South Korea to Skip Sado Mine Memorial Again, Citing Failure to Resolve Key Issues

South Korea will once again stay away from Japan's memorial ceremony at the Sado mine, a site where Koreans were forcibly mobilized and subjected to harsh labor during Japan's colonial rule.

The Foreign Ministry said on the 8th that Seoul had continued serious consultations with Japan to ensure this year's ceremony could be held properly. But the two sides failed to reach agreement on key issues, leading South Korea to decide against attending. The ministry did not disclose the specific points of disagreement.

The Sado mine has faced criticism because Japan did not sufficiently reflect the history of forced Korean labor while pursuing its UNESCO World Heritage listing. The mine was inscribed on the World Heritage list in July 2024, at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi.

At the time, Japan promised, after consultations with South Korea, to display the full history of the site, including Korean workers, and to hold an annual memorial ceremony for Sado mine laborers. The first ceremony was held in November that year, but the two countries have again failed to bridge their differences before this year's event.

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Our government continued serious consultations with Japan so that this year's memorial ceremony could be held properly, but we failed to reach mutual agreement on the key issues. Accordingly, we decided not to attend.