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| ▲ In this file photo, South Korean Ambassador to Japan Park Cheol-hee (C) pays tribute to the victims of Japan's wartime forced labor from the Sado mine complex during World War II, on Sado Island, off Japan's west coast, on Nov. 25, 2024. Seoul officials and the family members held a separate memorial ceremony to honor the victims after boycotting a Japan-hosted event over what South Korea called "disagreements" on the issues related to the event that were unable to be resolved with Japan. (Yonhap) |
S Korea-Japan-Sado memorial
S. Korea not to attend Japan's Sado mine memorial event this year: Seoul
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will not attend Japan's memorial ceremony related to its old mine complex where many Koreans were forced to toil during World War II, a Seoul official said Thursday, after it boycotted last year's event over disagreements over ways to honor the victims.
The decision was made as the two sides again failed to narrow the gap in their views on how to honor the forced labor victims, despite "serious" negotiations held between the two countries, the official said.
Holding the memorial ceremony for the Sado mine victims was part of Japan's pledge when the mines were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in late July of last year. Japan committed to holding the event annually.
South Korea boycotted the inaugural memorial event in November, citing Tokyo's lack of sincerity in honoring the victims, and held its own event separately near the Sado site.
"We could not narrow the differences in opinions over key issues, and we determined that it is difficult to attend the memorial," the official said.
One of the key issues was how to describe the "nature of coercion" of the mobilization of Korean workers, he noted.
Japan plans to hold this year's memorial event next Saturday, according to diplomatic sources.
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