Arab News Japan

TOKYO: About 50 Japanese of North Korean descent protested in the busy Shinjuku district of Tokyo against an order to destroy a monument dedicated to the victims of forced labor during the period of Japanese colonization.

The monument is located on public forest land in Gunma Prefecture to the north of Tokyo. It was built in memory of the 6,000 workers who were brought under conscription to Japan to work in weapons factories and mines after Korea had been colonized, protestors explained.

The protest, which was originally planned at the south exit of Shinjuku Station, was disrupted by the presence of nationalist groups. Police ensured the two groups didn’t clash and the protest took place in a nearby location.

The request for demolition of the monument by the prefecture was made under pressure from nationalist and revisionist groups and two out of three court decisions validated the withdrawal of the monument.

The monument is, for its defenders, a place of reflection on the past that should allow a rapprochement between Koreans and the Japanese. The Mamoru Kai Association had the motto “Remembrance, Reflection and Friendship” inscribed in both Japanese and Korean in 2004.

Japan and South Korea are rekindling friendly diplomatic relations at present, particularly on the issue of forced workers’ compensation.