Sado Island: South Korea held a memorial ceremony in Japan on Friday to honor Koreans forced into labour at a gold and silver mine complex during World War II, the second year it has held its own event apart from Japan’s official ceremony.
Seoul decided to not attend this year’s memorial hosted by Japan after the two neighboring countries could not come to an agreement on ways to reflect Korean workers’ sufferings and the nature of forced labour.
Friday’s memorial, led by the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, took place at a hotel on Sado Island in the Niigata Prefecture, joined by 11 family members of the victims.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Hyuk delivered a tribute in remembrance of the pain and suffering endured by the workers, and offered comfort to their bereaved families.
“More than 80 years ago, many Korean workers were brought here to Sado Island against their will through recruitment or conscription under the involvement of the Japanese governor-general of Korea and were forced to toil under harsh conditions,” Lee said.
“Reflecting on the pain of the past and sharing this act of remembrance will deepen our sense of empathy and healing,” he said.
Japan has pledged to hold the memorial event annually when the Sado mines were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in July 2024.
South Korea boycotted the event hosted by Japan last year, citing Japan’s lack of sincerity in honoring the victims, including its apparent rejection to reflect their sufferings and the coercive nature of forced labor in the memorial speech, Yonhap news agency reported.
The Sado mines, once famous as a gold mine between the 17th and 19th centuries, were mainly used to produce war supplies for the Japanese imperial army during World War II. More than 1,500 Koreans are reported to have been forced into labour at the mines from 1940-45, when Korea was under Japan’s colonial rule.
Japan held its own Sado memorial ceremony in September.
(IANS)
