hankyoreh

The National History Compilation Committee unveiled on Aug. 11 a list it had found of Korean workers who were returned home by U.S. forces after being forced to work in the South Pacific during Japanese colonial rule.

The list was compiled by the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which occupied the South Pacific in late 1945 and early 1946, following the end of World War II. The list was discovered by U.S.-based historian Bang Seon-joo, who is also a member of the committee’s foreign materials survey team.

"Excluding items acquired from the Japanese government, this is the first time we have found a large amount of material related to Koreans forced into labor during Japanese colonial rule," said Bang.

The 3,799-page document includes names, ages, professions, and addresses of 10,996 Korean workers who were returned home following the war. Most of them were forced to work on Guam, Tinian, Saipan, Palau, and the Marshall Islands or to work for sugar cane plantations in the region. Of the total listed, 6,880 were farmers and other regular citizens, 3,751 were military servicemen, and 190 were soldiers.

Particularly significant is the disparity between the listed number of forced South Pacific laborers returned home by the U.S. military and the official figure given by the Japanese government. In 1963, the Japanese government said that the number of Koreans returned home from the South Pacific by the U.S. following the war was 7,727.

An official from the historical committee said, "We obtained these new materials from the U.S. national document management agency, as we have conducted a search for Korean historical materials overseas since 2001."

"We expect these materials to help us clarify the facts about Korean forced labor in the South Pacific," the official said.