'The Battleship Island' and Japan's apology

By Shim Jae-yun

Controversy is brewing over the blockbuster “The Battleship Island.” It portrays the misery faced by the Koreans who were forced to work in the coal mines of the “hellish” Hashima Island during World War II. The film has attracted more than 4 million viewers in only one week, and has triggered criticism from both Korea and Japan.

The Japanese media has been slamming the film as containing “distorted stories.” Korean fans largely expressed their dissatisfaction with the movie for having failed to reveal the “serious” war crimes committed by the Japanese military. They say the film deals too slightly with the grave war crimes by focusing on commercial purposes.

While watching the movie, I also felt regret over the lack of detailed depiction of Japanese atrocities against the Korean workers. One hundred twenty-two Koreans conscripted by Japan who survived the ordeal have since died; only six are still surviving.

Kim Hyeong-seok, 97, was a victim of the Japanese mobilization in 1943. He testified in an interview with a local broadcaster that Koreans had to labor under the harshest conditions 1,000 meters below sea level. “I am still traumatized by my experiences at the island. We had to work more than 12 hours a day,” he said.

Another victim Choi Jang-seop said he suffered from torture after failing to escape by raft. “I underwent being whipped to the extent that my skin was ripped off. They forced me to work in that wretched place. They should not distort history,” said Choi who went to Japan when he was only 16.

UNESCO registered Hashima Island on its World Heritage Site list in June 2005, given its significance in Japan’s bids toward industrialization. UNESCO’s acceptance should cherish humanity’s universal values of peace and human rights. In this vein, the organization’s decision went wrong from the start as Japan violated these common values in the island’s mines.

Japan already admitted to the forced conscription of Korean people “against their will” during a UNESCO meeting on July 5, 2005. Japan vowed to take follow-up measures by setting up, for instance, an information center to make public Japan’s war crimes. But Japan has failed to abide by its pledge.

Despite the lack of satisfaction as mentioned above, expectation is growing the movie will nudge Japan to publicize its atrocities to the world. The filmmakers hosted a preview for diplomats and UNESCO officials at the Metropolitan Filmexport in Paris on July 28. They also organized a similar event for 160 diplomats in Seoul on July 25. The movie has already been sold in 113 countries by the end of June. Many nations plan to open it in August.

The movie prompts the need for the nation to seek its own way of survival in order not to repeat the unfortunate past. Korea is a smaller nation surrounded by four global giants: the United States, China, Japan and Russia. It desperately needs to guarantee its sustainability by initiating security issues.

The Moon Jae-in administration has been pushing to take the lead in diplomatic maneuvering in dealing with the critical North Korean nuclear issue. It has proposed dialog repeatedly but to no particular avail. North Korea’s intensifying move toward nuclear hardware will likely nudge Japan to step up its move toward a military buildup. This is unfortunate as Japan has yet to sincerely repent for its past misdeeds including the forced wartime conscription of the Korean people.

Director Ryu Seung-wan said the film does not try to root out the past unhappy incident between the two countries. “Rather it seeks to help fix better relations in the future,” Ryu said in an interview. As Ryu put it, it is time for Japan to repent its misdeeds honestly and that is the starting point for Seoul and Tokyo to open a new chapter in bilateral relations.