Deal With Japan on Former Sex Slaves Failed Victims, South Korean Panel Says

A South Korean government-appointed panel faulted on Wednesday a “final and irreversible” deal struck with Japan in 2015 to resolve a decades-old dispute over Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II.

The panel’s findings offer President Moon Jae-in a potential opportunity to change or even scrap the agreement reached between Japan and his predecessor as president, Park Geun-hye.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said her ministry “humbly” accepted the panel’s conclusion that the government had failed to represent the victims’ demands when negotiating the deal.