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Kyodo News announced that its August 15, 2022 report, stating that Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Akiko Ikuina visited Yasukuni Shrine, was incorrect.
South Korean officials boycotted the November 24 memorial service for workers at the UNESCO-listed Sado Island gold mines. Retracted reports reportedly triggered the boycott. Minister Ikuina firmly denied the claims. Her denial prompted Kyodo News to check the facts and retract its damaging report.
The full statement from Kyodo is as follows.
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Two Years Late
Kyodo News wishes to acknowledge an error in its August 15, 2022, article concerning visits to Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of the end of World War II. The article incorrectly reported that LDP Upper House member Akiko Ikuina (now Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs) had visited the shrine. In reality, she did not.
Ikuina attended a memorial service for workers of the World Heritage Site Sado Island gold mines on November 24 as a Japanese government representative. Several Kyodo articles explained that South Korean government officials chose not to participate in the event due to her Yasukuni Shrine visit. However, our reports that Ikuina visited Yasukuni were wrong.
On November 24, Ikuina denied visiting Yasukuni Shrine after assuming her position as a member of the House of Councillors on November 24. Following this, we reviewed our reporting process. We found that a report stated she entered the shrine grounds while journalists covered the movements of lawmakers. However, Kyodo News published the article without directly confirming this with her.
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Impact on Japan-South Korean Relations
Additionally, several LDP lawmakers who visited the shrine on the same day told Kyodo News, ‘Ms Ikuina was not present.’ Together with her denial, we determined that our initial report was a case of mistaken identification.”
This incorrect article circulated both domestically and internationally. Following this, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, ‘We understand that Representative Ikuina visited Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, 2022.’ This false report, therefore, likely impacted Japan-South Korea relations.
On November 25, the South Korean ministry explained its decision not to attend. It stated that the memorial speech did not meet the standards Japan and South Korea had agreed upon for supporting the World Heritage registration.
Editor-in-Chief Takahashi Naoto said: “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience we caused to Representative Ikuina. We also apologize to local stakeholders in Niigata Prefecture, Sado City, the memorial service organizing committee, and our readers. Kyodo is committed to taking thorough measures to prevent this from happening again, including a review of our reporting practices.”
Learn more about the registration of the Sado gold mines: Sado Gold Mines Selected as World Heritage Site
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Read the article in Japanese.
Author: The Sankei Shimbun