South Korea’s Government said on Saturday (November 23, 2024) it will not attend a memorial service near Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event, which stirred longstanding tensions over the abuse of Korean forced labourers at the site before the end of World War II.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was impossible to settle the disagreements between both Governments before the planned event on Sunday (November 24, 2024).

The ministry didn’t specify what the disagreements were.

Some South Koreans had criticised the Seoul government throwing its support behind an event without securing a clear Japanese commitment to highlight the plight of Korean labourers. There were also complaints over South Korea agreeing to pay for the travel expenses of Korean victims’ family members who were invited to attend the ceremony.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has prioritised improving relations with Japan following years of disputes over their bitter history and solidifying three-way security cooperation with Washington in the face of North Korean nuclear threats.