North Korea Urges Japan To Apologize To Korean Citizens Who Become Victims Of Tokyo 1945 Bombing

The March 9, Tokyo Air Attack Monument was built near the Senso Ji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo. (Wikimedia Commons/Dwkaminski)

JAKARTA - North Korea on Monday urged Japan to investigate and apologize to Koreans killed in the Tokyo bombing by the United States in 1945, towards the end of World War II, a day before Japan prepared for mourning over the victims of the devastating airstrikes.

The demands were issued by North Korean associations consisting of those mobilized for forced labor by Japan during the country's occupation of Korea in 1910-45 and their families left behind, in a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

On the night of March 9-10, 1945, the US Air Force carried out a devastating bomb attack in the Japanese capital, dropping bombs from hundreds of heavy bombers and setting fire to most of eastern Tokyo in a bid to force its surrender, in an incident known as the Tokyo bombing.

About 100,000 people are thought to have died in this one-day airstrike, with about 10 percent believed to be Korean citizens. Every year on March 10, Japan mourns the victims of the airstrikes, although Korean victims are reportedly still without compensation.

"At the time, Japanese imperialists detained Koreans in groups, arguing Koreans who had been subjected to inhumane abuse and insults, dangerous and tiring jobs could escape amid the chaos of airstrikes," the association said. March 10th.

"As a result, many Koreans died in accidents," he said.

North Korea accuses Japan of "fertilizing Koreans who died in 67 places scattered in parks, temples and campuses," without investigating their identities, under the pretext of the emperor's "travel" to the area.

"Then, they committed terrible unethical crimes such as digging up bodies and handling the bodies of Koreans at will," the association said.

They urged Japan to express deep apologies and provide compensation to the victims and their families left behind "for crimes that have been condemned three times, which is to push innocent people into death."

The group also called for a thorough investigation into the bodies of Korean victims who had been neglected for 80 years and disclosed the investigation to the public.

"It is an immovable desire of all Korean people to vent the deep grudges of the victims who lost their beautiful youth and their valuable lives as a result of forced military service by Japanese imperialists and their bereaved families," the statement said.