Japan holds Sado mines memorial despite South Korean boycott

Mayor of Sado City Ryugo Watanabe delivers a speech during a memorial ceremony for the Sado Island Gold Mine in Sado, Niigata prefecture, Japan, Nov. 24, 2024. Visitors look at display at Sado Kinzan Gold Mine historic site in Sado, Niigata prefecture, Japan, Nov. 23, 2024.

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.