Memorial for a Korean kamikaze pilot
The International Herald Tribune reports on the creation of a monument in South Korea to Tak Kyung-hyun, a Korean who fought and died as a Japanese special attack pilot in the Pacific War:
A half-century after his death, Tak’s Korean hometown is looking to change that legacy with the first memorial in South Korea to a former kamikaze. But as the unveiling approaches, opposition is growing from conservative residents who still harbor strong resentment against Japan’s brutal colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
The 16-foot-high (4.6-meter-high) stone memorial, now covered with a tarp, was scheduled to be unveiled in the southeastern city of Sacheon on Saturday, the eve of Tak’s death 63 years ago. He died when his explosives-laden plane is believed to have crashed in the water short of a U.S. warship that was his target.
The project had attracted little controversy until a group of activists began demanding this week that the city cancel the opening ceremony, threatening to disrupt the event and take down the monument.
“He was a kamikaze, an aggressor,” said Lee Sun-bok, head of a group opposed to the memorial.
But Hong Jong-pil, a South Korean historian working on the memorial project, said the pilots should be seen as victims of the colonial period. He cited recent studies finding they did not volunteer for their suicide missions but were pressured or forced.
“It’s time to save those who have been lost in the black holes of history,” Hong said.
Sacheon City official Kim Tae-ju said his office is trying to convince the activists that the purpose of the memorial is to console war victims. But it remained uncertain whether the unveiling would go ahead as scheduled.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Tak Kyung-hyun, please watch this subtitled Japanese TV program about his death and the search for his surviving family in Korea. (Translated and uploaded by Oniazuma, featured on Japan Probe in May 2007)
[hat tip to the Marmot's Hole]
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Thank you for this post.
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I am Korean American, and my initial feeling when seeing this post was the sort of disdain one feels for someone who betrays their own. This comes from a lifetime of hearing the stories of my parents and grandparents, who were directly affected by the war and occupation.
Even as a second generation Korean American, the effects of Korea and Japan’s violent history touches my life from time to time. I wonder what it will be like for my son, who is distanced from those times by yet another generation.
After seeing the video, I realize that there is a real human element to this story, that transcends any national boundaries. Its one of many countless tragedies that are the result of war. I believe Mrs Tome felt nothing but real love for Mr Tak / Mitsuyama.
To this day I have relatives in Japan who are oblivious to the fact that they are of Korean descent, and I have Korean relatives who refuse to allow me to connect with them.
Its my hope that stories like this will cause those who are ethnic Koreans in Japan to reclaim their identities, and the Japanese to embrace them in kind.
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Ishihara and “Ninoy” Aquino were best friends with their family.
he helped Aqino at any occasions by Japanese government and economic world that he pressed
when Nihoi went to home, Ishihara, He was with Aquino in Taiwan and He stopped Aquino returning.
however, Nihoi said ” it’s my Bonus with smile” .Ishihara prepared milions of doller as Bail for his release
Ishihara learnt from him that love for mother country stakes own life
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/local/071125/lcl0711251905000-n1.htm
http://www.gentosha.co.jp/search/book.php?ID=200087
Hong Sa-ik
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Sa-ik
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some korean kamikazes who are known is japan
http://www.tamanegiya.com/totkoutotyousennjinn.html
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Well, that was a nice short documentary. It was actually very touching to watch. The lives of the Mitsuyama and Tome families were forever changed due to the stupidity of the Japanese High Command in starting these wars, but that’s for another time and another post.
It’s not too surprising to read about just how controversial the Mitsuyama story has become in South Korea. Stories such as these are still a rather emotional subject in South Korea.
Even in South Korea today, it is still politically correct, or patriotically correct, if you will, to say just how much their family or relatives suffered when the Korean peninsula was a part of Imperial Japan. The Japanese did this atrocity; the Japanese did that atrocity, and so on and so forth. A good example of this is the so-called “Monument to the Japanese Aggression” which is in Chonan, south of Seoul. According to the souvenir tourist hand-out that I picked up, every single Korean rebelled against Imperial Japan. Hogwash.
The fact of the matter is that it is a far more complex subject than just a simple black or white.
Were there Koreans who rebelled against Imperial Japan? Yes. Were there Koreans who actively took part as loyal subjects/citizens of Imperial Japan? You better believe there were. Then there were those people who probably really didn’t care either way.
An interesting subject that I tried to explore when I lived in Seoul are the so-called chinilpa, Korean for “people friendly to Japan”, such as Park Chung Hee. A lot of rich, influential people in South Korea today were either chinilpa or their relatives were. The story is far from over as a commission continues to investigate South Koreans with chinilpa connections.
Wikipedia has a photograph of Park Chung Hee (or should I say Masao Takaki?) looking pretty smart in his Imperial Army uniform for the entry about his biography for those who care or know who he was.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung_Hee
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