[News Today] JAPAN WITHHOLDS UKISHIMA INFO

[LEAD]
Shortly after liberation, the 'Ukishima Maru,' carrying victims of forced conscription by the Japanese during their occupation, tragically sank. For nearly 80 years, Japan denied having a passenger list. But last year, they finally handed over some records to the South Korean government.

[REPORT]
The Japanese government had denied the very existence of a list of passengers
aboard the Ukishima Maru, which sank in 1945 following a deadly explosion. But it changed its stance because of a domestic move to uncover the truth.

Keiji Kokuta / Japanese Communist Party (Aug., 2024)
The list of passengers was submitted. It is a very valuable document.

A total of 75 materials on the vessel were discovered and revealed as a result.

Starting with the first batch of materials it gave to South Korea shortly before a Seoul-Tokyo summit last year, the Japanese government handed over 53 cases of Ukishima materials over two occasions.

The provided materials include part of a list of Korean nationals who were aboard the Japanese ship and died in its sinking.

Korean government agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, asked Japan to provide the remaining materials.

But the Japanese government rejected the request late last year, saying that it could not hand over more materials on Ukishima, since they are unrelated to Korea.

There is no way for the Korean government to check the contents of the unprovided materials.

Tokyo has said that roughly 3,700 Korean passengers were travelling on the ship and the Korean death toll stood at some 500. However, some people claim that thousands of Koreans would have died in the ship's sinking.

Kim Myung-shin / Co-rep., Constitutional appeal for Ukishima sinking
We can only estimate the number of the Korean victims. Japan maintains death
toll is small. We need to confirm these numbers.

Some analysts voice an opinion that the Japanese government is now less willing to improve bilateral relations amid the ongoing political turmoil in Korea.

Kim Moon-gil / Director, Korea-Japan Culture Research Institute
To my knowledge, the unrevealed materials contain issues that could seriously
complicate the ties between Korea and Japan.

The interior ministry plans to first confirm the Korean victims on the provided list and inform their families of the identification.