북한 리종혁 "일본, 조선인 강제징용 진상 규명하고 사죄•배상해야"
A local civic group promoting peace in Asia Pacific region held a conference on the forced mobilization of Koreans during Japan's colonial rule.
It brought together 300 participants from 10 Asia-Pacific countries.
A senior official from Pyeongyang harshly condemned Tokyo's war crimes and called for action.
Oh Jung-hee has the highlights from that session
"A nation that forgets its past has no future."
That was a swipe against Japan by Ri Jong-hyok, a senior North Korean official who spoke at an international conference held in South Korea on Friday.
The conference, held in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do Province, was on peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region... and it centered around Japan's forced mobilization of Koreans during its colonial rule of the Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.
Ri pointed out that Japan forcibly mobilized 8-point-4 million Koreans as soldiers, laborers and some 200-thousand women as sex slaves.
In that process, many were cruelly massacred.
Ri called for Tokyo to take sincere steps.
"First, the Japanese government should thoroughly investigate and reveal the entire truth about the drafting of Koreans. Second, Japan should admit its national responsibility and give an official apology and sufficient compensation to all the victims and their families. Third, Japan should find all the remains of the victims and take steps to return them to their home country."
Japan claims that the issue was resolved through the Korea-Japan Treaty in 1965.
Back then, Japan paid South Korea 300-million U.S. dollars in compensation for its colonial rule without a formal apology to the victims.
Japan's former Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who took part in Friday's event, highlighted... that the treaty does not resolve the issue.
"The historical fact that Japan colonized Korea and waged a war should be taken seriously, and I believe this issue is not resolved by the Korea-Japan Treaty. Japan has an unlimited responsibility for this and should be apologizing until the victims feel they don't need any more apologies."
The forum ended with a joint resolution denouncing Japan's drafting of Koreans and people from other Asia-Pacific countries as a war crime.
The participating countries promised to coordinate in revealing the truth of Japan's war crimes... and in finding the remains of the victims.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
A local civic group promoting peace in Asia Pacific region held a conference on the forced mobilization of Koreans during Japan's colonial rule.
It brought together 300 participants from 10 Asia-Pacific countries.
A senior official from Pyeongyang harshly condemned Tokyo's war crimes and called for action.
Oh Jung-hee has the highlights from that session
"A nation that forgets its past has no future."
That was a swipe against Japan by Ri Jong-hyok, a senior North Korean official who spoke at an international conference held in South Korea on Friday.
The conference, held in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do Province, was on peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region... and it centered around Japan's forced mobilization of Koreans during its colonial rule of the Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.
Ri pointed out that Japan forcibly mobilized 8-point-4 million Koreans as soldiers, laborers and some 200-thousand women as sex slaves.
In that process, many were cruelly massacred.
Ri called for Tokyo to take sincere steps.
"First, the Japanese government should thoroughly investigate and reveal the entire truth about the drafting of Koreans. Second, Japan should admit its national responsibility and give an official apology and sufficient compensation to all the victims and their families. Third, Japan should find all the remains of the victims and take steps to return them to their home country."
Japan claims that the issue was resolved through the Korea-Japan Treaty in 1965.
Back then, Japan paid South Korea 300-million U.S. dollars in compensation for its colonial rule without a formal apology to the victims.
Japan's former Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who took part in Friday's event, highlighted... that the treaty does not resolve the issue.
"The historical fact that Japan colonized Korea and waged a war should be taken seriously, and I believe this issue is not resolved by the Korea-Japan Treaty. Japan has an unlimited responsibility for this and should be apologizing until the victims feel they don't need any more apologies."
The forum ended with a joint resolution denouncing Japan's drafting of Koreans and people from other Asia-Pacific countries as a war crime.
The participating countries promised to coordinate in revealing the truth of Japan's war crimes... and in finding the remains of the victims.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
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