Japan will hold a memorial ceremony near the Sado Island Gold Mines, which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the dark side of their history. At these mines, hundreds of Korean laborers were mobilized during World War II. Japanese officials say Sunday’s ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” at the mines, but without spelling out who they are — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan’s history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war. On Saturday, South Korea’s government said it will boycott the memorial service due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event.
