In the letter of request they noted the Nagano City authorities made up a new signboard that says the forcible drafting of Korean workers into the construction of underground bomb-shelter of the "Matsushiro imperial headquarters" could not be described as "coercive."

This is the denial of the historical fact of the forcible drafting of Koreans by the Japanese imperialists, the letter said.

It demanded the city authorities clarify the truth by rewriting the signboard.

The chairman of the Nagano Prefectural Headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan urged the city authorities to understand the weight of the signatures of 20 000 odd people and properly deal with it, saying the forcible drafting of Koreans and forced labor are historical facts.

The chairman of a Japanese civic organization said nowadays Japan's wrong understanding of history draws world attention, adding that the rewriting of the signboard at the entrance to the underground bomb-shelter is just one example.