SADO, Niigata -- A memorial service for gold miners who worked on Sado Island during World War II, including those from the Korean Peninsula, was held in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on Saturday, but South Korean government representatives were absent from the event for the second consecutive year.

The event also was held last year after the Sado Island Gold Mines were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The ceremony, hosted by an organizing committee comprising the prefectural and municipal governments as well as a private organization, was attended by 72 people.

"We express our heartfelt condolences to all those affected," said Yukiko Okano, director general for cultural affairs at Japan's Foreign Ministry, who attended the event as a government representative.

Akiko Ikuina, parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, attended the ceremony last year, but those holding any of the top three positions in a ministry -- minister, state minister or parliamentary vice minister -- were not sent to the event.

In 2021, when Japan selected the gold mine complex as a candidate for nomination for the UNESCO's World Heritage listing, South Korea issued a statement opposing the move, claiming that people from the Korean Peninsula were forced to work at the mines during wartime. South Korea later agreed to the mines' registration after the two governments agreed to hold annual memorial events for all workers.

The South Korean side said it did not send a representative to the event this year because it could not find common ground with the Japanese side after it asked Japan to include a claim in a memorial address. South Korea wanted to include wording that people from the peninsula were mobilized against their will and subjected to forced labor.

"It is extremely regrettable [that the South Korean side was absent from the event]," said Ko Nakano, 84, who chairs the organizing committee. "We want everyone to attend the ceremony."

Last year, South Korea held its own memorial service the next day after the event in Japan. Seoul is making arrangements to also hold a memorial event this year.

However, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that the schedule for the ceremony had yet to be set, although it is likely to be held in autumn.

Within the Japanese government, there is a view that the South Korean government has not set the schedule in consideration of relations with Japan in line with President Lee Jae Myung's "pragmatic diplomacy" prioritizing national interests.