advocated for enhanced communication and solidarity between hibakusha and civil society in Japan and globally.
(translated by Yuki Tanak)
