Mun Tae-bok
He was born in 1923. He was assigned to a POW camp in Thailand. In 1946,
he was given a death sentence by British.He spent about 100 days in the
death row. During this time, he saw several of his comrades be executed.
Chou Mun-San, who left a long death note, was one of them. Later his sentence
was reduced to ten years. In 1952, he was paroled. After that, he was the
chairman of the Society of Koreans, which consist of other ex-Korean BC
class war criminals and their families.1998, he passed away at the hospital.
He was 74 years old.
Lee Hak-lae
He was born in 1923. He was assigned to a POW camp in Thailand. He was arrested
as a war criminal but released due to lack of evidence. Yet he was arrested
again in 1947. He was given a death sentence in the trial in Australia and
spent 10 months in the death row. His journal from that time, "My Journal",
was presented as evidence in the ongoing trial. He is the youngest among
the plaintiff; and he was only 16 when he was recruited and 20 when he received
a death sentence.
Yun Dong-hyeon
He was born in 1922. He was assigned to a POW camp in Malaysia. In 1947,
his Dutch prosecutors gave him twenty years in prison. In 1950, he was given
a parole from Sugamo Prison, but refused to go out because he thought he
would not be able to survive without compensation or assistance. He went
on a hunger strike. In the following year, however, he was forced to be
released. In the same year, two other Korean BC class war criminals refused
to be released. "Release" for them meant not "liberation"
but "starvation".
Kim Wan-geun
He was born in 1922. He was assigned to a POW camp in Java. One of his superior
was "bamboo Mori"(for he was always carrying a bamboo whip), a
sadistic madman who was depicted in the movie "Merry Christmas Mr.Lourence".
Because Mori's abuse was so intense, one of his fellow Korean prison guards
committed suicide. In 1946, he was given ten years in prison by British.
He was paroled in 1952.
Mun Jae-haeng
He was born in 1922. In addition to his contract assignment at a POW camp
in Java, he was forced to work at a civilian detention center and for the
Eastern defense force. He was arrested as a war criminal.Although he was
released once, he was arrested again and given ten years in prison by Dutch.
In 1951, he was released. Because he was released earlier than most other
Korean BC class war criminals,it was more difficult to survive in the chaotic,
post-war, Japanese society than in the prison. Two of his fellow Korean
BC class war criminals, who were released at about the same time, committed
suicide.
Park Yun-sang
On the official record, he was born in 1914. He worked at the Java prison
camp. He was injured during the air raid and suffered from it for the rest
of his life. In 1947, he was sentenced 15 years in prison at a Dutch war
crimes tribunal. In the same year, his wife committed suicide in his native
land. She could not put up with the disdain of other villagers. She drowned
herself. In 1954, he got paroled. In 1983, he went back to Korea for good.
He was the eldest in the plaintiffs. In 1993, in order to speak out in the
court room, he came all the way to Japan despite his bad leg. On April 18,
1997, he passed away at the hospital. He was 85 years old.
Byon Gwang-su
He is a son of a war criminal, Byon Jong-yun. Jong-yun got recruited right
before Gwang-su was born and assigned to a POW prison in Java. In the war
criminals trial by Dutch in 1947, he was given a death sentence.In Korea,
because of the anti-Japanese social sentiment,a lot of Korean war criminals
and their families hide their experiences in World War II. Gwang-su testified
that he was abused and had to leave his own province, because his father
was a war criminal. Gwang-su is the vice president of World War II Victim's
Society in Korea.
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Mun Tae-bok
