On Wednesday, Japan's chief government spokesperson said his country should revisit wartime history issues with South Korea.
He says new solutions are needed to compensate wartime labor victims who were brought to Japan during its colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
[Yoshito Sengoku, Japan’s Chief Government Spokesperson]: (Japanese, male)
"Responding to personal request for compensation is settled in the Japanese-Korean treaty. This is how it is. However, the question becomes whether it is okay to say that everything is settled simply because it is legally correct."
Earlier in the day, Sengoku held a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Japan, saying it's time to review wartime history with South Korea.
[Yoshito Sengoku, Japan’s Chief Government Spokesperson]: (Japanese, male)
“We have to study history also from the perspective of those who were on the receiving end of Japan's colonialism and invasions. This is something that I have learned even more so since becoming a lawyer in 1971.”
Ties between Japan and South Korea have been plagued for decades by problems stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
Some of the issues include comfort woman and atomic bomb victims.
During World War Two, tens of thousands of women, many from Korea, were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers.
Tokyo says claims for the South Koreans were settled under the 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties.
Seoul officially regards the issue as having been excluded from the treaty, but has not formally demanded Tokyo's compensation.
