Lee Chun-sik (center), a victim of forced labor by Japan during its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, is surrounded by supporters and relatives outside the supreme court in Seoul on October 30, 2018. File Photo: AFP

The crime of forced labor perpetrated by the Japanese Army during World War II is irrefutable, experts told the Global Times on Thursday. They urged the Japanese government and society to face up to the country's history of aggression, as the wrong historical perception of Japanese people reflects the lack of education on the correct historical facts in Japanese society and its education system.

A Japanese netizen recently said on social media that the content of his daughter's history textbook was "fabricated," denying Japan's use of forced labor.

The netizen attached the content of the textbook: "Most Koreans and Chinese were brought to Japan against their personal will and forced to work in mines, factories and other harsh conditions."

The textbook stated that the phenomenon of forced labor by the Japanese army also existed in Southeast Asia, forcing laborers to receive Japanese education. There were resistance movements in various places, but those who were considered to be anti-Japanese were brutally suppressed by the Japanese army, and a large number of casualties occurred.

This Japanese netizen then said, "What is correct is that they were not being forced to work, and they were volunteers."

Global Times reporters noticed that this false statement caused a lot of "resonance" among Japanese netizens, and almost all of them "cursed" the textbooks for "fabricating history." "How can such a fabricated history textbook be allowed?" one netizen wrote. "This is too much! My kids love history, but they should learn the right facts."

Historical records show that a large number of laborers from the Korean Peninsula and China were forced to work in Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south, during World War II. There were numerous cases of forced and enslaved laborers from Asian countries who were subjected to inhuman torture and death.

There is no doubt that the Japanese army committed the crime of forced labor. The act of forced labor itself is compulsive and aggressive, and no amount of wrong voices in Japan can hide the truth of history. Neighboring countries that suffered from Japanese aggression must criticize Japan for its misperception, Wang Xinsheng, a professor at the History Department of Peking University, told the Global Times.

Zhang Yiwu, a Peking University professor, told the Global Times that forced labor is a serious crime against humanity committed by the Japanese army during its invasion and expansion, and this is an internationally recognized historical fact. The wrong historical perception by Japanese netizens reflects a lack of education about correct historical facts in Japanese society and its education system.

It is necessary to strengthen the dissemination of historical truth, and it is also important to urge the Japanese government and society to face up to its history of aggression. Covering up and falsifying history will only double the distortion of Japanese society and break the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community, Zhang remarked.

Global Times