South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that his country “will never forget” the history and sacrifices of ethnic Koreans in Japan, as the Korean Residents Union in Japan marked its 80th anniversary.
In a post on X, Lee said he had met members of the Korean Residents Union in Japan at the presidential Blue House. “Today we met with the members of the Korean Residents Union in Japan, which marks its 80th anniversary this year,” he wrote.
Lee praised the organization for serving as a pillar of support for Korean residents in Japanese society over the decades. He said its members had also contributed to South Korea during difficult periods.
Lee also highlighted what he described as the union’s role in bridging the two countries. “When there were difficulties between South Korea and Japan, you served as a bridge connecting the people of both nations,” he said.
Looking ahead, Lee expressed hope that the experience and aspirations of older generations would be passed on to younger members, who he said should grow into leading figures of the ethnic Korean community in Japan.
“South Korea will now repay, in an even greater way, the love and dedication you have shown over the past 80 years,” Lee said. He added that he would work with ethnic Koreans in Japan “to build a better future in the next 80 years.”
The Korean Residents Union in Japan was founded in 1946 and represents ethnic Koreans who settled in Japan, many of them descendants of people who moved there or were brought there during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
