President Yoon Suk-yeol has boycotted the mine's commemoration in Japan, purportedly over Tokyo's failure to recognise forced Korean workers Seoul's efforts to improve ties with Tokyo have hit a snag over a commemoration of Korean victims of Japan's colonial past.

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.

South Korea paid tribute to wartime Korean forced laborers at Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines in a memorial ceremony on Monday, a day after boycotting a similar event organized by Japan, as tensions over historical atrocities continue to impact relations between the two sides.

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) -After boycotting a memorial event organised by Tokyo, South Korea held its own on Monday to remember compatriots forced to work in a Japanese mine during World War Two, highlighting lingering sensitivities between the key U.

South Korea expressed regret to Japan on Monday over Tokyo's attitude towards a memorial service held for labourers including Koreans forced to work in Japan's Sado mines during World War Two, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan agreed Tuesday to keep the momentum alive for bilateral cooperation, despite discord over a memorial event for Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor,