Moon meets with WWII sex slaves

S. Korean president apologizes for the 2015 agreement with Tokyo

SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday met women who were forced to work in Japanese wartime brothels, days after their plight again cast a shadow over relations with Japan.

A South Korean panel set up to investigate a 2015 agreement with Japan on the thousands of girls and women forced to work in Japan's military brothels, euphemistically termed "comfort women" by Japan, said the deal failed to meet their needs.

Moon said the 2015 deal, under which Japan apologized to victims and provided 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) to a fund to help them, was seriously flawed. Japan said any attempt to revise it could damage relations.

Eight of the sex slavery victims met Moon for lunch at the presidential compound in Seoul, known as the Blue House, the president's office said in a statement.

"We told you the previous government's agreement was wrong and this issue hasn't been resolved," Moon told one of the women before the lunch.

"It's still not an easy situation to handle within our bilateral relationship."

Moon wanted to gauge the women's reaction to his government's position on the deal, the Blue House said.