国际英语资讯:Japan spurns request by S. Korea to hold talks on wartime labor dispute_时事

国际英语资讯:Japan spurns request by S. Korea to hold talks on wartime labor dispute

TOKYO, June 19 -- Japan on Wednesday spurned a request by South Korea to hold talks on a wartime labor dispute, having earlier in the day asked Seoul to establish a panel selected entirely by other countries to expedite the dispute's arbitration process.

The move by Tokyo was made under the terms of a 1965 bilateral accord between the two countries, that Tokyo invoked as Seoul had seemingly disregarded a deadline to name a member to an arbitration panel along with Japan and a third country.

South Korea, for its part, made a counter offer on Wednesday to hold talks with Japan, with the proviso being that the companies of the two countries contribute to funds to compensate the victims of forced wartime labor.

Japan, however, rejected South Korea's offer, with Foreign Minister Taro Kono in a Twitter post alluding to Seoul being in violation of international law.

Kono has maintained that if South Korea continues to ignore calls for it to establish an arbitration panel and continues to permit lawyers to seize and liquidate the assets of Japanese firms, Japan might take the dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

As bilateral relations between Tokyo and Seoul continue to fray, the current standoff between the two countries has led to Japanese officials saying that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe no longer plans to hold talks with South Korean President Moon Jae In on the sidelines of G20 summit in Osaka next week.