TAORMINA, Italy (Kyodo) -- U.N. Secretary General Antonia Guterres told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday he supports the deal between Tokyo and Seoul over Korean women forced to work in Japan's wartime military brothels, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
The deal, struck in 2015 to "finally and irreversibly" settle the long-standing dispute over "comfort women," has come under question since Moon Jae In, who has called for renegotiating it, was elected South Korean president earlier this month.
In the talks held on the sidelines of the Group of Seven industrialized nations' summit in the Italian city of Taormina, Abe stressed the importance of complying with the agreement, while Guterres said he supports and welcomes the deal, according to the ministry.
The backing by Guterres also came despite a U.N. Committee against Torture report on May 12 calling on Japan and South Korea to modify the deal so that it ensures "the surviving victims of sexual slavery during World War II are provided with redress." Japan has rebutted the report.
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