S. Korea skips Sado mine memorial over Japanese official's Yasukuni ties

[Anchor]Sado mines, where our ancestors were forcibly taken and made to work during the Japanese colonial period, is a place filled with our painful history.A memorial service is scheduled to take place here tomorrow (11.24).However, just a day before the event, our government has made a sudden decision not to attend.The two countries failed to narrow their differences over the attendance of Japanese officials with a history of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.Shin Ji-hye reports.[Report]Today (11.23), just one day before the Sado mine memorial service, the government notified Japan of its decision to not attend.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "We judged that it would be difficult for the two countries to reach an acceptable agreement before the memorial service."[Cho Tae-yeol/Minister of Foreign Affairs/MBN 'News Wide' Interview: "Various disagreements between the diplomatic authorities have not been resolved, and with only a few hours left until the event, we do not believe there is sufficient time to resolve these disagreements."]Japan's announcement yesterday (11.22) to send a government representative who had visited Yasukuni Shrine appears to be the decisive reason for the decision to not attend.Criticism has been mounting domestically that a politician who bowed before war criminals should not attend a memorial ceremony for victims forcibly mobilized during the Pacific War as a representative of the Japanese government.The two sides also failed to agree on the content of the memorial speech until the last minute of the event.Nine family members of forced labor victims have already departed for Japan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to hold a separate memorial event with the family members on-site.This memorial service is a promise made between Korea and Japan when Japan registered the Sado mines as a UNESCO heritage site in July of this year.[Kano Takehiro/Japan's Representative to UNESCO/July 27: "Japan will keep in mind the decisions of the World Heritage Committee related to the registration and Japan's commitments regarding it."]However, during the negotiation process, the term 'workers' was omitted from the event name, and it was concluded that the Korean government would bear all costs for the attendance of the family members.The exhibition related to Korean laborers installed near the site has sparked controversy as it omitted the term 'forced' and included some distorted facts.Unlike the registration of 'Battleship Island' in 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was confident that it had secured Japan's commitment this time, appears to be in a difficult position.However, they stated that they will continue to communicate with the Japanese government to ensure that this incident does not negatively impact Korea-Japan relations.KBS News, Shin Ji-hye.