An extremely reckless attempt is now on the horizon in the Japanese society designed to negate and distort the historical facts about the genocide committed against the Koreans at the time of great Kanto earthquake (September 1, 1923) and the nefarious atrocities of germ warfare committed by Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army.

As has been reported, a ceremony was held on September 1 under the auspices of Japan-Korea Association and other organizations in a park of the Sumita district of Tokyo Metropolitan Area to mourn the Korean victims indiscriminately slaughtered by the Japanese imperialists at the time of great Kanto earthquake. The attendants highlighted the fact that Japan had spread a groundless rumour and misused the rumour to slaughter the innocent Koreans by mobilizing its army and police and even ultra-right conservative groups including “vigilante group.”

The question in point is that on the same day, the newly emerging right-wing groups arranged a meeting in order to tell what they called the truth of great Kanto earthquake and launched a frenzied propaganda, clamouring that the information on the massacre of 6,000 Koreans at that time is a “falsity devoid of evidence” and the memorial monument for the Koreans should not be left intact.

More serious is that in response to the testimony of an ex-serviceman of Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army, who stated that 14-year-old boys were recruited and engaged in germ warfare, Japanese netizens posted over 10, 000 blogs online arguing that “Unit 731 recruited only students and the testimony is a total lie.”

In this regard, Japanese conscientious figures presented several official record papers showing that “Juvenile Corps” under the Military had existed in Unit 731, which permitted recruitment of even 14-year-old boys and trained them as technical experts in germ warfare or their assistants, and thus, it has been laid bare once again that the crime of Imperial Japanese Army is a stark historical fact.

While it is ninety-seven years since the crime of slaughtering the Koreans in great Kanto earthquake had been committed, the Japanese government has not yet even made a proper apology nor disclosed the truth behind the incident. The same can be said of the position of the Japanese government on the barbaric germ warfare committed by the Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army.

It is the very nature of Japanese government which attempts to whitewash its shocking and shuddering germ warfare barbarity by merely repeating monotonous words that the information on the conduct of germ warfare by the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of Kwantung Army (another name of Unit 731) cannot be verified due to lack of details.

Then, the question is why the move grows so rampant in the Japanese society to adamantly deny and distort the historical fact even at this time into the second decade of the new century.

In a word, the reason is associated with the moves of the current Japanese authorities which dispute that the historical fact is a “self-torment”, evade practical liquidation of the past, which should be done through finding the real facts, punishing the criminals and so on, distort the undeniable truth, and silence, promote and encourage the organized acts to infuse wrong historical viewpoint.

Any attempt to cover up the crime-ridden history can never be tolerated – a crime that a century ago, Japan drenched the Asian continent in blood and adopted a state policy of annihilating the Korean nation, while dreaming of realizing its aggressive ambition of “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”

The bloody history of atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperialism can never ever be faded away, notwithstanding the passage of time.

The virulent poisonous weed growing on the land of war criminal state will only bring a greater disaster to the Japanese society.

This is the very reason that it should be immediately uprooted.

Cha Hye Gyong

Researcher of Institute for Studies of Japan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea