Senior officials from the Japanese and South Korean foreign ministries have agreed to maintain communication to resolve pending bilateral matters, including the issue of wartime labor.

Funakoshi Takehiro, who heads the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, and South Korea's director general for Asia and Pacific affairs, Seo Min-jung, held talks for about three hours in Seoul on Monday.

Japanese Foreign Ministry officials say Funakoshi discussed with Seo a plan proposed by Seoul regarding the issue of wartime labor.

The plan calls for a public foundation to offer payments to the plaintiffs in wartime labor lawsuits in place of Japanese companies that have been ordered to pay damages by South Korea's Supreme Court. The foundation is under the South Korean government.

The Japanese government maintains that any right to claims was settled completely and finally in 1965, when Japan and South Korea normalized ties.

In the meeting, the officials reaffirmed that the two foreign ministries will continue communications so that pending issues will be resolved, returning ties to a healthy state and developing bilateral relations further.

The administration of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol aims to mend chilled bilateral ties. It apparently intends to swiftly work out an official proposal to resolve the wartime labor issue following Monday's talks. Seoul is also expected to seek sincere measures from Tokyo.

But some of the plaintiffs in South Korea are strongly opposed to the idea of using a public foundation, and insist on an apology and compensation from Japanese firms.

Attention is focused on whether the South Korean government can win public support in the country for its plan.