-
Son Yong-am | Mobilized to a coal mine on the island of Sakhalin in 1943, then reassigned to Takashima in 1944 | 2006.3.9 verbal statement
-
-
Son Yongam was born in Goseong-gun County, Gangwon-do Province. In November 1943, at the age of 16, he was taken away by the police at Sokcho Station and made a member of the Labor Patriotism Corps. He was taken to the Mitsubishi Coal Mine in Sakhalin from Busan via Hokkaido. Inside the coal pits he worked breaking coal and loading it into trucks. In 1944 he was sent from Sakhalin to the Takashima Coal Mine in a shaft which went straight down into the sea with coal to dig on all sides. While walking about the island was freely permitted, a strict inspection took place of all ships to the outside which left no room for escape for those who wished to leave. With Japan's surrender on the 15th of August, he stopped working. Despite the surrender, he was unable to return home immediately and it was only after two months of effort that he managed to get out of Takashima. In both Sakhalin and Takashima he did not receive a salary, but only an allowance.
-
- A Tough Farewell: Fact-finding Oral Records on Double Conscription on Sakhalin (original Korean title: 지독한 이별, 사할린 이중징용 진상조사 구술기록), Fact-finding Committee on Damages from Forced Mobilization under Japanese Occupation, 2007, pp. 287~321
NagasakiTakashima-Sonyongam-A_Tough_Farewell(Double_Conscription)
download