hankyoreh

A memorial ceremony for the Koreans massacred 99 years prior in the wake of the Kanto earthquake takes place on Sept. 1, 2022, at Yokoamicho Park in Tokyo. (Kim So-youn/The Hankyoreh)

100 years ago, on Sept. 1, 1923, a massacre targeting Koreans was carried out in the chaotic aftermath of a devastating earthquake in the Kanto region of Japan.

Japanese police involved themselves, spreading rumors that Koreans were instigating riots. Korean laborers with nowhere to flee were stranded in a miasma of terror and brutally murdered.

The Japanese military and police, as well as vigilantes, are said to have had a role in carrying out the massacre. It was a crime against humanity committed by imperial Japan.

This nearly forgotten page of history was unearthed by the efforts of Japanese citizens, who worked to memorialize the atrocity.

Movements to properly investigate and document the massacre of Koreans cropped up in the 1960s, and for about a decade, Japanese civic organizations met with survivors and witnesses to collect testimonies and documents.

In 1973, on the 50th anniversary of the earthquake, a memorial was erected, and annual memorial services were held there.

Academic research has confirmed that the Japanese police and local governments were responsible for the massacres, as they spread baseless rumors of Koreans committing arson and declared martial law to prevent Japanese citizens from directing their anger at the imperial family and relevant authorities.

Discrimination and prejudice that formed due to Japan’s colonial rule over Korea, and the ruling class’s fear of Korean resistance as shown in the March 1 Independence Movement, also contributed to the massacre.

The governments of both Korea and Japan have remained indifferent and unaccountable in regard to this historical fact.

In 2017, Shinzo Abe’s government responded to the public’s demands for clarification by claiming that there are “no records.”

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike’s refusal to send a letter of condolence to the Korean victims for seven years running is a deplorable act emblematic of the rightward shift in Japanese society.

Japanese far-right groups have been calling for the removal of the memorial to the Koreans slaughtered, making unscrupulous claims that the number of Korean victims was inflated and that the massacre was carried out in self-defense in response to riots by Koreans at the time.

The South Korean government has been equally indifferent to the issue.

Yet in the face of this, many continue to call on the Japanese government to finally come clean and admit its responsibility. Late though the hour may be, the Japanese government must once and for all show the courage to reveal the truth behind this history and apologize.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are touting the achievements of improving bilateral relations. If the two governments were to jointly investigate the massacre of Koreans at the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake, it would be a meaningful step toward reconciliation.

This issue mustn’t be characterized as “anti-Japan.” Indeed, it would be a courageous decision on the part of South Korea and Japan if they were to work together to set the record straight and ensure that such atrocities against humankind are never repeated.

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