Gwangju: Most of the Koreans who were forcibly mobilized by Japan to build military facilities on the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific during the 1910-45 colonial era were drafted from the southwestern province of South Jeolla, a civic group said Friday. The group supporting the victims of forced mobilization by Imperial Japan made the revelation during a news conference in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, disclosing the list of 640 Korean victims of forced mobilization.

According to Yonhap News Agency, a Japanese expert on the issue, named Yasuto Takeuchi, presented his findings at the conference. His analysis of various Japanese government records indicated that 635 of the 640 victims were from South Jeolla Province. These individuals were among those forcibly taken to Mili Atoll of the Marshall Islands to construct an airstrip and other military facilities for Japanese troops.

Mili Atoll was a site where the Japanese military forcibly mobilized 800 Koreans as military personnel in 1942 to build military bases, including an airfield. Takeuchi noted that last year, his research showed that 213 of 218 Koreans who perished in Mili Atoll at that time were residents of South Jeolla.