The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesperson Lee Jae-woong speaks during a press conference at Government Complex Seoul, Thursday, about a memorial ceremony in Japan scheduled on Sunday to commemorate Korean victims of the forced labor at Sado mines in Japan during Japan's colonial rule of Korea. Yonhap

South Korea is working to ensure that no further distress or pain is caused to the families of Korean forced labor victims from the Sado mines during their attendance at the upcoming memorial ceremony in Japan, a foreign ministry official said Thursday.

The official made the comment amid growing concern in Seoul over what seem to have been rocky negotiations with Tokyo regarding preparations for the memorial event scheduled for Sunday, as the government has been reluctant to disclose details about how the ceremony will unfold.

Japan announced Wednesday that the ceremony will take place on western Sado Island, off its west coast, fulfilling its promise to host the event to honor the victims who were forced into hard labor at the mine complex under Japan's colonial rule of Korea.

Holding such an event was part of the condition for South Korea's consent to the site's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

However, the lack of details about the ceremony's arrangements has raised doubts in South Korea about Japan's sincerity in fully honoring its pledge to commemorate the victims.

Eleven family members of the Korean victims plan to attend the ceremony.

"We are aware that we cannot have the worst-case scenario, where the bereaved families are emotionally hurt," a foreign ministry official told reporters.

"And based on that, we are still consulting with Japan," the official said, without elaborating.

With only three days remaining until the event, neither South Korea nor Japan has announced who will be attending the ceremony as the government representative.

Seoul has requested a high-level government official, possibly at a vice minister level, from the Japanese government attend the ceremony.

The South Korean government has not provided any details on the memorial address.

Hideyo Hanazumi, the governor of the Niigata Prefecture organizing the ceremony, said earlier that the event will be about "reporting" the site's UNESCO World Heritage listing to the public, according to local news reports, further raising doubt about Japan's sincerity.

"We are faithfully consulting with the Japanese government based on our position that it is crucial that the memorial ceremony takes place in a sincere manner," foreign ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a press briefing Thursday. (Yonhap)