Abe Repeats Calls on S. Korea to Uphold 1965 Treaty

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reportedly repeated his calls for South Korea to keep its promises on the issue of wartime forced labor according to the 1965 treaty that normalized Seoul-Tokyo relations.

Abe reportedly made the call in an interview with NHK aired on Sunday morning.

Regarding a South Korean court's possible move to liquidate the seized assets of Japanese firms that have ignored rulings to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor, Abe said that such a move would be a "clear violation" of the 1965 treaty.

Abe reportedly said during the interview that the two nations have built their relations based on the promise that Seoul would not make such an act, adding he would like to strongly urge South Korea to faithfully uphold the 1965 treaty, the foundation of the bilateral relationship.

He stressed that as long as the treaty is not observed, there is need to certainly change the situation in which promises made between states are not kept.

Japan maintains the position that issues related to financial compensation for wartime laborers during Japan's colonial rule of Korea were settled based on the bilateral accord.