Undersea excavation to be launched for Chosei mine victims

Starting next week, remains will be excavated at Japan’s Chosei coal mine, a submerged undersea mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where 183 people, including forcibly mobilized Koreans, lost their lives during the Japanese occupation. This excavation is the first in 82 years since the accident in 1942.

The Japanese civic group ‘Society for Commemorating the Chosei Coal Mine Submersion Accident’ announced on Friday that it would hold a memorial service on Saturday in front of the entrance to Chosei Mine in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to initiate the excavation. Bereaved families from both Japan and Korea, Buddhist clergy, and other civic organizations will attend the event.

Chosei Mine, located in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, opened in 1920 during the Japanese Imperialist era. On February 3, 1942, during the strained extraction efforts for coal continuing under the pressures of the Pacific War, water began to leak into the undersea tunnel, resulting in a flooding accident. A total of 183 people—136 Koreans and 47 Japanese—lost their lives in this tragedy.

Following the accident, the mine was shut down without recovering the bodies. To this day, there has been little effort toward recovering the remains or uncovering the full details of the incident.

This excavation has been made possible by funds raised through a crowdfunding campaign by the civic group. Initial work along the shoreline began in September, revealing an entrance to the undersea tunnel at a depth of 4 meters, measuring 2.2 meters wide and 1.6 meters tall. From Tuesday, divers will enter to assess the conditions inside the tunnel and commence the full excavation of the remains.


도쿄=이상훈 특파원 sanghun@donga.com