
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Keywords: Japan-North Korea relations, atomic bomb victims, pipokja, nuclear weapons, victimhood, transnational redress, polylateral diplomacy
DOI: 10.5509/202396161
This article examines the redress campaign waged by activists in Japan on behalf of roughly 2,000 North Korean A-bomb victims (pipokja). These victims were repatriated from Japan after being subjected to the 1945 US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while under colonial rule. From the early 1990s through to the twenty-first century, activists in Japan pursued redress for these A-bomb survivors in close synchronicity with the redress movements centred on South Korean victims. Highlighting the potential of the individual as entrepreneur within collective action settings, the redress developments were initiated and largely driven by an activist, Lee Sil-gun (1929–2020).
Although Tokyo and Pyongyang were initially reluctant to acknowledge that A-bomb survivors existed in North Korea, in the face of sustained pressure by the Japan-based activists, the two governments facilitated a limited redress process for the victims by making various concessions on the issue. How did these activists navigate the structural constraints of the authoritarian North Korean state and the volatile bilateral relationship in enacting their transnational activism? How were they able to elicit concessions on their redress objectives from Tokyo and Pyongyang in the absence of formalized diplomatic relations? Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Japan and South Korea, this article probes these questions by empirically tracing and analyzing the evolution of the redress campaign for the North Korean A-bomb victims. I utilize the concept of polylateral diplomacy to elucidate the dynamic of engagement between the activists and the two governments.
被遗忘的原子弹受害者:北朝鲜原子弹受害者(Pipokja)与日本-北朝鲜关系中的受害者政治
关键词:日本-北朝鲜关系,原子弹受害者,pipokja,核武器,受害者身份,跨国补偿,多边外交。
本文考察了日本社会活动家代表大约2,000名北朝鲜原子弹受害者(Pipokja)掀起的要求补偿的运动。在日本殖民统治之下, 这些受害者于1945年在广岛和长崎遭受核武器攻击后,被从日本遣返回国。从20世纪90年代初到21世纪,日本的活动家们在为这些原子弹幸存者寻求补偿时,与以韩国受害者为中心的寻求赔偿运动密切保持同步。寻求补偿运动总的来说是由一位名为李実根(1929-2020)的活动家所发起和驱动,凸显出个体在集体行动情境下成为社运企业家的潜力。
尽管东京和平壤起初都不情愿承认北朝鲜有原子弹幸存者,然而面对这些以日本为基地的活动家的持续的压力,两国政府还是通过在这个问题上做出各种让步,协助进行了对受害者的一个有限的补偿程序。在进行跨国活动时,在日本的活动家们是如何设法克服北朝鲜的威权主义国家以及动荡的双边关系这些结构性限制的?在缺乏正式的外交关系的情况下,他们是怎样让东京和平壤为他们的补偿目标让步的?本论文借助于在日本和韩国进行的田野工作,通过经验性追溯和分析为北朝鲜原子弹受害者寻求补偿运动的过程来探究这些问题。它利用了多边外交的概念来阐明社会活动家与两国政府之间的来往的动态。
Translated by Li Guo