After boycotting one organised by Tokyo, South Korea held its own memorial event on Monday for compatriots forced to work in a Japanese mine during World War Two, highlighting lingering sensitivities between the countries.

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.

SADO, Japan (AP) — Japanese officials on Sunday paid tribute to workers at the country's Sado Island Gold Mines but offered no apology over Japan’s brutal wartime use of Korean forced laborers, highlighting lingering tensions between the neighbors over the issue.

Efforts by South Korea and Japan to hold a joint memorial service near Japa’s Sado Island Gold Mines, where Koreans were forced to work during Japan’s colonial rule, fell apart on Nov. 24 due to disagreements between both governments.

SADO, Japan (AP) — Japan held a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines, listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. However, it has not offered an apology.

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 has paid tribute to wartime Korean forced laborers at Japan’s Sado gold mines in a memorial ceremony.

The Korean government held its own ceremony on Monday to honor Korean wartime forced laborers at their former lodgings near Japan’s Sado Mine, following Seoul’s decision to boycott a Japan-hosted memorial held on Sunday.