Japan held a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines despite a last-minute boycott of the event by South Korea that highlighted tensions between the neighbors over the issue of Korean forced laborers at the site before and during World War II.

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

South Korea’s President Yoon had made improving relations with Japan a priority following years of disputes of the two countries’ history.

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