KYODO NEWS



 

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui Yong remained at odds on Wednesday over issues involving wartime history and Tokyo's decision to release treated radioactive water into the sea.

In the first foreign ministerial meeting between the two neighbors since February last year, Motegi demanded that South Korea present at an early date a solution that would be acceptable to Japan with regard to wartime labor and the "comfort women" issues, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Chung, for his part, said it would be impossible for the two sides to resolve the issues unless Japan has a "correct" perception of history, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said.

Motegi also expressed concerns about Seoul's external communications amplifying its opposition to Tokyo's decision to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, according to the Japanese ministry.

Chung voiced "deep concerns" that Japan made the decision on the planned discharge of wastewater without sufficient prior consultation with neighboring countries, the South Korean ministry said, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Motegi said Japan will continue to provide information to South Korea and other parties on the issue.

In mid-April, South Korean President Moon Jae In instructed government officials to actively consider ways to take Japan's decision to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in a bid to stop its neighbor from discharging the water into the sea.