 |
| Cho Tae-yong, right front, first vice foreign minister, chats with wartime sex slavery victim Kim Bok-dong, left front, during his visit to a shelter for the victims of Japan's wartime crime in Yeonnam-dong, Seoul, Friday. Cho paid the visit ahead of the fourth round of working-level talks between Korean and Japanese foreign ministry officials in September. / Yonhap |
Vice foreign minister Cho Tae-Yong first visited a shelter for survivors of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement, ahead of a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart.
Cho met with Kim Bok-dong, 89, a victim, at the shelter, "Woorijip (our home)," in Mapo, Seoul, vowing that the government will continue its efforts to resolve the wartime sexual slavery issue.
"Looking at the efforts that you (and other victims) have made, we will work our best to come up with satisfying outcomes for all victims," Cho told Kim.
Kim called for more government efforts to resolve the "comfort women" issue.
"The government should get more aggressive in resolving the issue as Japan stays unresponsive," Kim said. "I've never seen a clear talk between President Park Geun-hye and Shinzo Abe about the issue."
High-level talks between Seoul and Tokyo on the sex enslavement issue have been ongoing since April. They were suspended in June due to the Japanese government's move toward revision of the Kono Statement, which acknowledges and apologizes for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. The two countries resumed the meetings in July with no clear progress.
After meeting Kim, Cho told reporters that the exact date of the talk is not yet decided.
"I believe Kim meant that she and the victims need to hear a sincere apology during their lifetime," Cho said. "We will work our best to have Japan's apology made in a way that is acceptable to all living victims," he added."
Cho's move follows Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's January visit to another shelter for the victims, in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
![[VIDEO] Filipina K-pop idol and K-drama actress react to stereotypes about the Philippines](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/230201chantyjoyce2web_5891a49058fb1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[ANALYSIS] New order prevails in global battery industry](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/97f0a86072474a07bd1c388f4cfe0ff5.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Saudi Arabia seeks greater cooperation with Korea in NEOM](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/d8bcecac20a6465e8e44da2796041c64.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[Video] How Koreans' favorite convenience store foods are made in factories](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/230206_gs_4cb7fa5bc3856.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Tati Gabrielle, actress of Korean, African-American descent, feels proud of her heritage](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/d2f45162b11d4965a7168093560f59e3.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
