The Korean government’s boycott of a memorial service held on Sado island in Japan on Sunday for Koreans forced into labor in gold mines on the island during its colonial rule of Korea stemmed from Japan’s lack of sincerity.
In order to get the Sado mines inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list, the Japanese government pledged to exhibit data on former Korean workers and hold an on-site memorial service jointly with the Korean government each year if it consented to the designation. Seoul accepted the offer, helping the mines become a World Cultural Heritage site. Afterward, however, the attitude of the Japanese government changed.
The memorial service it originally planned to hold in July or August was postponed to November. It showed differences from Korea on the official name of the ceremony and eventually settled on an unclearly named "Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony" which lacks a reference to Korean victims. The host of the event was not the Japanese government but a private organization.
The career of Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister at Japan's Foreign Ministry, whom Tokyo picked as its chief delegate, was inappropriate for the ceremony. She visited the Yasukuni Shrine in 2022 which Seoul condemns as glorifying Japan's wartime aggression and honoring war criminals.
The Japanese government was half-hearted in upholding its pledge to enunciate clearly that Koreans were forced to work in the mines. There was no mention of the forced nature of the labor in Ikuina's memorial address, let alone apology or self-examination. Disregarding Korea's boycott, Japan proceeded with the memorial service unilaterally.
The Sado mines are a site deeply resented by Koreans forced into labor there during Japan's colonial occupation. The memorial service should specifically memorialize them and include self-reflection upon their history. However, Japan sent a far-right figure who bowed to Pacific War criminals as its chief government delegate to the ceremony. It is a direct insult to Koreans victimized by forced labor in the mines and their descendants.
Japan did similar things in 2015 when Hashima, widely known as Battleship Island, another site where Koreans had been forced into labor at coal mines, got inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. At that time, in order to ease the controversy from forced labor, Tokyo admitted that Korean and other peoples had worked under harsh conditions against their will in some facilities on the island and pledged to set up an information center on the scene. But the center was built in Tokyo, far from the scene, and displayed data effectively denies the forced nature of labor.
The Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony confirms again that Japan is not sincere about resolution of historical issues with Korea. The administration under President Yoon Suk Yeol has striven to restore the Korea-Japan relationship, which was on the rocks under the previous government. It presented “a third-party repayment,” a politically risky solution to the Korean court order that Japanese companies should compensate Koreans who were forced to work in Japan for the firms during its colonial rule. Then, it launched shuttle summit diplomacy with Japan. Preparations for the memorial service for Sado mine victims were made on that basis, but Japan's follow-up actions fell short of expectations and the red light came on again in Korea-Japan relations.
Japan should recognize the sensitivity of historical issues involving Korea and show a positive and sincere attitude towards efforts to resolve them. Next year marks six decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries. With former US President Donald Trump reelected, US-China ties are expected to enter rough waters. North Korea will certainly keep escalating its nuclear and missile threats. A close trilateral relationship between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington will be more important than ever.
Seoul gave consideration to Tokyo on politically burdensome historical issues in order to improve their relations. However, Japan is not taking corresponding measures. If it remains half-hearted at improving its ties with South Korea, the hard-won opportunity for a better future of both countries will vanish.
