A foundation to support the Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery was launched in Seoul on Thursday.

The Reconciliation and Healing Foundation held its inaugural board meeting at its office in downtown Seoul at 10 a.m. and discussed its operational direction and future projects.

The foundation will engage in projects that directly benefit the elderly victims or are for memorial and symbolic purposes. It seeks to expand the number of beneficiary projects as much as possible while reflecting the opinions of the victims.

Funds for the foundation will come from the one billion yen, or around nine million U.S. dollars Japan promised to provide last December under a deal struck by the Seoul and Tokyo over the wartime sexual slavery issue. When the fund will be made available is not yet confirmed, although Japanese media reported earlier in the week that it would be provided next month.

The foundation will also review whether to pay for rental fees and labor costs from the fund as well as how to secure extra funding.

A total of 238 sex slavery victims are registered with the South Korean government. The number of surviving victims, which was 46 at the time the landmark agreement was reached between Seoul and Tokyo last year, has now dropped to 40.