This undated file photo by Kyodo News shows the memorial stone for Korean forced labor victims erected at a public park in the city of Takasaki, in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea on Tuesday expressed hope for a resolution over a Japanese local government’s decision to remove the memorial stone for Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor from a public park.
Japanese media reported earlier this week that the authorities of Gunma Prefecture plan to remove the memorial stone from a public park in the city of Takasaki.
The memorial stone was erected in 2004 by a civic group in Japan to promote the public’s understanding of the shared past history from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and the friendship between the two neighbors.
In 2014, Gunma Prefecture refused to extend the state approval for the establishment of the stone, claiming a civic activist made inappropriate remarks about the forced labor victims during a 2012 memorial event.
Japan’s top court ruled in favor of the Gunma authorities in 2022, but the civic group has filed for separate suits seeking to block the removal.
“We hope that this issue will be resolved in a way that will not undermine the friendly relations between the two countries,” a foreign ministry official said.
A diplomatic source said Seoul is communicating with Tokyo about the matter, although it is difficult for South Korea to raise the issue at the government level, given that it is an ongoing dispute between a local government in Japan and a Japanese civic group.
On the front wall of the stone, the phrase, “Remembrance, Reflection and Friendship,” is engraved in Korean, Japanese and English.
The forced labor issue has been a major thorn in bilateral relations. Many Koreans were forced to work in Japanese factories under harsh conditions during the colonial years.
The Seoul-Tokyo ties improved dramatically after President Yoon Suk Yeol announced a plan in March to compensate the Korean forced labor victims without asking for contributions from liable Japanese companies. But some victims and their bereaved family members oppose Yoon’s decision.
(Yonhap)
