South Korea holds memorial for forced laborers at Sado mines, a day after boycotting Japanese event

SADO, Japan — 

South Korea paid tribute to wartime Korean forced laborers astatine Japan's Sado Island Gold Mines successful a memorial ceremonial connected Monday, a time aft boycotting a akin lawsuit organized by Japan, arsenic tensions implicit humanities atrocities proceed to interaction relations betwixt the 2 sides.

Monday's ceremonial astatine a erstwhile dormitory adjacent the 16th period Sado mines, which were listed this summertime arsenic a UNESCO World Heritage site, was organized by South Korea's Foreign Ministry and attended by 9 families of Korean wartime laborers, the country's ambassador to Japan and different officials.

Japan connected Sunday held a memorial work for each workers astatine the Sado mines, including Koreans. It thanked them for their contributions astatine the mines but did not admit their forced labour oregon contented an apology.

At the Korean-sponsored memorial connected Monday, participants successful acheronian suits observed a infinitesimal of soundlessness and offered achromatic chrysanthemums successful grant of the South Korean laborers, on with offerings specified arsenic dried fish, sliced pome and pears.

In a abbreviated speech, South Korea's Ambassador to Japan Park Choel-hee offered his condolences to the forced laborers and their families, expressing hopes that the memorial would bring comfortableness to families. He said South Korea and Japan should some marque efforts to guarantee that the achy wartime past is remembered.

"We volition ne'er hide the tears and sacrifices of the Korean workers down the past of the Sado mines," Park said.

"I sincerely anticipation that contiguous volition beryllium a time of remembrance for each the Korean workers who suffered indescribable symptom nether harsh conditions, and that this memorial work volition bring comfortableness to the souls of the deceased Korean workers and their bereaved families," Park added.

At the mines, astir 1,500 Koreans were forced to labour nether abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say.

Sunday's ceremony, which was expected to further mend wounds, renewed tensions betwixt the 2 sides. South Korea announced Saturday its determination to not be the Japanese-organized ceremony, citing unspecified disagreements with Tokyo implicit the event.

There was speculation that the South Korean boycott was related to parliamentary vice curate Akiko Ikuina's attendance astatine Sunday's ceremony.

Ikuina reportedly visited Tokyo's arguable Yasukuni Shrine successful August 2022, weeks aft she was elected arsenic a lawmaker. Japan's neighbors presumption Yasukuni, which commemorates 2.5 cardinal warfare dead, including warfare criminals, arsenic a awesome of Japan's past militarism.

The Sado mines were registered arsenic a UNESCO taste practice tract successful July aft Japan agreed to see an grounds connected the conditions of Korean forced laborers and to clasp a memorial work annually, aft repeated protests from the South Korean government.

Signs, including 1 astatine the tract wherever South Koreans held their ceremony, person been erected indicating erstwhile sites of Korean laborers' dormitories. A city-operated depository successful the country besides added a conception astir Korean laborers, but a backstage depository attached to the main UNESCO tract doesn't notation them astatine all.

The tract of South Korea's memorial was the erstwhile Fourth Souai Dormitory, 1 of 4 dorms for Korean laborers without families. A recently erected motion determination reads, "Workers from the Korean Peninsula lived present during the wartime."

On Saturday, the families visited a erstwhile lodging tract wherever Korean laborers lived. They besides concisely saw the city-run depository and an grounds connected the Korean laborers arsenic they listened to explanations done a translator.