Why South Korea-Japan ties may be tested by report on ship sunk in WWII
Among the issues, both sides could not agree on the number of deaths from the sinking of the ship carrying Korean labourers
The South Korean government has commissioned the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilisation by Imperial Japan to conduct a thorough investigation into conflicting passenger lists and other documents related to the sinking of the Ukishima Maru in Maizuru Harbour in northern Kyoto prefecture on August 24, 1945.
The key question revolves around the number of people who were aboard at the time and how many were killed. The Japanese government estimates that 3,735 former Korean labourers were officially registered as being on the ship and that up to an additional 300 might have been able to board surreptitiously, along with 225 Japanese crew.
In contrast, figures put forward by the South Korean side suggest there were between 6,700 and 10,000 people aboard the ship designed to carry only 841 people.
And while the Japanese records indicate that 524 Koreans and 25 Japanese died in the disaster, Korean estimates put the figure above 7,000.
The report is also expected to address the disputed cause of the sinking of the 4,730-ton vessel.