South Korea not to attend Sado memorial amid controversy over Japan's pick for government representative

Seoul: South Korea said Saturday it will not attend a memorial ceremony in Japan honouring forced labour victims, including Koreans, from an old Japanese mine complex, amid controversy over Tokyo's decision to send a senior official with hardline views on history to the event.

The decision, made just a day before the planned ceremony, came after Tokyo said Thursday that Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister at Japan's foreign ministry, will attend the ceremony as the government representative.

The announcement further stoked doubt about Japan's sincerity in fulfilling its pledge to hold the event to honour the victims, because Ikuina has visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are enshrined.

"We have decided not to attend the Sado mine memorial ceremony, scheduled for November 24, taking into account various circumstances surrounding the event," the ministry said in a message to the media, Yonhap news agency reported.

"There was insufficient time to reconcile differing positions between the diplomatic authorities of both countries, making it unlikely to reach a mutually acceptable agreement before the ceremony," it said.

The shrine, regarded as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past, has been a source of tension, with South Korea strongly opposing visits or offerings made by Japanese government officials.

Critics said her attendance at the ceremony would upset the eleven family members of the Korean victims who were planning to attend the event.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said the government informed Japan this afternoon of the decision, and that it plans to hold a separate memorial event with the family members of the victims who are in Japan for the ceremony.

"Various disagreements have not been resolved, and we thought there was not enough time to resolve the differences, having only a few hours left (before the ceremony)," Cho said in an interview with MBN.

Nine of the eleven family members are already in Japan, and they will pay visits to a museum and other sites related to the Sado mines, accompanied by Seoul officials, Cho said.

Despite the decision, Cho underlined the need to continue communications with Japan so that the bilateral relations will not be influenced by one single issue.

"The trilateral cooperation among Korea, the United States and Japan was established because of the improvement in the Korea-Japan relations, and Japan is well aware of the importance to strengthen it for security," Cho said.

"I believe both countries should work to ensure that no single issue like this disrupts the overall positive flow in the bilateral relations, and we plan to continue consultations with Japan in this regard," he said.

Japan has promised to host a memorial event as a condition for Seoul's consent to the location's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Many Koreans were taken to toil at the Sado gold and silver mines during World War II, when Korea was under Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.

Seoul has stressed to Tokyo the importance of holding the ceremony to honour the victims in a sincere manner, requesting the attendance of a high-level official, possibly at a vice minister level.

However, the lack of details about the ceremony's arrangements, even in the days leading up to the event, has sparked speculation in Seoul that negotiations with Japan may not have gone smoothly.

Recent remarks by Hideyo Hanazumi, the governor of the Niigata Prefecture organising the ceremony, have further fueled concerns. According to Japanese media, Hanazumi said earlier the memorial is intended to report the site's UNESCO listing to the public.

The memorial ceremony is set to take place on western Sado Island, off Japan's west coast, Sunday, with officials from the organising committee, the Sado city and central governments, and civic groups in Japan expected to attend.