"Half" Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony will be held soon...Japan "regretful" not to attend Korea

Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony 'Half Event' to be held...Japanese side only attended
Government decides not to attend Japanese Sado mine memorial a day before
Government Decides Not To Attend Vice-Minister-Level 'Yasukuni Shrine'

[Anchor]
Japan's 'Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony' will be held locally today as a half-sized event in our absence.

The bereaved families of the victims of forced mobilization of Koreans and the Korean government will hold their own memorial service.

I'm connecting to the international department. Reporter Yoon Hyun-sook, please tell us.

[Reporter]
Yes, a little later at 1 p.m., the "Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony" will be held at the Aikawa Development Center in Sado City, west of Sado Island, Japan, with only Japanese officials attending.

Initially, Korean and Japanese government officials, including Korean bereaved families, were scheduled to attend, but

The Korean government declared its absence a day before the event, judging that the Japanese government's response lacked sincerity.

The Foreign Ministry cannot reach an acceptable agreement over differences between the two countries over the memorial service. He said he made a decision and said the reason for his absence.

It was crucial to select a far-right politician who visited Yasukuni shrine as the representative of the Japanese central government.

Akiko Ikuina, a foreign affairs officer sent by the Japanese government as a representative, was found to have visited Yasukuni shrine, where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War were enshrined in 2022, sparking controversy.

Ikuina, a political officer, has given an answer to the effect that South Korea should make more concessions on past issues such as forced mobilization.

Criticism has been raised in Korea that such a person coming as a representative of the Japanese government is nothing but insulting Korean workers mobilized for forced labor.

The unclear name of the event and the unclear details of the eulogy were also pointed out as problems.

It is not clear who the victim is memorializing because the name of the official event is missing, and whether the details of the eulogy will include comforting Korean workers was not disclosed until just before the event.

Nine Korean bereaved families have already arrived in Japan yesterday to attend the memorial service,

The Korean government is also discussing ways to hold its own memorial service locally and inspect facilities related to workers at the Sado mine.

[Anchor]
The Japanese government responded that it was regrettable that our government decided not to attend?

[Reporter]
Yes, it is.

In a statement distributed through the Japanese Embassy in Korea, the Japanese government expressed its position on the Korean government's decision not to attend.

The Japanese government said it has continued to communicate respectfully between the two governments while cooperating with local officials who are the organizers of the memorial ceremony, adding that it would be regrettable if South Korea does not attend the memorial ceremony in this situation.

Local media reported that embarrassment spread within the Japanese government and local communities at the news of the Korean government's absence a day before the event.

Kyodo News reported that a foreign ministry official complained that South Korea was overreacting to domestic public opinion.

At the same time, he also conveyed the words of Sado City, who criticized the Japanese government, saying that it was the result of the Japanese government's failure to show sincerity.

Local media reported that there was a view within the Japanese government that the issue should not be prolonged apart from South Korea's decision to not attend.

A Japanese government official said, "The two countries should not make concessions to each other for a long time," indicating that Korea-Japan relations should continue to improve.

When the Sado mine was listed as a World Heritage Site in July, the Japanese government promised to set up exhibits on forced labor and hold an annual worker memorial event to obtain consent from Korea.

However, there was no expression of "forcedness" in the exhibits, and the memorial service was virtually disrupted from the first year, raising questions about the Japanese government's sincerity in cooperation between Korea and Japan and reflecting on the past.

The South Korean government also cannot be free from diplomatic responsibility as it has been stabbed in the back by the Japanese side following the UNESCO listing in 2015.

Sado Mine, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July, is a painful place where 1,500 Koreans were mobilized and forced to work during the Japanese colonial period.

I'm YTN's Hyunsuk Yoon in the international department.