By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea and Japan are unlikely to strike a deal this year over Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.
The two sides ended their 11th round of director general-level talks over Japan's wartime sex slavery without reaching an agreement in Tokyo, Tuesday.
"With the year's end approaching, it will be tough to hold another round of talks this year," a diplomatic source said.
Led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General for Northeast Asian Affairs, Lee Sang-deok, and Japan's Director General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Junichi Ihara, the working-level negotiations were the second round since the Seoul-Tokyo summit. The previous one was held in Tokyo on Nov. 11.
During their first one-on-one meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 2, President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to speed up negotiations and conclude a deal by the end of this year over Japan's state-perpetrated sex crimes.
The historical disputes have remained a looming obstacle for bilateral ties.
An estimated 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude for frontline Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Seoul has repeatedly demanded Tokyo tackle its legal liability in its apology to the former sex slaves, who were euphemistically called "comfort women."
Korea also has insisted on suitable compensation for the surviving Korean victims.
There are fewer than 50 survivors, most of who are in their late 80s.
Refusing to accept Seoul's call, Tokyo claimed all occupation-era issues between the two sides were completely resolved under a bilateral treaty in June 1965 when the two countries restored diplomatic relations.
Then, Japan provided Korea with $300 million in free grants and $200 million in soft loans. Tokyo said such expenses were to settle all issues concerning its 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
The Abe Cabinet recently asked the Park government to remove a statue of a Korean girl symbolizing Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery as a condition to settling historical disputes.
The statue was set up in 2011 by civic activists across the street from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to commemorate the comfort women.
Since then, more than a dozen similar statues have been set up in Korea alone. Korean-American communities also have been carrying out campaigns to set up statues in their neighborhoods.
Japan and Korea have held director general-level negotiations since April 2014.
South Korea and Japan are unlikely to strike a deal this year over Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.
The two sides ended their 11th round of director general-level talks over Japan's wartime sex slavery without reaching an agreement in Tokyo, Tuesday.
"With the year's end approaching, it will be tough to hold another round of talks this year," a diplomatic source said.
Led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General for Northeast Asian Affairs, Lee Sang-deok, and Japan's Director General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Junichi Ihara, the working-level negotiations were the second round since the Seoul-Tokyo summit. The previous one was held in Tokyo on Nov. 11.
During their first one-on-one meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Nov. 2, President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to speed up negotiations and conclude a deal by the end of this year over Japan's state-perpetrated sex crimes.
The historical disputes have remained a looming obstacle for bilateral ties.
An estimated 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude for frontline Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Seoul has repeatedly demanded Tokyo tackle its legal liability in its apology to the former sex slaves, who were euphemistically called "comfort women."
Korea also has insisted on suitable compensation for the surviving Korean victims.
There are fewer than 50 survivors, most of who are in their late 80s.
Refusing to accept Seoul's call, Tokyo claimed all occupation-era issues between the two sides were completely resolved under a bilateral treaty in June 1965 when the two countries restored diplomatic relations.
Then, Japan provided Korea with $300 million in free grants and $200 million in soft loans. Tokyo said such expenses were to settle all issues concerning its 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
The Abe Cabinet recently asked the Park government to remove a statue of a Korean girl symbolizing Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery as a condition to settling historical disputes.
The statue was set up in 2011 by civic activists across the street from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to commemorate the comfort women.
Since then, more than a dozen similar statues have been set up in Korea alone. Korean-American communities also have been carrying out campaigns to set up statues in their neighborhoods.
Japan and Korea have held director general-level negotiations since April 2014.
