South Korea to boycott Japan's wartime labor memorial event for 3rd straight year

South Korea Wednesday said it will not attend Japan's memorial ceremony for victims of wartime forced labor at the Sado mine complex for the third consecutive year.

"We had continued serious consultations with Japan to ensure that this year's ceremony could be held in a complete and proper manner, but decided not to attend after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on key points," Seoul-based Yonhap News cited the South Korean Foreign Ministry as saying.

Japan plans to hold a memorial ceremony for the laborers, including those from the Korean Peninsula, who worked at the gold and silver mine complex on Japan's Sado Island during World War II.

The move comes as the two countries remain divided over the wording of the memorial remarks.

The ceremony will be held on Saturday at the Sado Island Gold Mines, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Niigata prefecture, to honor all of the workers.

South Korea plans to hold its own ceremony to honor the victims later this year.

Seoul boycotted the Japanese-hosted ceremonies in 2024 and 2025, citing Tokyo's lack of sincerity in honoring the victims, and instead held separate ceremonies near the Sado site.

South Korea has demanded that Japan clearly recognize the forced nature of wartime labor involving Koreans at the site, while Japan, which colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945, maintains that wartime requisition does not constitute forced labor under international law.