On the 27th, Kyodo News reported that Gunma Prefecture Governor Yamamoto Ichita, who decided to remove the memorial for Korean laborers during the Japanese colonial period last January, canceled a planned meeting with Yoon Deok-min, the South Korean ambassador to Japan.
According to the report, Governor Yamamoto told reporters on the day, "I hoped to make the entire (meeting) public, but I did not receive consent," explaining his decision.
In 2004, a Japanese civic group installed a memorial for Koreans in 'Gunma no Mori,' a prefectural park in Gunma Prefecture. However, the Gunma Prefectural authorities refused to renew the installation permit in 2012 because a participant at the memorial ceremony mentioned 'forced mobilization,' and removed the memorial at the end of last January.
About a week before the demolition work was enforced, the South Korean Embassy in Japan requested a meeting, but Governor Yamamoto declined. He later falsely claimed that there had been no contact from the Korean side, but after public criticism arose, he announced in March that he wanted to explain Gunma Prefecture's position and planned to meet with the Korean ambassador.
Accordingly, the South Korean Embassy in Japan again pushed for the meeting, but Governor Yamamoto insisted on the unusual condition that the entire meeting be made public to the media, and ultimately canceled the meeting plan altogether.
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