Seoul: The government will launch DNA tests on remains recovered from the site of a wartime coal mine disaster in Japan's Ube that killed 136 Korean forced laborers, the foreign ministry said Monday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, on February 3, 1942, an underground tunnel at the Chosei coal mine in Japan's western Yamaguchi Prefecture collapsed, and the subsequent seawater flooding killed 183 miners, including 136 Koreans forcibly mobilized for labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. "The government plans to begin DNA testing to identify remains recovered in August 2025 and February 2026 from the Chosei coal mine," the ministry said in a statement.
During the summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in January, the two countries agreed to pursue DNA analysis and have since held working-level consultations on specific procedures and methods for the testing. The issue is also expected to be discussed further during the upcoming summit between Lee and Takaichi to be held in the South Korean southeastern city of Andong on Tuesday, according to officials.
Rather than attempting rescue or recovery operations, the mining company allegedly sealed the tunnels immediately after the accident to prevent further damage, leaving most of the victims' bodies unrecovered. While the accident had long been forgotten, a Japanese civic group has worked to investigate the disaster and recover victims' remains.