hankyoreh

Korean victims of nuclear bombs and their descendants

An association commemorating the late Kim Hyeong-ryul is staging a memorial ceremony to mark the eleventh anniversary of his death.

At the ceremony, the association is scheduled to announce plans to build a memorial to Kim, an anti-nuclear pacifist and human rights activist who dedicated his life to helping South Korean atomic bomb survivors and their children, who suffered health problems apparently related to radiation exposure. The event will take place at 11 am on May 28 at the Cubby Hall in Democracy Park in Busan’s Central District.

At a press conference on Mar. 22, 2002, Kim announced that he was a second-generation A-bomb victim suffering from radiation-related ailments. The story became many South Koreans’ first knowledge of the inheritance of radiation-related health problems by the children of atomic bomb survivors.

Kim also established and served an inaugural chairperson for the Association for the Second Generation of Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors. He continued fighting for the enactment of a special law to assist survivors before passing away in May 2005 from pneumonia due to congenital immunoglobulin deficiency - a rare white blood cell condition that impairs immune functions. He was 35 at the time of his death.

Since Kim’s death, atomic bomb survivors groups - including his own Association for the Second Generation of Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors, the Korea Atomic Bombs Victim Association, and Hapcheon Peace House - have continued actively campaigning for a survey of victims and opposing the use of nuclear power.

Thanks to those efforts, the 19th National Assembly passed South Korea’s first-ever special act to support domestic atomic bomb survivors. The legislation, which was passed on May 19 just before the end of that parliament’s term, provided for surveys of victims, medical support, and projects to commemorate those affected.

“It’s taken this long for the special law to be enacted, but it’s missing a lot of support for descendants of atomic bomb survivors. It’s all surface, with no substance,” said Kim’s father, 79-year-old Kim Bong-dae.

“I’m watching for now because the 20th Assembly said they would amend it,” Kim added.

Kim also criticized the South Korean government’s actions on the issue.

“The government should be protecting its people, yet it hasn’t really responded to the victims to date,” he said. “I hope now the government will finally take action to solve the problem and get an apology from the Japanese government.”

Meanwhile, a group of ten people left for Hiroshima on the afternoon of May 26 to deliver a letter to visiting US President Barack Obama calling for an acknowledgement, a survey, an apology, and compensation in connection with Korean atomic bomb victims. The group includes five survivors, including Shim Jin-tae, head of the Hapcheon chapter of the Korea Atomic Bombs Victim Association, who was in Hiroshima during the atomic blast of Aug. 6, 1945. Accompanying them were members of four civic groups and Han Jeong-soon, honorary chairperson of the Association for the Second Generation of Korean Atomic Bomb Survivor and a second-generation survivor who suffers from radiation-related symptoms.

Prior to their departure, the delegation members held a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

“During his visit to Hiroshima on May 27, we urge President Obama to visit and pay respects at the memorial stone to Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima Peace Park, and to give a heartfelt apology to all atomic bomb victims around the world,” they said.

“We also urge him to lead the way in prohibiting and abolishing nuclear weapons and achieving a nuclear-free world,” they added.

By Kim Young-dong and Choi Sang-won, Busan and South Gyeongsang correspondents

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