"I didn't visit Yasukuni." Deferring responsibility...Government "expression of regret"

Kyodo News "Misinformation on the self-report of visiting Ikuina Yasukuni"

"LDP lawmakers say they have never seen Ikuina."

The government said, "I have never visited Ikuina or Yasukuni shrine."

[Anchor]
Regarding the controversy over the memorial service for Sado Mine, the Japanese government raised the issue of South Korea's absence, saying it was not true.

The South Korean government said it expressed regret to Japan, saying that the Japanese eulogy and others did not reach the level agreed between Korea and Japan.

I'm connecting to the local area in Japan.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho!

[Reporter]
Yes. It's Tokyo.

[Anchor]
At this memorial service, the Japanese government seems to be getting out of the controversy over the Japanese representative's visit to Yasukuni.

[Reporter]
Controversy sparked when Akiko Ikuina, a political officer sent by the Japanese government as representative of the Sado mine memorial ceremony, reportedly visited Yasukuni shrine shortly after the election of the upper house.

In Korea, there was a lot of criticism for sending inappropriate greetings to the Sado mine memorial service.

However, Kyodo News corrected last night that the report that Senator Akiko visited Yasukuni shrine on August 15, 2022 was wrong.

At that time, there were reports that they saw Ikuina entering the precinct, but they wrote the article without checking it with themselves.

A spokesman for the Japanese government also officially denied that Ikuina's visits to Yasukuni were true.

At the same time, he said he was sorry that the Korean side did not attend the memorial service.

The far-right Sankei Shimbun also criticized the extreme expression of "anti-Japanese soldiers in Korea."

If Ikui or a political officer did not pay tribute to Yasukuni, he said, "It would be rather regrettable," and urged them to pay tribute quickly.

Japan's attitude is interpreted as an intention to pass on the responsibility for holding a 'half-way' Sado mine memorial ceremony to Korea.

[Anchor]
Even if Ikui or a political officer did not visit Yasukuni, it would be difficult to justify Japan's attitude, right? Our government also expressed regret to the Japanese side.

[Reporter]
Yes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it expressed regret over Japan's attitude during the Korea-Japan consultation on the memorial service yesterday through the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The Japanese side also stressed earlier that it is a firm determination not to compromise on past history to attend the memorial service and hold our own event.

He explained that it was an important consideration that all matters, including the details of the eulogy, did not reach the level at the time of the agreement on the Sado mine.

It's not just because of the controversy over Ikui or a political officer visiting Yasukuni shrine.

In fact, most of the contents of Ikuina's eulogy at the Japanese government's Sado Mine memorial ceremony were devoted to emphasizing the value, meaning, and hard work of workers,

Sado Mine is strongly focused on promoting its cultural heritage.

Critics say that there was no expression of forced labor and apology anywhere, and that even the object of mourning was ambiguous, expressing condolences to all the workers who died.

In the end, the Korean government and the bereaved family held a separate memorial service.

As long as Japan avoids acknowledging and apologizing for the forced labor of Koreans, it seems inevitable to operate in limbo.

In addition, the possibility of escalating into a new conflict between the two countries ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan next year cannot be ruled out.

I'm Kim Se-ho of YTN in Tokyo.