An event to commemorate Japanese and Korean laborers who worked at the gold and silver mine complex on Japan's Sado Island during W

South Korea says it will not attend a ceremony in Japan to commemorate victims of forced labor in the Sado Island Gold Mines. This comes as the two nations seek to draw together amid regional threats.

South Korea said Saturday it will not attend a memorial ceremony in Japan honoring forced labor victims, including Koreans, from an old Japanese mine complex, amid controversy over Tokyo's decision to send a senior official with hard-line views on history to the event.

The Japanese government on Sunday expressed regret over South Korea's decision not to attend a memorial ceremony in Japan honouring forced labour victims, including Koreans, at an old Japanese mine complex.

Japan has promised to host a memorial event as a condition for Seoul’s consent to the location’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many Koreans were taken to toil at the Sado gold and silver mines during World War II, when Korea was under Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

South Korea’s government says it has decided not to attend a memorial service near Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines due to unspecified disagreements with Japan over the event, which stirred longstanding tensions over the abuse of Korean forced laborers at the site before the end of World War II.

Korean officials skipped Japan's memorial service held near the Sado mine site, Sunday, in an apparent protest against Tokyo’s 'insincerity' in addressing the dark history related to the site, where approximately 1,