South Korea's foreign ministry has announced plans to perform DNA testing on remains recovered from the Chosei coal mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture (a coastal region in western Japan), where a tunnel collapse and subsequent flooding in February 1942 killed 183 miners, including 136 Koreans conscripted under Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The testing, scheduled around recoveries in August 2025 and February 2026, aims to identify the victims, most of whom were never retrieved after the mining company allegedly sealed the tunnels immediately following the accident. The initiative follows an agreement reached during a summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and is expected to be discussed further at an upcoming bilateral meeting in Andong, South Korea.