Effort to Honor Korean Kamikaze Pilots Stirs Controversy
apanese Actress Fukumi Kuroda is the driving force behind a memorial dedicated to 18 confirmed Korean pilots who flew kamikaze missions for the Japanese in World War II.
For decades, Tak and 17 other Korean pilots who flew kamikaze missions for the Japanese in World War II have been widely viewed as traitors at home. A half-century after his death, Tak's Korean hometown is looking to change that legacy with the first memorial in South Korea to a former kamikaze. But as the unveiling approaches, opposition is growing from conservative residents who still harbor strong resentment against Japan's brutal colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
This undated picture released by the family of Tak Kyung-hyun and copied by Japanese actress Fukumi Kuroda, shows South Korean pilot Tak Kyung-hyun. B
(AP Photo/Family of Tak Kyung-hyun)
05/08/2008 6:25 AM
Fukumi Kuroda answers a reporter's question during an interview with The Associated Press in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, April 4, 2008.
(AP Photo/ Ahn Young-joon)
apanese Actress Fukumi Kuroda is the driving force behind a memorial dedicated to 18 confirmed Korean pilots who flew kamikaze missions for the Japanese in World War II.
