The Japanese naval ship Ukishimamaru with thousands of Korean people on board was blasted in the sea off Maizuru of Japan on August 24 1945.

The event of 80 years ago was a deliberate and planned massacre of Koreans committed by the Japanese.

In the wake of the defeat of the Japanese imperialists with the end of the Second World War, many Koreans who had been forcibly drafted to Japan were longing to return home as soon as possible.

However, the Japanese reactionaries hatched a plot to kill the Koreans in a bid to revenge their defeat in the war.

It was the sinister intention of the Japanese reactionaries that the Koreans should be killed at any cost in order to conceal the truth about their inhumane maltreatment and heinous murders.

The Japanese reactionaries took advantage of the desire of the Koreans who wanted to return home as early as possible to take a large number of them on board the Ukishimamaru by using a carrot and stick approach.

At that time, the navigation of vessels of more than 100 tons was prohibited in the territorial waters of Japan by an order of the Allies. Nevertheless, the sailing of the Ukishimamaru of far over 4 000 tons was approved by the Japanese navy ministry, which proves that the incident was attributable to the sinister design of the Japanese authorities.

After departure, the Ukishimamaru sailed south along the western coastline of Japan and then suddenly turned its course near the port of Maizuru. After that, the Japanese reactionaries on board fled by boat and, shortly afterwards, with a series of explosions, the ship was broken in two.

Recalling the incident, a witness said: “The explosion took place in the lower part of the ship around the engine room. The compatriots in the cabins screamed and struggled to get up to the deck. But it was too late. Something strange happened on the deck. At that time, a Korean surnamed Paek who was a military policeman of the Japanese navy ran out to the deck and dived into the water shouting ‘The Japanese blew up gunpowder and let the ship sink.’ We realized by then that we had been deceived by the Japanese.”

Thus, many Koreans were buried at sea.

After that, the Japanese reactionaries put the survivors in the Japanese naval quarters in Maizuru port and exploded a steam tank there to massacre them.

The Ukishimamaru explosion is just another fact showing how persistent and barbarous Japan’s moves to obliterate the Korean nation were.

A long time has passed since then, but Japan, far from making an apology and reparations for its past crimes, is persistently resorting to the bid to distort history and turn itself into a military power while embellishing all the historical facts.

The souls of many Koreans who were buried with grudge are calling for revenge.

The past crimes can never be erased by denying them.

We will definitely get a thorough apology and reparations from the Japanese for the past crimes.