South Korean government hosts own memorial for victims of Japan's war-linked gold mine

The South Korean government held on Friday a separate memorial for Korean forced-labor victims of Japan's UNESCO-listed Sado mine, as the two countries failed to agree on how to hold a joint ceremony.

South Korea's event took place at a hotel on Sado Island, Niigata prefecture, with the attendance of bereaved families, South Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Hyuk, and other government officials, Yonhap News Agency reported.

In his speech at the event, Lee said the ceremony was arranged to remember the pain and suffering of Koreans who were forced into labor under Japan's colonial rule.

"Reflecting on the pain of the past and sharing this act of remembrance will deepen empathy and healing," he said.

According to South Korean historians, more than 1,500 Koreans were forced by Imperial Japan into heavy labor in the Sado mine, which was converted into facilities to produce war supplies during World War II, when the Korean Peninsula was under Japan's colonial rule.

In 2024, South Korea agreed to list the mine in Japan as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the condition that Tokyo takes measures to reflect the entire history of the mine on the site, including displaying the history of forced labor on-site and holding a joint annual memorial ceremony with South Korea.

However, South Korea boycotted the Japan-hosted memorial in 2024 and this year, saying that Japan did not make any mention of "forced labor" in its memorial address.

Even at Japan's recent memorial service, held in September, Japanese government representative Yukiko Okano, director-general for cultural affairs at Japan's Foreign Ministry, only referred to the Korean forced laborers as "workers from the Korean Peninsula".

In a social media post on Sunday, South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said Japan has demonstrated "an act of irresponsibility" without reflection on past history as none of its commitments during the UNESCO world heritage listing of the Sado mine have been fulfilled.

"We demand sincere reflection and a responsible attitude" from Japan, Woo said.

kelly@chinadailyapac.com