[On-site Video+] "Half" Sado Mine will hold its first memorial ceremony..."Sorry" in Japan.

[Anchor]
An event to commemorate the victims began near Sado Mine in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, the site of forced labor for Koreans in Japanese colonial era.

As the Japanese government sends a vice minister-level official with a history of visiting Yasukuni shrine as a representative, the Korean government has declared its absence in a surprise move, and it is being held as a half-hearted event.

Let's take a look at the on-site screen.

The Japanese Sado Mine Memorial Ceremony Executive Committee has been holding a memorial service at the Aikawa Development Center in Sado City, west of Sado Island, since 1 p.m.

It was originally scheduled to be held with the Korean bereaved family and officials from the Korean and Japanese governments in attendance, but the Korean government took issue with the Japanese representative yesterday and declared that it would not participate.

The move comes after the Japanese government sent Akiko Ikuina, a foreign affairs official with a history of visiting Yasukuni shrine, as a representative.

Ikuina, a former member of a famous girl group in the 1980s, visited Yasukuni shrine on August 15, 2022, shortly after the election of the upper house, and has emphasized Korea's concessions on issues of conflict between Korea and Japan, such as Japanese Military Sexual Slavery and forced conscription.

Today's event was attended by Governor of Niigata Prefecture, Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, Mayor of Ryugo Watanabe, and private organizations.