Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister at Japan’s foreign ministry, attends a memorial ceremony honoring forced labor victims, including Koreans, on Japan’s Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 24, 2024. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – A memorial ceremony honoring forced labor victims, including Koreans, at an old Japanese mine complex kicked off as planned Sunday, with South Korea boycotting it over Tokyo’s pick to send a senior official with hard-line views on history to the event.
South Korea’s foreign ministry did not attend the memorial ceremony, in response to Tokyo’s decision to send Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister at Japan’s foreign ministry, as the government representative to attend the ceremony.
The decision was seen as stoking doubt over Japan’s sincerity in honoring the victims given that Ikuina has visited the Yasukuni Shrine, regarded as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past, and has been a source of tension, with South Korea strongly opposing visits or offerings made by Japanese government officials.
A committee overseeing the ceremony pushed ahead with the memorial at 1 p.m. on Japan’s Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, attended by Ikuina, as well as regional and civic group officials, including the governor and mayor of Niigata and Sado.
Of the approximately 100 planned attendees, around 30 seats were left vacant due to the boycott of the Korean delegation.
During the ceremony, Ikuina delivered a speech notably omitting any mention of “forced labor” and exited the venue without responding to reporters’ questions.
Sado City Mayor Ryugo Watanabe described the boycott by the Korean side as “regrettable.”
Of the approximately 100 planned attendees of a memorial ceremony honoring forced labor victims, including Koreans, around 30 seats are left empty due to the boycott of the Korean delegation, on Japan’s Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, on Nov. 24, 2024. (Yonhap)
Nine of the eleven family members of the Korean victims are already in Japan, and they are set to hold a separate event at 9 a.m. on Monday honoring the victims at a site near the mine complex that used to be a dormitory for Koreans.
The memorial ceremony, which will be attended by South Korea’s top envoy in Japan, is expected to comprise an address honoring the victims and a silent tribute, followed by laying wreaths for the victims.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said Sunday holding a separate ceremony honoring the forced labor victims reflects the government’s “firm resolve not to compromise on historical issues with Japan.”
Japan has promised to host a memorial event as a condition for Seoul’s consent to the location’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Sunday’s memorial marking the first such event.
More than 1,500 South Koreans are estimated to have been forced to toil at the Sado gold and silver mines during World War II, when Korea was under Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
Seoul has stressed to Tokyo the importance of holding the ceremony to honor the victims in a sincere manner, requesting the attendance of a high-level official, possibly at a vice minister level.
However, the lack of details about the ceremony’s arrangements, even in the days leading up to the event, has sparked speculation in Seoul that negotiations with Tokyo may not have gone smoothly.
An exit of the Sado gold and silver mine complex on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, Japan (Yonhap)
The Japanese government on Sunday expressed regret over South Korea’s decision not to attend the ceremony in response to a question by Yonhap News Agency.
The Japanese Embassy said Seoul and Tokyo had been in “polite communication” over the memorial event, but it “would be regrettable” if South Korea does not attend the memorial service.
The latest development adds to concerns that trilateral security cooperation between the two nations, also involving the United States, which had been a catalyst in strengthening bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo, could dampen with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s win.
“South Korea-Japan ties could advance on the back of South Korea’s efforts,” said Choi Eun-mi, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “Japan should have reacted in a corresponding manner, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”
(Yonhap)
