A statue of a forced laborer from colonial times is erected at Yongsan Station in Seoul on Aug. 12 to publicize the issue of men being drafted into labor units for the Imperial Japanese armed forces, and to offer tribute to the victims thereof.

A statue of a forced laborer from colonial times is erected at Yongsan Station in Seoul on Aug. 12 to publicize the issue of men being drafted into labor units for the Imperial Japanese armed forces, and to offer tribute to the victims thereof.

By Xu Aiying and Kim Young Shin
Photos = Kim Sunjoo
Seoul l Sept. 14, 2017

“We promise to bring the shimmering light of truth to your hands, callused and torn from enforced labor far from the sky above your homeland and far from the warm smile of your mother.”

That is carved under a statue of a forced laborer from colonial times that has been erected in front of Yongsan Station in Seoul.

The committee behind the new statue installed it on Aug. 12 to pay respect to the Korean men who were drafted into forced labor units in Japan, on Sakhalin Island, in Japan’s South Pacific mandate and on the Kuril Islands to work in mines, farms, armament factories and construction sites.

The laborer portrayed in the statue holds a pickax in his right hand and screens the sun with his left. A bird sits on his shoulder, gazing out into the distance. He stands over a pile of stakes and graves. The four pillars surrounding the statue are engraved with colonial photos of Yongsan Station, photos of the victims themselves, and one photo of a widow of one of the victims.

The statue was produced by artists Kim Eun-sung and Kim Seo-Kyung who also made the Statue of Peace that symbolizes the female victims of sexual slavery from colonial times and World War II.

“The pickax stands for the pain of extreme labor. The left hand shading the sun represents fear. The eyes gazing into the distance portray hope, and the bird on the shoulder symbolizes freedom and peace,” said artist Kim Seo-Kyung. “When a Korean forced laborer died, they were crudely buried inside a forest with a stake hammered on top. That’s why the statue is standing over a pile of stakes and graves.”

The statue was erected in front of Yongsan Station because that was the historical site where forced labor draftees were collected and loaded onto trains. It was the departure point for their trip toward an unimaginably harsh labor environment.

“We installed the statue of a victim of forced labor from colonial times to remind people today of our tragic history and to prevent it from ever happening again,” said Kim Ju-Young, head of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.

Kim Eun-sung and Kim Seo-Kyung, the two artists who designed the statue symbolizing colonial wartime forced laborers, say, 'The pickax stands for the pain of extreme labor, the left hand shading the sun represents fear, the eyes gazing into the distance portray hope, and the bird on the shoulder symbolizes freedom and peace.'

Kim Eun-sung and Kim Seo-Kyung, the two artists who designed the statue symbolizing colonial wartime forced laborers, say, ‘The pickax stands for the pain of extreme labor, the left hand shading the sun represents fear, the eyes gazing into the distance portray hope, and the bird on the shoulder symbolizes freedom and peace.’

Im Tong-il, a Seoul citizen, said, “It gives me heartache to read what’s written on the statue’s plinth. The installation of the statue itself is meaningful because it reminds us of what happened in the past.”

Shin Sung-Ah, who was explaining to her 8-year-old daughter about the film “The Battleship Island” that tells the story of a group of Korean laborers forced to work in Japan, said, “Just like the Statue of Peace, this new statue could be installed anywhere across Korea to help children learn about our agonizing history.”

Statues of a victim of forced labor are currently outside Yongsan Station in Seoul and in Bupyeong Park in Incheon. More statues are to be installed in Gyeongsangnam-do Province and on Jeju Island by the end of this year.

xuaiy@korea.kr