Returning to Home after the War
August 15, 1945 was the day Japan finaly
lost the war, and to Korean people,
that was the day their country was finaly
released from the Japanese
occupation. The most of the Korean survivors
in Japan rushed to harbors such
as Shimonoseki or Senzaki to return to Korea.
We would like to introduce the dairy of one
of those Koreans, Chue Yon-Sun who
lived in Hikimi, Shimane among many other
Koreans, and became
Hibakusha because of the labor draft into
a mechanical factory of Chuugoku
Electric Supply in Ohzu, Hiroshima.*
"As the Japan lost the war, we started
to be so scared of the rumor that had
been spreaded around our village at that
time, saying "Koreans should die".
My mother say "Let's return to Korea
right away". Although our neighbors
kindly told us to stay in the village, we
could not overcome the fear.
As Father rented a truck, we left the village
early in the morning. aheading
Shimonoseki. I hided between the luggages
covered by a sheet of cloth during
the trip.
When we arrived Shimonoseki, the harbor was
already packed by Korean people
waiting for a ride. We had no idea how soon
we could leave.
We waited for three months, and meanwhile,
my sister who was only two years
old, died by diphtheria.
Finally in Desember, we could rode in a small
boat from Senzaki in Yamaguchi
to got in a bigger ferryboat in the offing.
Since the ferryboat could only
carry people, my father decided not to go
with us, waiting for an illegal
boat to carry our belongings with him.
As we arrived Pusan, we could change Japanese
currency to Koreans up to
10000 yen per person. But we spent our money
to buy foods waiting for my
father, and when he arrived, we had no money
left.
Later, I heard that most of Koreans who left
Japan had heard the same rumor,
"Kreans should die".
I think the Japanese Government intentionally
made up such a rumor to kick
us out.
(From "Toward Hiroshima.....A diary
of Korean Hibakusha)
Many Korean Hibakusha survived such surfferings
to get home after the A-bomb
fall.
However, people who were lucky enough to
have their own houses, lands, and
familes they could depend on there, were
very few. Many of them had to start
their lives from nothing. In addition, the
aftereffects of the atomic bombs
were slowly invading their bodies.
At that time in Korea, people thought they
had Hansen's disease or some sort
of simmilar infecious disease since the aftereffect
of radiation
was not commonly known, whch, in any ways,
gave people a good reason for
discrimination against them. And the discrimination
did not stop there.
Those of who were born in Japan or went Japan
when they were very young,
could not speak the same languadge because
of the Japanese education.
Lee Il-Su, who lives in Pusan is one of them.
She was born in Ohtake, Hiroshima on March
4th, 1930 and has become Hibakusha
near Ohsu bridge when she was 14 and returned
to Korea on Desember 20, 1945.
However, she still speaks fluent Japanese.
"I had so much trouble learning Korean
pronunciation because of my Japanese
accent", she says, "I tried to
learn things from fifth grade there. But
my
classmates gave me a hard time because I
was the only one who was older than
others, and did not speak Korean. I could
not bear with that no more than
two weeks. And even now, people still say,
"Hey, that guy is from Japan."
I
heard that when I was talking in a coffee
shop. That made me feel so
mortified. I still regret the time when I
was young. That was supporsed be
the best time in my life."
In 1950, Korean War started.
And that gave them a even harder time.
Some faced family separations, other lost
their properties.
One of them told us he could not recover
from the financial loss for several
years.
Meanwhile, Japan enjoyed the war boom and
that became a good step for their
postwar recovery.**
*At that time, it was the nation's policy
to draft students and give them
credits for war-related traininigs or labors.
And she went Hiroshima as one
of those students led by a teacher of Masuda
Women's High School.
(In old day's, Woman's High School is
likely a College now)
**However, Japan had never had positive atittude
towards nuclear weapons
neither.
In 1954, Japanese ship, Fukuryu-maru No.5
was exposed to radiation caused by
H-bomb experiment of United State at the
Bikini atolls, and the cheif
engineer of the ship, Aikichi Kubo died by
the effect.
That gave raise to big movements of anti-nuclear
and Hibakusha support in
Japan followed by the establishments of Medical
Law in 1957 and Special
Treatment Plan in 1968 for the domestic victims
as a result.
Further information about the problems of
South Korean Atomic Bomb Victims.
Association of Citizens for Supporting South
Korean Atomic Bomb Victims.
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