S. Korea renews hope for resolution over imminent removal of memorial stone for forced labor victims

SEOUL, South Korea on Monday restated its hope for a resolution after a Japanese local government began removing a memorial stone for Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor at a public park. Japanese media reported the removal of the memorial stone in the city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, will begin Monday and end Feb. 11. "We hope this issue will be resolved in a way that does not undermine the friendly relations between the two countries," a foreign ministry official said. The memorial stone was erected in 2004 by a civic group in Japan to promote the public's understanding of the shared past history from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and the friendship between the two neighbors. In 2014, Gunma Prefecture refused to extend the state approval for the establishment of the stone, claiming a civic activist made inappropriate remarks about the forced labor victims during a 2012 memorial event. Japan's top court ruled in favor of the Gunma authorities in 2022, but the civic group has filed separate suits seeking to block the removal. Source: Yonhap News Agency