A memorial service was held Sunday in Hiroshima for the South Koreans who died when an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city during World War Two.

The ceremony was held in front of a Korean victims' monument at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park a day before the anniversary of the bombing on Monday. Some 240 people attended the service including survivors of the event and officials of the Korean Residents Union in Japan, known as Mindan.

South Korean Consul General in Hiroshima Shin Hyung-keun said at the ceremony that without Japan self-reflecting on its historical wrongs, sound bilateral relations can't be established. The Korean victims of the blast were taken to Hiroshima by colonial Japan as wartime conscripted laborers.

He also urged Japan's sincere response saying an apology and compensation must be swiftly made to resolve issues of the past involving the bombing victims and Koreans forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War Two.