"Half" Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony...日 "Workers on the Korean Peninsula work in harsh environments"

The first memorial service for the Sado mine workers, who were forced to work by Koreans in Japanese colonial era, was held today at the Aikawa Development Center in Sado City, with the Korean side absent.

South Korean bereaved families and government representatives, who were supposed to attend the event, decided not to participate yesterday due to the history of Japanese government representatives' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Japanese government representative Akiko Ikuina said in his eulogy that workers from the Korean Peninsula worked hard in dangerous and harsh conditions.

They then said, "I'm sorry that I couldn't go back to my hometown until the end, but some people have died in this land."

Ikuina also said Niigata Prefecture and Sado City are also working on cultural exchanges with South Korea, adding that she hopes relations between the two sides will be further strengthened.

South Korean bereaved families and the government's representative ambassador to Japan, Park Chul-hee, will hold their own memorial service on Sado Island separately.

Japan promised South Korea to hold an annual memorial service in July when the Sado mine was listed as a World Heritage Site.

However, during the memorial consultation, the two governments have been at odds over names, schedules, and central government participants.

Ikuina, a political officer dispatched by the Japanese government as a representative, was a famous girl group in the 1980s and has a history of paying tribute to Yasukuni shrine on August 15, 2022, shortly after the election of the upper house.

South Korea has also expressed its position that it should make concessions on pending issues of conflict between South Korea and Japan, such as Japanese Military Sexual Slavery and forced conscription.

The Sado mine was used as a gold mine during the Edo period (1603-1867) and has been used as a mine to secure copper and other war supplies since the Pacific War began in earnest.

At this time, colonial Koreans were forcibly mobilized and had to work discriminated against in harsh environments.

It is estimated that the number of Koreans mobilized in Sado Mine is about 1500.