WASHINGTON –

With the South Korean elections now concluded, it is time for the South Korean government to move forward on the tricky, unpopular matter on the agenda: its relationship with Japan. While the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea alliances are thriving, U.S. security strategy in the region relies on effective coordination between all three countries, which continues to be hampered by tensions between Japan and South Korea. Though these two countries share so many traits and there is so much at stake, relations continue to be embroiled in the past. It is time for Japan and South Korea to begin thinking creatively about resolving these issues, starting with the stalled "comfort women" agreement.

The "comfort women" issue, referring to women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, has been the focal point of tensions between Japan and South Korea since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Park Geun-hye came to power. Park entered office in 2013 calling for South Korean comfort women to be offered reparations by the Japanese government. Soon after, Abe announced that he would re-examine the Kono statement — signed by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in 1993 — which officially recognized Japan's wartime actions toward the comfort women. Though Abe ultimately upheld the statement, the damage was done, and relations between the two countries continued to be strained.

The Japan-South Korea comfort women agreement on Dec. 28 took many by surprise. The United States commended the deal, and many outside observers recognized it as a real compromise on both sides, laudably concluded in an effective, diplomatic manner. In the agreement, Abe agreed to provide an apology and contribute $8.3 million to a fund for surviving comfort women. South Korea agreed to recognize the issue as resolved and address the question of the comfort woman statue in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.