The government of an eastern Japan prefecture near Tokyo refused to meet with the South Korean embassy before going ahead with the removal of a memorial commemorating Korean wartime laborers, the embassy said Thursday.
The embassy sought to meet Gunma Gov. Ichita Yamamoto to discuss possible solutions regarding the monument that was located in a park in the city of Takasaki.
The prefectural government ordered the monument's removal on the grounds that a political event was held there in breach of local regulations. Its removal began on Jan. 29 and was completed by Feb. 2.
Embassy staff visited the prefectural office around a week before the memorial's removal, seeking to set up a meeting with the governor. But the prefecture replied several days later that it could not agree to the request, according to the embassy.
The governor had previously told reporters that he had not received an official request.
"The prefecture's stance to not join in a discussion has been made clear," the organization involved in the management of the memorial said on Thursday.
The monument to commemorate Korean laborers who died in the Pacific theater during World War II was erected by a civic group in 2004 after they received permission from the prefecture.
But the prefecture refused to renew the monument's approval and ordered it to be removed, citing violations of the condition that the monument would not be utilized for "political purposes" with those attending the event claiming the Koreans were forced laborers.
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