A memorial service for Korean laborers forcibly mobilized to the Sado mines, which Japan had promised to hold annually following the site’s inscription as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage last summer,

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.