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Members of the Shelter for Second-Generation Korean Sufferers of Atomic Bomb Symptoms gather for a meal every Wednesday. (by Choi Sang-won

“The coffee is good, and it’s fun drawing rabbits,” said Jeong Yeong-hyeon, 48, of the Shelter for Second-Generation Korean Sufferers of Atomic Bomb Symptoms.

“I like the Pepero [cookie sticks] more than the coffee,” cut in wife Heo Jin-yeong, 48, from beside him.

“Be quiet. I’m talking,” said Jeong before continuing.

Their speech was thick enough that their words were difficult to understand even after several repetitions. But the two of them continued laughing and talking without a moment’s pause. As a couple, they seemed as pure and happy as children.

Jeong and Heo have lived at the shelter in Hapcheon County, South Gyeongsang Province, since last year. Their parents were victims of exposure to radiation in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Both were born in 1969 with the genetic disorder Down syndrome. Their condition is believed to have been inherited from their radiation-exposed parents.

“The very existence of people like us with various congenital symptoms is clear evidence. Does it make any sense to claim there is no medical proof that symptoms of atomic bomb exposure are passed down through generations?” asked shelter manager and Korean Second-Generation Atomic Bomb Victims’ Association emeritus chairperson Han Jeong-sun, 58, on Jan. 16.

According to a report drafted in late 1945 by the Japanese Home Minister’s Police Affairs Bureau, around 50,000 out of 100,000 Korean atomic bomb victims died when the bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Another 43,000 returned to Korea just after its liberation. The Association of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims and the Republic of Korea National Red Cross estimated around 2,490 survivors of the blasts were living in South Korea as of late 2016.

More than seven decades after the atomic bombs exploded, the issue of descendants suffering from various congenital disorders and disorders due to symptoms passed down by their exposed parents has become a more serious problem than the atomic bomb victims themselves. Both the South Korean and Japanese governments provide health care and livelihood support - inadequate as it is - to the blasts’ survivors. But claims that the inheritance of symptoms from atomic bomb exposure has not been medically proven mean the suffering of the descendants goes unrecognized. Obviously, no support is provided.

The South Korean government does not even know the exact number of descendants of atomic bomb victims, let alone their situation. Enacted on May 19 of last year, the Special Act for Support to Korean Atomic Bomb Victims limits the category of “victim” to include only people who were in Hiroshima or Nagasaki when the bombs were dropped in 1945 or who were “in the womb at the time.” Yet the Korean Second-Generation Atomic Bomb Victims‘ Association, a group of people whose parents are atomic bomb survivors and who have openly discussed suffering from congenital ailments, already has more than 1,300 members.

For this reason, South Gyeongsang Province enacted a special support ordinance in Jan. 2012 - when Kim Doo-kwan was serving as governor - that categorized second- and third-generation descendants as victims. It was the first time not only in South Korea but anywhere in the world, including Japan, that descendants had been officially included. The reason behind the province’s enactment of the ordinance stems from its being home to around 30% of South Korean atomic bomb survivors, many of them in the county of Hapcheon - which has been called the “South Korean Hiroshima” for the large number of survivors living there.

The ordinance lists responsibilities for the governor such as establishing and pursuing comprehensive policies to support victims, conducting regular surveys of conditions, and developing and implementing systematic support plans for victim health and welfare. The governor is also empowered to set up and run a welfare and support center for victims.

Following the ordinance’s enactment, the province conducted a 2013 health survey of 244 local residents whose parents were survivors. The findings showed 34 of them, or 13.9%, to be suffering from congenital abnormalities or genetic diseases. Their disability registration rate was 9.1%, or nearly twice the national average of 5%.

This year, the province is spending 20 million won (US$17,100) to hear statements of suffering from victims in the Hapcheon area. Participants are being asked to indicate their reason for going to Japan, their activities while there, their situation at the time of exposure, their reason for returning to Korea, difficulties encountered in life since returning, their health situation after exposure, and the health situation of their descendants. The province and Hapcheon County are also spending 2.1 billion won (US$1.8 million) - including 1.5 billion won (US$1.3 million) in state support and 300 million won (U$257,000) each from the province and military - to build an archive in Hapcheon to record the ravages of the atomic bombs. Once completed this August, it is to house and display the victims‘ statements.

But in the absence of legal support, the ordinance alone is limited in how much it can support the victims and their descendants.

The Shelter for Second-Generation Korean Sufferers of Atomic Bomb Symptoms opened its doors in Hapcheon on Aug. 6 of last year, 71 years to the day after the Hiroshima bombing. Currently occupied by Jeong Yeong-hyeon and Heo Jin-yeong, it can house up to six people at a time. Every Wednesday, members gathered to eat and share information. Psychological counseling is also available with local government support. But without any support from the central government, the facility is operated entirely on private support from organizations like the Korean Second-Generation Atomic Bomb Victims’ Association and the civic group Hapcheon Peace House. Han Jeong-sun, who is responsible for managing it, does so on a completely unpaid volunteer basis.

“Right now, we‘re using up our support no matter how much we try to save. Even that money’s expected to run out by the end of the year,” said Ahn Jae-eun, a team leader at Hapcheon Peace House.

“We‘re holding out from one day to the next, but it’s always a concern,” Ahn added.

Sim Jin-tae, the 75-year-old director of the Association of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims chapter for Hapcheon, said the Special Act “needs to be amended right now.”

“There are only 2,500 people left now, and there won‘t be any resolution to the atomic bomb victim problem with a law that only serves a first generation [of survivors] who are all elderly or likely to die in the next few years,” Sim added.

By Choi Sang-won, South Gyeongsang correspondent

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