The government has reiterated that it hopes the removal of a monument dedicated to Korean wartime forced laborers in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture will be addressed in a way that won’t hamper friendly bilateral relations.

A foreign ministry official in Seoul revealed the stance to reporters on Monday when asked to comment on the Japanese prefecture going ahead with the removal earlier in the day as planned despite strong opposition from civic groups.

Monday’s stance is identical to the one issued by the foreign ministry last Tuesday. At the time, a ministry official said Seoul and Tokyo are continuously holding communications on the matter. 

Gunma Prefecture is set to complete the removal by February 11.

The monument was erected in a park in 2004 to memorialize Koreans who were forcibly mobilized for labor during the Pacific War and died in the prefecture.