6 hours Ago By [email protected](KoreaTimes)
A visitor looks at the exhibits on Korean workers who were forced into hard labor at the Sado gold and silver mines during World War II, at the Aikawa History Museum in the Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Yonhap Japan will hold a memorial ceremony next week to honor workers, including many Koreans, who were forced into hard labor at an old mine complex during World War II, a Japan-based committee organizing the event said Wednesday. The ceremony will take place at the Aikawa Development Center on western Sado Island, off Japan's west coast, Sunday, the executive committee for the Sado mines memorial ceremony said.
Korea's foreign ministry said the ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m., will be attended by officials from the executive committee, civic groups, and the Sado city and central governments.
Eleven family members of the Korean victims will also be present at the ceremony, a Seoul official said. The announcement came after Japan's delay in fixing the timing of the memorial service sparked concerns in Korea about Japan's sincerity in fulfilling its pledge to present the full history of the site, including its links to the forced mobilization of Koreans. Japan earlier promised to hold the memorial ceremony to remember the forced labor victims as a precondition for the inscription of the Sado gold and silver mines as a UNESCO World Heritage site in July.
Tokyo had initially indicated it was considering holding the ceremony as early as August and on a regular basis going forward. Korea has requested a high-level Japanese government official, possibly at a vice minister level, attend the ceremony to show its sincerity. Tokyo did not announce who will be attending the event from the central government.
The event will include a moment of silence to honor the victims, followed by remarks from both the Korean and Japanese sides, and a wreath-laying ceremony, the ministry official said. The Sado mine complex, once the largest producer of gold in the 17th century, won UNESCO World Heritage status in late July, upon the consensus of the 21 UNESCO committee members that include Korea and Japan. Seoul gave consent to the inscription after Tokyo agreed to set up the exhibits on its history and hold a regular memorial service to honor the forced labor victims.
Critics have said the exhibits, installed at a local history museum near the mine complex, lack descriptions of the coercive nature of the mobilization. Thousands of Koreans were taken to toil at Japanese mines and factories during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea. (Yonhap).
