Boycott of Sado Mines Memorial Service Causes Tensions Between Korea and Japan
Here we go again with historical issues preventing close cooperation between Korea and Japan when they both know it is in their national interests to cooperate:
Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister of Japan’s foreign ministry, lays a wreath during a memorial ceremony for the laborers who worked in the Sado mines at Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Sunday. Yonhap
Korean officials skipped Japan’s memorial service held near the Sado mine site, Sunday, in an apparent protest against Tokyo’s “insincerity” in addressing the dark history related to the site, where approximately 1,500 Koreans were subjected to forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
Critics view that this latest incident, which could reignite historical disputes over the forced labor issue, could undermine the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s efforts to foster closer cooperation with Tokyo.
Diplomatic friction with Japan has been rare under Yoon, whose administration has prioritized mending ties with the neighboring nation after years of strained relations over historical grievances.
The memorial service, held at the Aikawa Development Center on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, was attended by Japanese government officials and members of civic groups, with no Korean officials present. Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister of Japan’s foreign ministry, represented the government.
You can read more at the link, but the reason for the protest is that the Japanese representative, Akiko Ikuina visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo back in 2022. For Koreans if you visit Yasukuni it means you support Japan’s World War II aggression, but that is not how Japanese view Yasukuni, it is a place to remember Japan’s wartime dead. The reason for the boycott may be stupid, but the Japanese probably should of chose someone else to attend the memorial to prevent the boycott by Korea. It was more important to have the Korean representatives there than Ikuina.
