Park, Abe agree to speed up talks to resolve issue of former sex slaves

President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Monday to speed up negotiations to quickly resolve the issue of former South Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, Yonhap quoted Cheong Wa Dae as saying.

The agreement was reached at the first summit between the leaders of the two neighbors in more than three years.

"The two leaders agreed to speed up consultations to try to quickly resolve the issue of 'comfort women,'" the presidential office said, referring to the former sex slaves.

Park said the issue is the "biggest stumbling block" to bilateral relations.

The presidential office did not provide any specific time frame for a new round of talks on the former sex slaves.

Speaking to reporters in Seoul, Abe confirmed the deal on the sensitive issue, citing the significance of this year in Seoul-Tokyo ties.

"With this year marking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties, we agreed to accelerate (related) negotiations for a conclusion as early as possible," he said.

He stressed that the comfort women issue "should not be allowed to remain an obstacle" for future generations.

The Park-Abe agreement is expected to give a boost to years-long talks between the neighbors on the matter.

The two sides held nine rounds of working-level talks on the issue, though no significant progress has been made yet.

Seoul-Tokyo relations remain badly frayed largely because of Japan's refusal to atone for its past wrongdoings stemming from its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. One of the key pending issues is a demand by former Korean sex slaves for an apology and compensation from Japan.

Japan has so far refused to comply with the demand, insisting that the comfort women were recruited by civilian profiteers and its wartime military-led government was not directly involved.

The issue has gained urgency in recent years as the victims are dying off. In 2007, more than 120 South Korean victims were alive, but the number has since dropped to 47, with their average age standing at nearly 90.

Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were sexually enslaved by Japanese troops during World War II.

The two leaders also agreed to continue to cooperate on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

South Korea and Japan have been involved in the long-stalled negotiations, along with the U.S. and other regional powers, to try to coax North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

On Sunday, Park and Abe held a trilateral summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Seoul, and they agreed to make efforts for a quick resumption of the nuclear talks that also involve China and Russia.

Still, there are signs of progress in resuming the talks that were last held in 2008.

North Korea has recently hinted that it may conduct another nuclear test and vowed to launch a series of satellites as part of its space development program. Seoul and Washington view a satellite launch as a cover for testing the North's ballistic missile technology, which is banned under U.N. resolutions.

Source: MENA