Sado mine memorial held without S. Korea attendance for 3rd straight year

NIIGATA, Japan -- An annual memorial service for wartime laborers from the Korean Peninsula who worked at the Sado Island gold and silver mine complex took place on Saturday, with no South Korean government representatives in attendance, marking the third consecutive year without their participation. The ongoing division between the two nations revolves around whether the ceremony should categorize the Korean workers' labor under World War II as forced labor.

At the gathering, Yukiya Hamamoto, director general for cultural affairs at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, stated that Korean Peninsula workers experienced harsh and perilous conditions in the mine's underground tunnels during the conflict. He regretted the fatalities among these individuals. The Sado mine complex was granted inclusion into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage list in 2024, a decision made with South Korea's final approval, despite its previous opposition due to concerns over the coercive nature of wartime labor involving Koreans.

Japan had pledged to hold annual memorial ceremonies for all workers at the complex, including those from the Korean Peninsula. Ryugo Watanabe, mayor of Sado city, expressed that it would have been ideal if the South Korean delegation had attended the ceremony held on Saturday. The South Korean government organized similar memorials on the island in 2024 and 2025, and it is anticipated to continue doing so this year as well.