President Moon Jae-in says even though the colonial era is a painful past for both Korea and Japan, the truth can't be ignored.
 
Seoul's top office on Monday also quoted the president as saying that both countries can become true friends if justice and principles are sternly established with the attitude of placing oneself in the other's shoes.

Japan's Kyodo news agency earlier reported that the South Korean leader sent a letter to an assembly meeting of a Korea-Japan cooperation committee held in Seoul on Sunday which called for facing the truth for the sake of bilateral ties. 

Moon said the two countries have developed and influenced each other but there have also been unfortunate times during the long history of friendship and cooperation, adding the two countries must face up to the truth for the sake of sustainable bilateral relations. 

His remarks come as tensions have flared up between the two countries following South Korea's Supreme Court ruling on Tokyo's wartime forced labor.