On Wednesday, Japan's chief government spokesperson said his country should revisit wartime history issues with South Korea. <br /><br />He says new solutions are needed to compensate wartime labor victims who were brought to Japan during its colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. <br /><br />[Yoshito Sengoku, Japan’s Chief Government Spokesperson]: (Japanese, male) <br />"Responding to personal request for compensation is settled in the Japanese-Korean treaty. This is how it is. However, the question becomes whether it is okay to say that everything is settled simply because it is legally correct." <br /><br />Earlier in the day, Sengoku held a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Japan, saying it's time to review wartime history with South Korea. <br /><br />[Yoshito Sengoku, Japan’s Chief Government Spokesperson]: (Japanese, male) <br />“We have to study history also from the perspective of those who were on the receiving end of Japan's colonialism and invasions. This is something that I have learned even more so since becoming a lawyer in 1971.” <br /><br />Ties between Japan and South Korea have been plagued for decades by problems stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. <br /><br />Some of the issues include comfort woman and atomic bomb victims. <br /><br />During World War Two, tens of thousands of women, many from Korea, were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. <br /><br />Tokyo says claims for the South Koreans were settled under the 1965 treaty that established diplomatic ties. <br /><br />Seoul officially regards the issue as having been excluded from the treaty, but has not formally demanded Tokyo's compensation.
