[Correspondent’s column] One more fragmented Sado mine memorial

By Hong Seock-jae, Tokyo correspondent

“It may be only one thing more to hold, however right here is a few bread I made this morning.”

The morning of Nov. 24, 2024, the innkeeper of the lodging I used to be staying in on Sado Island, Japan, handed me a loaf of home made bread as I headed out for the day. The bread appeared scrumptious, however the innkeeper’s concern that it may be a burden gave me a way of the heat of rural Japan. 

Although my lodging value solely about 100,000 received (about US$69), they included breakfast and dinner, to not point out the gorgeous seaside surroundings. For over 400 years, miners have lived and labored on Sado Island, and its mining advanced has been acknowledged as a UNESCO World Heritage web site. My experiences on the island left a long-lasting impression of rustic generosity.

Nevertheless, the embers of the battle between Korea and Japan nonetheless smolder right here. Final November, when the Korean authorities introduced it might not attend the memorial ceremony for Sado mine staff organized by the Japanese authorities, our Ministry of International Affairs issued an announcement that expressed a “agency resolve to not compromise with Japan on historic points.” 

The scenario was fairly dire. The memorial service was a situation included within the bilateral settlement made between Korea and Japan when the Sado mine was inducted into the World Heritage checklist, as a solution to mourn the forcibly mobilized Korean laborers who toiled within the island’s mines in the course of the Japanese colonial interval.

Nevertheless, finally yr’s inaugural memorial service, the Japanese authorities consultant finally refused to acknowledge the coercive nature of Korean labor on the mines. Japan’s try to incorporate the time period “gratitude” within the occasion’s title to dilute the aspect of coercion additionally sparked main controversy.

In the end, the Korean Ministry of International Affairs abruptly declared it might not take part within the memorial service on Nov. 23, the day earlier than the occasion was scheduled. The pleasant environment between South Korea and Japan, maintained by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s groveling angle towards Japan, proved futile. The subsequent day, our authorities held its personal memorial service in entrance of the location of a dormitory the place the previous Korean laborers as soon as lived. This was a makeshift gathering for the bereaved households who had already arrived in Niigata Prefecture.

November has returned to the Sado mines. The Japanese authorities has maintained its stance from final yr, holding a half-hearted memorial service in September with none Korean bereaved households or authorities officers current. Of their memorial tackle, a Japanese authorities official acknowledged, “Considering of the laborious work of the Sado mine laborers, I specific my honest condolences to all those that have handed away.” There was no point out of coercion. 

Although this was a predictable end result, the Korean authorities in impact made no effort to stop it in the course of the previous yr, because it was preoccupied by the civil unrest after the Dec. 3 martial legislation declaration and the change of administration. A repeat of final yr’s separate memorials awaits on the finish of this month, with the Korean authorities holding one other standalone service with bereaved households on Sado Island.

The Ministry of International Affairs acknowledged in a doc explaining the circumstances of its settlement to the UNESCO itemizing of the Sado Mine final July that it “persistently maintained the place that your complete historical past [of the mines], together with pressured mobilization, ought to be mirrored.”

Nevertheless, nowhere within the doc is there any point out of getting obtained Japan’s promise to acknowledge the coercive nature of the labor. On the time, the ministry expressed hope that the Sado mine advanced’s itemizing would “maintain the momentum for enhancing Korea-Japan relations,” however the scenario has moved in the wrong way.

Furthermore, since Japan has introduced plans to carry a memorial service yearly, the awkward scenario the place Korea and Japan every maintain their very own incomplete memorial service is more likely to repeat yearly. The Sado mines, which each governments had hoped could be a key to resolving historic conflicts, have as an alternative laid naked the variations within the two nations’ positions. 

Burying our heads within the sand won’t make the difficulty disappear. It’s time for the South Korean and Japanese governments to discover a sensible resolution. 

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