Yoo Jae-suk and Haha, hosts of MBC’s variety show “Infinite Challenge,” visited Japan’s Utoro village during the latest episode of the show.

Utoro village was formed by Koreans, who were conscripted by the Japanese government during the colonial period and forced into hard labor to build an air base in Kyoto. Even after Korea was liberated, the Koreans, who were not compensated for the hard labor, could not return to the country due to poverty and have been scratching a living until now.

At the village, Yoo and Haha met a Japanese old lady Dagawa Akiko, who has been living there for 30 years.

Akiko said, “27 years ago, I was too shocked to see my (Korean) friend, who grew up in Utoro and had no access to a water supply. I thought I should do something.” That was the beginning of initiating a campaign to install water supply facilities in the village.

Yoo and Haha also visited Koreans living there to deliver food and gifts. They met a Korean old lady Kang Kyung-nam, whose hometown is Sacheon, located in southeast of Korea, and gave her some photos and films of the village scenery. They told her in tears, “Sorry. We visited you so late.”

UNESCO recently recognized Japan‘s 23 facilities including the one in Hashima Island dubbed “Island of Hell” where thousands of Koreans and Chinese died after brutal forced labor.

(MBC)