Korea not to attend Japan's Sado mine memorial service

Home > National > Diplomacy

Korea not to attend Japan's Sado mine memorial service

Published: 23 Nov. 2024, 15:48 Updated: 24 Nov. 2024, 13:22

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

The Sado Mines located on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, Japan [YONHAP]

The Korean government will not attend Japan's first memorial service for wartime forced labor victims at the Sado Mines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

"We have decided not to attend the Sado Mines memorial service considering related issues of the event," said the ministry.

"The decision comes after coming to the conclusion that the two countries have not come to a mutual agreement on matters surrounding the memorial service due to a lack of time."

A Japan-based committee organizing the memorial service announced Wednesday that Japan will hold a memorial service for wartime forced labor victims at the Sado Mines, where many Koreans were forced to work during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45).

The Sado Mines located on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, Japan [YONHAP]

The memorial service is a follow-up measure Japan promised to do through an agreement with Korea when Japan registered the Sado Mines as a Unesco World Heritage site this July.

The announcement came after a delay in fixing the time of the memorial service, which sparked concerns in Korea about Japan’s sincerity in fulfilling its promise to present the complete history of the Sado Mines.

Meanwhile, Japan announced Friday it will send Akiko Ikuina, parliamentary vice minister at Japan's Foreign Ministry, to the upcoming memorial ceremony.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]