Ad on Japan's labor exploitation airing in New York

By Kim Bo-eun

A video on Japan’s exploitation of Korean laborers on Hashima Island during its colonization of the nation is playing on a billboard in New York City’s Time Square.

The video shows the inhumane conditions Korean laborers were facing at coal mines on the southwestern island, located off Nagasaki’s coast, in the 1940s.

This is another effort by Seo Kyoung-duk, a Korea publicist and Sungshin Women’s University professor, to promote Korea as well as raise awareness of conflict with Japan over territory and history.

Seo previously created advertisements on Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, which Japan claims as its territory, and on Korean sex slaves for the Japanese military before and during World War II.

The 15-second video will be aired 1,000 times a day for a week until July 9, on a 66 meter wide 13 meter long screen in the heart of Times Square, the world’s largest, according to Seo.

Seo said around 6,000 netizens, and actors and actresses starring in the film “Battleship Island” to be released later this month raised the 200 million won ($173,700) ad cost.

The island, also known as “Battleship Island” for its features, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage in July 2015 for its industrial sites.

UNESCO recommended that Japan present a complete history of the island, including the forced labor that took place at the coal mines, but Tokyo has yet to follow up on the recommendation.

“Because Japan is not taking any measures, I wanted to let people around the world know about its distortion of history,” Seo posted on Facebook.

He said he will carry out a campaign on social media with the video of Battleship Island.

Records from the Korean government state 120 laborers died under harsh working conditions.