Japanese Gunma Prefecture authorities notify demolition… Costs will also be billed to civic groups.
Japan’s Gunma Prefecture notified that it would begin demolition of the ‘Memorial for Forced Mobilized Koreans’ located in the prefectural park on the 29th. Civic groups are protesting.
According to the Tokyo Shimbun on the 24th, Gunma Prefecture notified the ‘Memorial Reflection and Friendship Memorial Monument’, a civic group that manages the memorial to the forcibly mobilized Koreans in the ‘Gunma Forest’, a prefectural park in Takasaki City, the previous day.
The demolition period is from the 29th to February 11th. Gunma Prefecture is expected to close the park and remove the memorial monument.
According to the civic group, this notification order was dated the 19th and arrived at the civic group on the 22nd. They also said they would charge the civic group about 30 million yen (approximately 270 million won) for the cost of ‘grand execution’ of demolition.
Additionally, Gunma Prefecture requested that civic groups retrieve the monuments that were later removed.
On the 23rd, the civic group sent a statement to Gunma Prefecture Governor Ichita Yamamoto, saying, “This is an important issue that concerns not only the prefecture but all of Japan. He protested against the removal of the memorial, saying, “It is an act that promotes historical revisionism and promotes hate speech.”
Masaaki Kawaguchi (川口正昭), co-representative of a civic group, held a press conference in Gunma Prefecture that day and said, “It is too late after demolition. “Please stop and have a dispassionate discussion,” he said, urging a halt to the demolition.
This memorial monument was installed in Gunma Forest, a prefectural park located in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, in April 2004. It was a conditional installation that “no political events will be held.”
On the front of the memorial stone, the phrase ‘Remembrance, reflection and friendship (記憶 反省 そしてて友好)’ is written in Korean, Japanese and English, and on the back it is written in Korean, Japanese and English, ‘We deeply reflect on the fact of history that caused great damage and suffering to the Korean people, and we will never make the same mistake again. “I express my determination not to repeat this.”
In Gunma Prefecture, it is known that about 6,000 Koreans were mobilized for labor during the Japanese colonial period. Korean workers were mobilized to work at the Gunma Iron and Steel Company in Gunma Prefecture, the Iwamoto Power Plant Construction before shipping to Japan, and the Nakajima Air Climate Control Underground Factory Construction.
According to the Tokyo Shimbun, these buried facts were investigated by an investigation team formed by residents of Gunma Prefecture in 1995. At the time, the ‘(memorial) construction group’ centered on the investigation team raised funds and established the memorial in 2004.
The civic group, which is the successor to the construction group, has held a memorial event in front of the memorial every year. At the 2012 event, one participant mentioned “forced detention.”
Gunma Prefectural authorities then refused to renew the installation permit, saying that the remarks made by attendees of the rally held in front of the memorial in 2014 were political. It was claimed that the conditions for installing the memorial, which stipulated that political events would not be held, were violated.
A civic group objected and filed a lawsuit, but Japan’s Supreme Court confirmed in 2022 that the local government’s decision to disallow the decision was legal.
The civic group submitted a complaint to the court requesting cancellation of the unauthorized disposition in October last year, and filed another lawsuit this month to stop Gunma Prefecture’s monument removal process.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.