The Association of A-Bomb Victims (AAV) on Monday called for the government to assist Koreans who suffered from the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima on the 56th anniversary of the bombing.
The AAV and another Taegu-based civic group said in a statement that the government should enact a law as soon as possible to help
victims gain compensation, adding that the Tokyo government is already legislatng such a law for Japanese victims.
Later in the day, the civic groups will announce a joint statement with their North Korean counterparts to demand compensation from the Japanese government.
Around 100,000 Koreans, who were forcibly taken by Japan as laborers during its colonial rule, are believed to have been exposed to radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the U.S. atomic bombing in 1945.
A recent Japanese government inspection in North Korea also said that there were a total of 928 survivors living in the country as of late last year.