Firm of Aso's Father Returned Remains of 6 Korean Workers to Kin
Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 12:00 CST
By Kyodo News International, Tokyo
Feb. 28--FUKUOKA -- A mining company once run by Foreign Minister Taro Aso's late father returned the remains of six Korean forced laborers to their relatives in Fukuoka Prefecture about 20 years ago, an official of the company said Tuesday.
Aso Corp., based in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, told the Foreign Ministry on Feb. 1 about the situation, said Akira Fujimoto, an Aso Corp. official.
The company also told the ministry that it has not been able to confirm whether the six actually worked at the mining company and that there are remains of about 400 unidentified bodies kept at a charnel house in the prefecture, Fujimoto said.
The remains were found buried in Keisen, Fukuoka, on the premises of the mining company, which was operated by the late Takakichi Aso, in the course of developing the area from 1960, he said.
The unidentified bodies were placed at the charnel house which was built nearby, and the six remains were identified based on documents found around 1985 at a factory of Aso Corp., the core member of the Aso Group.
They were then returned to their relatives in Keisen, Fujimoto said.
The Japanese and South Korean governments have been engaged in surveys as part of efforts to find, identify and return to relatives the remains of Koreans who were drafted as laborers, mostly for mining, during Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
Ties between the two countries have been soured due to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo as well as Taro Aso's remarks that China and South Korea are the only countries that complain about Koizumi's visits to the Shinto shrine.
The South Korean government has demanded that Japan provide documents on coal mining activities which involved the use of Korean forced labor.
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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo
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