Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been strained seriously in recent years due to history and territorial rows, including the sexual slavery issue.
Amid frayed ties, the two neighbors have not held a one-on-one summit for more than two years.
As a first step toward improving ties, South Korea has demanded that Japan take sincere steps to resolve the sexual slavery issue.
But Tokyo has claimed that all issues related to its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled through a 1965 treaty that normalized their bilateral relations.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior South Korean official said that South Korea wants Japan help the elderly sexual slavery victims, known euphemistically as “comfort women,” regain their human dignity and honor before they die.
“We are waiting for that,” the official said. “The bottom line is that there should be sincere measures with regard to the comfort women issue … I’m not saying we’re not going to hold a summit without it, but what I mean is that we can make efforts if Japan shows its sincerity.”
Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea and China, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. (Yonhap)
