Japan Admits to WWII Labor Abuses

The Japanese government Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that it forced tens of thousands of Chinese to work in Japan under brutal conditions during World War II.

Although the existence of the forced-labor program was widely known, the Foreign Ministry had refused to accept it, maintaining that documents with evidence were burned after the war.

“It is regrettable that it caused pain to the Chinese people,” Foreign Minister Koji Kakizawa told a parliamentary committee.

Japan’s admission followed a Foreign Ministry investigation begun last year when a Chinese resident of Tokyo, Chen Kungwang, publicized documents given to him by a Foreign Ministry official. The official had kept the documents secret for 40 years, disobeying orders to destroy them.

The documents showed 38,935 Chinese were forcibly brought to Japan to work in mines and factories between 1943 and 1945.