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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 7-8, 2004 |
Koreans onboard Peace Boat |
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| Kwi Hoon Kwak explains the history of Korean "Hibakusha," or victims of the atomic bombs |
Although distinct in historical and cultural heritage, people of Korean ancestry living in Japan are largely invisible. 20 Korean guests, both Korean residents and people of Korean ancestry living in Japan, known as "Zainichi" Koreans, joined the 44th Global Voyage. The Japanese and the people of the Korean Peninsula have influenced each other for centuries. For instance, Buddhism, rice, and pottery making techniques were first introduced to Japan from Korea, and it is hard to imagine that so-called "Japanese culture" would be the same today without the historical relations between the two countries. However, Japan's 36 year long occupation of Korea in the early twentieth century caused terrible suffering for the Korean people, and the emotional scars of Koreans during this period are far from healed. The goal of inviting Koreans and Korean Japanese onboard and facilitating educational lectures and interactive events on different aspects of Japanese-Korean relations is to foster awareness of historical and contemporary issues among the Japanese participants of Peace Boat and to build solidarity between people in Japan, South Korea, and North Korea.
Mr. Kwi Hoon Kwak, a guest speaker from Korea, had been living in Korea under the Japanese occupation during the World War II. At the time a B-29 dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, he had been drafted by the Japanese military and stationed in Hiroshima. In his lecture, he stated in response to the lack of attention given to non-Japanese survivors of the bomb, "... a Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) is a Hibakusha wherever he is". Kwak spoke to the predominantly Japanese audience about his experience in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing and his lifelong struggle to win proper compensation and apology from the Japanese government thereafter. He is one of the group of people categorized as "foreign Hibakusha," who experienced the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and reside outside of Japan today. It is said that there are about 5,000 of them, and majority of them are not Japanese citizens. Because of their legal status as "foreigners," these Hibakusha have been ineligible to receive compensation from the Japanese government until, in 2002, he was part of a successful class-action lawsuit against the Japanese government, which enabled all foreign Hibakusha to receive money for medical treatment as long as they reside in Japan. This was a historic triumph for Kwak and his fellow foreign Hibakusha after decades of struggle which had led many to despair. Closing his lecture, he emphasized that the Japanese government should be held accountable for its wrongdoings in the past because Japan plays a significant contemporary role in maintaining peace in Asia.
On January 8th, the Organization of United Korean Youth in Japan (KEY) organized a panel discussion onboard on the status of Korean Japanese (or Zainichi Koreans) in Japan. The three panelists were Ms. Kum Ryeong Ha, Mr. Lee Joo Gang, and Ms. Cho Mi Su. Ms. Kum and Ms. Cho both work as Peace Boat staff and Mr. Joo Gang Lee, a member of "Kneverland," a band made up of four young Zainichi Koreans, is onboard to join Peace Boat's participation in the World Social Forum 2004 in Mumbai, India. Among the many problems faced by the three panelists in their lives in Japan, the problem of identity, both legally and socially, stands out. Due to rigid Japanese immigration policy, many Zainichi Koreans born in Japan must live under the legal status as aliens and suffer from various kinds of discrimination. Socially, discrimination against Zainichi Koreans is pervasive. In closing, Joo-Gang, originally from North Korea, stated his belief that reunification of North Korea and South Korea will happen in a near future. Ryeong-Ha and Mi-Su, born and raised in Japan, believe that the most important assignment for the Japanese government is to work towards greater harmony in Japanese-Korean relations. In working for Peace Boat, Ryeong-Ha and Mi-Su believe they can contribute to greater East-Asian peace by utilizing their bilingual skills and adding diveristy to the faces that represent Peace Boat.
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