The government identified 95 Koreans who died during the bombing of Tokyo during World War Two, a prime ministerial commission said Tuesday. This is the first time Korean casualties of the attack have been identified.

The incident refers to the carpet bombing of Tokyo made by the U.S. Air Force that began on March 9, 1945. About 2,400 metric tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on the Japanese capital during the raid, killing more than 100,000 people.

According to Korean and Japanese research, between 40,000 and 50,000 Koreans were affected by the shelling, 10,000 of whom are thought to have been killed.

The Commission on Verification and Support for the Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism in Korea said that the 95 individuals were among the 220,000 cases of forced mobilization reported to the commission.

The commission found that the 95 identified individuals were housed in dormitories at military supplies factories, making escape difficult.

Of the 95, 90 are thought to have died as a direct result of the bombing. By place of origin, North Gyeongsang Province accounted for the majority of the identified individuals with 74 people having come from the area.

The list also includes 13 individuals who were under the age of 18, the commission said.

Although the possibility that about 120 Koreans may have died during the raid was raised in 1971 when the Japanese government handed over a list of those who died while in forced service in Japan, this is the first time casualties have officially been identified.

“Japan has promoted the raid as one of the main examples of damage it sustained during the war along with the effects of the atomic bombs, but has yet to acknowledge that Koreans died in the raids,” an official at the commission said.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)