Amid discord over a memorial event for the victims of forced labor at Japan’s Sado mines during World War II, the top diplomats of South Korea and Japan held an informal meeting in Italy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ gathering. 

According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya discussed the Sado memorial event during their “pull-aside” meeting on Tuesday.

The two sides agreed to ensure that issues arising from the memorial event do not affect the development of bilateral relations, and to continue the positive momentum in cooperation.

South Korea skipped the memorial ceremony that Japan hosted on Sunday and held its own memorial on Monday, saying Japan’s memorial speech fell short of what the two nations agreed on before the Sado mines were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

The ministry did not mention whether Cho expressed regret over the matter in the meeting with Iwaya.

A ministry official repeated the government’s position that South Korea’s absence from the event was an expression of protest and regret.