Government Decides Not To Attend Japanese Sado Mine Memorial Day... "Difficult to Agree"

[Anchor]
The Korean government has decided not to participate in Japan's "Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony" in memory of the victims of forced mobilization of Koreans in Japanese colonial era.

It is believed that they have failed to narrow their differences over issues such as the attendance of Japanese officials with a history of visiting Yasukuni shrine.

I'm reporter Park Hee-jae.

[Reporter]
The government has finally decided not to attend the Japanese Sado mine memorial ceremony, which was agreed to participate by vice ministers from both Korea and Japan.

The decision came a day after it was reported that a person with a history of visiting Yasukuni would attend as a Japanese official.

The Foreign Ministry cannot reach an acceptable agreement over differences between the two countries over the memorial service. I've made a decision.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol also explained the reason for his absence in a broadcast interview after the announcement, saying that there was not enough time to resolve differences.

Earlier in July, the Japanese side agreed with the Korean government to hold an annual memorial ceremony for victims of forced mobilization in connection with the listing of the Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

However, until recently, there has been a long tug-of-war as it has not been confirmed who will attend and what will be included in the eulogy.

On top of that, it was also controversial that the Niigata Prefecture branch of Japan, where the memorial service is held, simply referred to the event as a place to report the UNESCO World Heritage List, or that the expression "victim" was omitted from the official name of the event.

Although Japan announced the dispatch of Akiko Ikuina's foreign ministry political officer just as the event was imminent, controversy arose in 2022 when it was revealed that he visited Yasukuni shrine, where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War joined.

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

Many Korean government officials and bereaved families have already arrived in Japan to attend the memorial service.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to hold its own memorial service separate from the bereaved families and inspect facilities related to workers at the Sado mine.

I'm Park Heejae of YTN.