"Japan will hold a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines, which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labor under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. The Japanese government said Sunday’s ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” who died 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. The ceremony, which was supposed to further mend their wounds, renewed tensions between the two sides. On Saturday, South Korea's government said it will boycott the memorial service due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event. There was no immediate response from Japanese officials." Japan will hold first memorial for 'all workers' at Sado gold mines but blurs WWII atrocity. Why?
