Senior diplomats from Japan and South Korea "made limited progress" in wartime labor talks was the gist of a Kyodo news report The Japan Times ran at the end of January.

The article was based on remarks made by Seo Min-jung, director-general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau, after she met her Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, in Seoul recently.

She reportedly said “further discussion would be needed to secure a ‘sincere response’ from” Japan and "The main point of the sincere response is an apology and contribution" from the Japanese companies concerned, adding that “there is still a gap in opinions between the two nations over the issue” of the CWKs (former civilian workers from the Korean Peninsula.)