SADO: Japanese officials on Sunday paid tribute to workers at the Sado Island Gold Mines but refrained from offering an apology for Japan’s wartime use of Korean forced laborers, underscoring persistent tensions between the two countries over historical issues.
South Korea announced a day earlier that it would boycott the memorial, citing unresolved disagreements with Japan that could not be settled in time for the event. The absence of South Korean representatives is seen as a setback in the recent progress made in bilateral relations, which have focused on prioritizing U.S. led security cooperation despite historical disputes.
The Sado mines were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July after years of contention between Japan and South Korea. Japan reluctantly acknowledged the mines’ dark history and pledged to hold an annual memorial service for all victims, including hundreds of Koreans forced to work there during wartime.
The inaugural ceremony, held at a facility near the mines, saw more than 20 seats reserved for South Korean attendees left empty.
“As a local resident, I must say their absence is very disappointing after all the preparations we made,” said Sado Mayor Ryugo Watanabe. “I wish we could have held the memorial with South Korean attendees.”
Families of Korean victims and South Korean officials plan to hold their own ceremony near the mines on Monday. South Korea's Foreign Ministry stated this would symbolize their "firm resolve not to compromise with Japan on historical issues." The ministry also emphasized that South Korea remains committed to improving bilateral ties in a way that serves the interests of both nations.
At Sunday’s ceremony, four Japanese representatives, including central and local government officials and the head of the organizing committee, expressed gratitude to all mine workers and mourned those who died. However, none offered an apology to Korean forced laborers for the harsh conditions they endured at the mines.
Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister representing Japan's government, praised the laborers' craftsmanship and their contributions to the Sado mines. While she acknowledged that “many people from the Korean Peninsula were at the mines under Japan's wartime labor policies” and faced “difficult work under dangerous and severe conditions,” she stopped short of recognizing the forced nature of their labor or Japan’s colonization of Korea.
Speculation suggests South Korea’s boycott may have been influenced by Ikuina’s previous visit to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine in August 2022, shortly after her election as a lawmaker. The shrine, which commemorates 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals, is seen by Japan’s neighbors as a symbol of its militarist past.
Ikuina belongs to a faction of Japan’s ruling party led by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was known for downplaying Japan’s wartime atrocities. For instance, Japan disputes terms such as “sex slavery” and “forced labor,” preferring euphemisms like “comfort women” and “civilian workers.”
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said on Saturday that Ikuina’s Yasukuni visit was a point of contention between the countries’ diplomats.
The Sado mines, located off Japan’s north-central coast, operated for nearly 400 years from the 16th century until their closure in 1989. At one point, they were the world’s largest gold producer. Historians estimate that about 1,500 Koreans were mobilized to work at Sado as part of Japan’s widespread use of Korean laborers during World War II. Many were forced to work under harsh conditions in mines and factories to address labor shortages, as most working-age Japanese men had been sent to battlefronts across Asia and the Pacific.
Japan’s government maintains that all wartime compensation issues between the two countries were resolved under the 1965 normalization treaty.
South Korea had previously opposed the Sado mines' World Heritage designation, arguing that the contributions and suffering of Korean forced laborers were omitted from the site's narrative. However, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration prioritized improving relations with Japan and eventually backed the designation. Critics in South Korea have accused Yoon’s government of failing to secure a strong Japanese commitment to acknowledge the plight of Korean laborers and objected to South Korea agreeing to pay for the travel expenses of Korean victims’ family members to attend the memorial.