Sado Gold Mine Memorial Ceremony… No mention of Korean forced labor this year either (Korean media reports)

At the memorial service for the workers of the Sado Island Gold Mine, a World Heritage Site, held on the 13th near the Sado Gold Mine in Niigata Prefecture, there was once again no mention of the "forced labor" of Koreans.
Yukiko Okano, Deputy Director-General for International Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who attended the memorial service on behalf of the Japanese government, said in her eulogy, "Some of the workers at the gold mine came from the Korean Peninsula.
"These veterans from the Korean Peninsula, in the unique circumstances of war, thought of their loved ones in this faraway land and endured the dangerous and harsh conditions inside the mines," he said.
"They were forced to work in difficult conditions," he said, adding, "Unfortunately, some people were unable to return to their hometowns until the end of the war, and some died here."
The memorial ceremony for the Sado Gold Mine was held as Japan was moving forward with its World Heritage registration in July last year, and South Korea was demanding that the site "reflect the entire history, including the forced labor of Koreans."
Japan promised to do so in order to gain the cooperation of the Korean side. However, at this memorial ceremony, which was the second one held since last year, there was no mention of the "forced labor" aspect.
For this reason, the South Korean government has decided not to participate in this year's memorial service. A South Korean government official said, "Korean workers were mobilized against their will and forced to work.
"We believe that a memorial can only be valid if it properly expresses the fact that the victims were forced to work," he said, adding, "We were unable to find a common ground in the specific expression regarding the forced nature of the labor."
He explained the reason for not participating.