A Japanese government spokesperson said Monday it was “regrettable” that South Korea pulled out of a memorial ceremony Sunday to honor wartime labor victims who worked at the now-defunct gold mines on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, including those from the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul is believed to take issue with media reports that Akiko Ikuina, parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs who represented the Japanese government at the ceremony, has visited Tokyo’s war-related Yasukuni Shrine in the past.
However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, “There was no issue (with sending Ikuina to the ceremony). We acknowledge that Ikuina has not visited Yasukuni Shrine after becoming an Upper House member, and we explained the facts to the South Korean side.”
