history

At about 12:00 a.m. on September 1 1923, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck the Kanto region centring on Tokyo, Japan, causing many casualties and missing persons and incurring enormous economic losses in the region.

The great Kanto earthquake not only brought natural calamities.

At that time the Japanese authorities did not spend money on repairing the damage caused by the quake, but poured the government and local funds and even foreign capital into saving the capitalists on the verge of bankruptcy. Upset by the extreme discontent of the Japanese over it, they were bent on starting a smear campaign to appease their anger.

It was the rumour that Koreans in Japan expanded the damage caused by earthquake.

The Japanese authorities spread such groundless rumours that Koreans were deliberately setting fire to every place, adding poison to wells and planning to start a riot by taking advantage of the confusion. At the same time, they declared a martial law by a "royal ordinance" of their "emperor" and perpetrated the massacre of Koreans throughout the region.

As a result, the “vigilante corps”, “youth corps”, “fire-fighting corps” and other bands made up of service personnel, policemen and civilians were formed in over 3 000 places in the Kanto area, checkpoints were set up here and there and cold-blooded killings took place against all people who were considered Koreans.

They killed them by cutting throats, beating, disembowelling and others and the killing methods were beyond human imagination. The Korean people who lost their lives so undeservedly and without guilt at the time numbered over 23 000.

The Japanese imperialists continued to commit such massacres aimed at exterminating the Korean nation in the first half of the 20th century after militarily occupying Korea and turning it into their colony.

The souls of those who were killed in those years are still crying for revenge.

The sinful past can never be covered up even with the passage of time and Japan should pay a dear price for them.