Japan's foreign minister says Tokyo understands the hardships of South Korea addressed in recent rulings by its top court, which ordered Japanese companies to compensate the Korean people forced to work without pay during World War Two.
According to broadcaster NHK,... Taro Kono said that although the Japanese government has no intention of rushing South Korea into immediate action,... Seoul needs to respond in a way that does not cause problems for Japanese companies.
These are the first conciliatory remarks from Kono about the issue since the first ruling came out in October.