Suspected human remains were found at the site of the Chosei underwater coal mine accident in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture, where 136 Korean laborers were killed during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.

A Japan-based civic group told KBS on Monday that a South Korean diver involved in the two countries' two-day joint investigation that began earlier in the day found a considerable number of what are assumed to be human remains.

The group said remains presumed to belong to four victims were found scattered inside the mine and that some were taken out, while releasing related photos.

The remains are expected to be authenticated by law enforcement.

Should the remains be confirmed as human bones, it is set to accelerate efforts to recover the Korean victims' remains and to repatriate them, 83 years after the mine inundation that killed 136 Koreans who had been forced into labor by the Japanese military, as well as 47 Japanese people.