Korean victims of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki demanded compensation from the Japanese government on Tuesday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
At a news conference, three women in their sixties called on the Japanese government to apologize and provide financial and medical compensation to all the Korean survivors who returned to the DPRK.
Pak Mun Suk, the vice president of the Korean Association of Atomic Bomb Victims for Anti-Nuclear Peace detailed the symptoms she and her brother suffered.
"After the atomic bomb attack, my brother and I lived in the radioactive fallout area and suffered lingering symptoms. In particular, my brother suffered from stomach ulcers, mouth ulcers and bleeding, which made it difficult to eat. He died in June 1999 with his neck swollen from lymphatic cancer."
Another survivor, Kim Myong Ae, also shared the ordeal she went through.
"What pains me very much is the fact that my children are in very bad condition, especially my eldest daughter who died at the age of 34 after being diagnosed with a condition of a lack of white blood cells."
Millions of Koreans were forcibly moved to Japan during the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula, according to DPRK authorities. Approximately 70,000 Koreans were affected by the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including 40,000 who were killed.
Nearly 2,000 of the survivors later returned to the DPRK, but only 382 are still alive. Pak Mun Suk said this is an issue that the Japanese government must address.
"The Japanese government has provided assistance to the Japanese victims, but did nothing for the victims of our country. All of us became victims of the atomic bomb on the same day, at the same time. Even though we are now living in separate countries, we are all still the victims of the same atomic bombs."