Japan Holds First Sado Mines Memorial Without South Korean Participation

The ceremony, intended to honor all workers, reignites tensions over Japan's acknowledgment of Korean forced labor during WWII.

Japan hosted a memorial event on Sado Island to honor workers, including Korean laborers, at the recently designated UNESCO World Heritage site.
South Korea boycotted the ceremony, citing unresolved disagreements with Japan over historical acknowledgment and event arrangements.
Historians estimate that around 1,500 Koreans were forced to work at the mines under harsh conditions during Japan's colonial rule of Korea (1910–1945).
Critics accuse Japan of downplaying its wartime history, as the ceremony avoided explicitly addressing the plight of Korean forced laborers.
The boycott marks a setback in recent efforts to improve Japan-South Korea relations, which had been prioritized for regional security cooperation.