DEMOLITION OF COLONIAL ERA BUILDINGS

[Anchor Lead]

The city of Incheon is home to old houses that used to belong to the Japanese company Mitsubishi, and housed Koreans who were forced to work for Japan during its occupation of Korea. Next year, these houses will be demolished, but Korean academics and civic organizations are calling for the preservation of the colonial-era relics, saying that even the tragic part of the nation's history should be remembered.

[Pkg]

During Japan's occupation of Korea, Koreans were forced to manufacture military supplies at the factories of the Japanese company Mitsubishi. After hours of hard toil, the workers went to rest in their tiny rooms in houses that belonged to Mitsubishi. These old houses in Samneung-dong, Incheon, could soon disappear into history. With local residents filing complaints against the shabby structures, the Bupyeong-gu District Office has decided to remove four of the six remaining structures starting next year.

[Soundbite] (RESIDENT) : "If it is necessary to preserve the houses for their historical meaning, they should be kept clean. But this is not the case."

The site of the houses will be used to build a parking lot. The district office plans to create the replicas of the houses and put them on display at a museum. However, historians and local civic organizations think otherwise. They insist that the colonial-era houses where forced laborers used to live have significant historical value that can only be preserved if they are left where they are now.

[Soundbite] YOO DONG-HYUN(DIRECTOR, INCHEON CITY METROPOLITAN MUSEUM) : "The meaning will be lost significantly, as the houses will vanish after demolition. Even if they are restored, they will no longer be on their original site."

Meanwhile, more than 500 students of Incheon High School filed a petition calling for preserving the Mitsubishi houses as a memorial or an educational facility.