Tokyo hands in list of Koreans who died in 1945 Japanese ship explosion

Imperial Japanese Navy's Ukishima Maru vessel. (File Photo - Imperial Japanese Navy)

Tokyo has handed over a long-awaited list of Koreans who perished aboard the Ukishima Maru, a Japanese ship that exploded in 1945 while repatriating thousands of Koreans after Japan's colonial rule ended, the Seoul government announced on Thursday.

The announcement by the two countries came just a day before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Seoul for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol before leaving his office.

The transferred list is incomplete, as the Japanese government has not completed its own review of all the relevant documents, and will be supplemented later.

"The Japanese government has initially provided 19 documents following the completion of their internal review and has agreed to transfer additional materials once their investigation is fully concluded," South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

However, a Foreign Ministry official, speaking with The Korea Herald, clarified on condition of anonymity that 19 different types of documents had been received, but the exact number of Korean individuals listed would only be determined after a detailed analysis by the South Korean government.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare handed over the partial list of Korean passengers to the South Korean Embassy in Japan at 4 p.m. local time.

Seoul announced that it has engaged in negotiations with the Japanese government to secure a list of Korean passengers but withheld additional details, including the timeline for the discussions.

The Japanese government, which had previously claimed that the passenger list from the Ukishima Maru sinking was lost in the incident, has complied with a domestic information disclosure request and made the list public earlier this year.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry underscored that the "government plans to utilize the passenger list to aid in victim relief efforts and to uncover the full truth surrounding the Ukishima Maru incident."

The ministry said the list will be particularly used for the re-examination of compensation claims from the families of victims whose applications were previously rejected or dismissed due to insufficient evidence during the review process by the Commission on Verification and Support for Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonial Rule.

The Ukishima Maru was the first repatriation vessel assigned to return Korean victims of forced labor under Japanese imperial rule after Japan's defeat in World War II.

However, on August 24, 1945, just two days after leaving Ominato Port in Aomori, Japan, the ship was tragically torn apart by a massive explosion off the coast of Maizuru, north of Kyoto.

The exact number of Koreans aboard the Ukishima Maru, and the cause of the explosion, remain subjects of ongoing debate.

In 1945, the Japanese government officially reported that 3,725 Koreans and 255 Japanese naval personnel were aboard when the ship exploded and sank. According to their figures, 524 Koreans and 25 Japanese crew members died, while thousands more were listed as missing.

However, survivors and families of victims have challenged these numbers, suggesting that the actual number of passengers could have been much higher, with some estimates placing it between 7,500 and 8,000.

The civic association commemorating Korean victims of the Ukishima Maru explosion claimed that the incident resulted in the deaths of approximately 8,000 Koreans.

The association has also questioned Japan’s official explanation that a US naval mine caused the explosion, suggesting instead that it may have been a deliberate act by the Japanese military rather than an accidental detonation.

By Ji Da-gyum(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)