TOKYO -- As Japan marks the 81st anniversary of its surrender in World War II, thousands of old military medical records preserved in Japan are offering rare documentary evidence of atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the war of aggression against China -- records that the Japanese military once ordered destroyed.
Hidden for decades in iron containers beneath the ground and later painstakingly copied by hand, the files contain soldiers' own confessions of killing civilians, burning villages and bayoneting children. Japanese scholars said the records not only document wartime crimes, but also expose how militarist ideology normalized violence while the military sought to erase evidence of its responsibility. (Japan-Medical Records-Wartime Crime in China, WORLD INSIGHTS)
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SEOUL -- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday called on South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to respect each other, refrain from unnecessary confrontation, and pursue peaceful coexistence and shared growth.
In his address marking the 81st anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee unveiled a roadmap for peaceful coexistence with the DPRK, calling for dialogue among the directly concerned parties to officially end the Korean War and transform the Korean Peninsula's unstable armistice into a peace regime. (South Korea-DPRK-Peace, 1ST LD WRITETHRU)
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SEOUL -- South Korea on Saturday expressed its deep regret over Japanese leaders' offerings and visits to the notorious war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of the militaristic and colonial past of Japan.
South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement that the government cannot but deplore the fact that responsible leaders of Japan once again forgot history and repeated anachronistic acts by sending offerings to or paying tributes at the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's past wars of aggression and enshrines war criminals. (South Korea-Japan-Protest)
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KABUL -- White Taliban flags emblazoned with black script lined major streets across Kabul on Saturday as the Taliban celebrates the fifth anniversary of its return to power with a large-scale ceremony here.
Five years on, the war-torn country has largely moved from war to reconstruction. Overall security has improved, but creating jobs, absorbing returning refugees and reviving the economy remain formidable challenges. (Afghanistan-Talin-Return Anniversary, WORLD INSIGHTS)
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MAUMERE, Indonesia -- The death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake and several strong aftershocks that struck off the coast of Flores Island in eastern Indonesia has risen to 47, the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said Saturday.
In its latest update, the BNPB said at least 346 houses have been damaged, including 157 that were severely damaged, 41 moderately damaged, and 148 slightly damaged. (Indonesia-Earthquake-Flores, 8TH LD WRITETHRU) Enditem
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