Japan has said it will closely communicate with the South Korean government to promptly resolve the pending issue of compensation for victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.
At a regular briefing on Thursday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the two sides are continuing to communicate on the issue in accordance with the agreement between the leaders of the two countries to seek a prompt resolution during their summit in November last year.
The chief secretary did not, however, mention Japan's response or measures pertaining to a proposed solution announced in a public debate in South Korea earlier in the day.
In the debate co-hosted by Seoul's foreign ministry and the head of the South Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, Chung Jin-suk, the government said it is considering channeling compensation through a public foundation rather than pursuing payment from liable Japanese firms.
Victim groups and opposition parties have voiced strong opposition to the plan.
Japan has maintained its claim that all reparation issues surrounding its colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula were settled under a 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries.
Source: KBS World Radio