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On Sunday, Japan held a memorial service to commemorate wartime laborers at the Sado Mine, a site in Niigata Prefecture with a complex history before and during World War II. Historians say around 1,500 Korean men were forced to toil in Sado during Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. The issue gained new prominence with Japan’s successful listing of the Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which sparked criticism in South Korea due to perceptions that Tokyo was downplaying the issue of forced labor at the mine.
The memorial thus presented an opportunity for both parties to observe a shared tragedy. It was planned as a joint venture, with invitations extended to government officials and victims’ families in South Korea. However, at the last moment, the South Korean side decided to boycott the event and announced their non-attendance. While South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited “insufficient time to resolve differences” as a reason for the withdrawal, the underlying cause seemed clear.
In the pre-arrangements, Seoul officials requested that the eulogy at the ceremony include a clear tribute and reflections, but their counterparts did not respond adequately to this request. Moreover, media reports from South Korea in the days leading up to the event indicated that the appointment of Ikuina Akiko, a parliamentary vice-minister of foreign affairs, as Japan’s representative would be controversial due to her supposed visit to Yasukuni Shrine in August 2022 after taking office.
Yasukuni is a Shinto shrine in Tokyo founded during the Meiji era to honor those who died in service of the country. Controversy arose in neighboring states when the Japanese government in 1978 decided to enshrine 14 individuals who were convicted as “Class-A war criminals” in the Tokyo Trials. Since then, visits to Yasukuni by Japanese officials and legislators have sparked criticism from both China and South Korea.
Whether an elected lawmaker in Japan chooses to visit Yasukuni is, of course, a matter of personal discretion. But for many Koreans, it was deemed inappropriate for a figure who paid respects at a shrine commemorating Japan’s imperialism to participate in an event honoring Korean laborers who suffered under its colonialism.
Adding an ironic twist to the saga, on Monday, the day after the memorial, Kyodo News admitted that reports of Ikuina’s visit to Yasukuni after her election to office in July 2022 were inaccurate and issued an apology for the misreporting. Ikuina herself told the press that she had never paid tribute to the shrine as a lawmaker. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, however, maintains that the parliamentarian did visit the shrine after being elected.
But setting that specific debate aside, the derailment of a moment of reconciliation illustrates the deep complexity of Japan-South Korea historical issues. South Korean media outlets also took issue with the content of Ikuina’s eulogy, noting that “there was no acknowledgment of forced labor or an apology.” Instead, she stressed that Korean laborers worked “in dangerous and harsh conditions, far from their families.”
Since taking office in May 2022, President Yoon Suk-yeol has made mending ties with Tokyo a cornerstone of his foreign policy. The bilateral relationship had sharply deteriorated under his predecessor due to Japanese dismay over South Korean court rulings on the forced labor dispute, which required compensation from the Japanese companies.
Almost immediately, the Yoon government took measures to resolve the thorny forced labor issue by proposing and implementing a third-party reimbursement scheme. Seoul committed to compensating Korean victims through third parties – namely South Korean companies – and decided not to seek any financial reparations from Tokyo. This move was Yoon’s effort to acknowledge Japan’s long-held position that all wartime compensation issues had been resolved under the 1965 normalization treaty. It was a gesture of goodwill from Seoul to foster a lasting bond.
In July, the South Korean government again made a generous overture by backing Japan’s long-standing bid to have Sado Mine listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Seoul’s support was crucial in making this a reality. As part of the arrangement, Tokyo promised to confront and acknowledge the dark side of Sado Mine, including the brutal labor conditions endured by Koreans, and to hold annual memorials for the victims.
But the first such memorial on Sunday ended in complete embarrassment, with half the seats empty due to the South Korean side’s absence. Nine bereaved families traveling from Korea held a separate memorial the following day.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry could have taken a more thoughtful approach by pre-collaborating with its counterpart to align on the eulogy’s content and the list of attendees for the memorial. However, despite being aware of the concerns raised by South Korea, Japan proceeded according to its original plan. The decision was all the more unexpected, given Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s comparatively nuanced stance on historical issues.
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of Japan and South Korea’s diplomatic normalization. Yoon has demonstrated a firm resolve to put turbulent and contentious histories to rest. This is evident not only in his initiatives to address the forced labor dispute but also in his broader gestures, including endorsing the release of treated water from Fukushima’s Daiichi nuclear power plant. This outreach to Japan has come at a cost, with many South Koreans rebuking Yoon’s actions as “subservient diplomacy.”
The ball is now in Tokyo’s court. The success of any diplomatic endeavor hinges on a willingness to meet halfway. It’s a matter of reciprocity. Tokyo officials must remember that their government’s rapprochement with Seoul, along with the new trilateral partnership forged with their mutual ally, the United States, owes much to Yoon’s extended olive branch. It’s time for Japan to make some compromises of its own.