South Korean civic groups are calling for fundamental and victim-oriented resolutions to the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. 

They raised their voice in a joint press conference in front of Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Friday, claiming a 2015 South Korea-Japan deal to settle the issue is invalid. 

In the event marking the passage of three years since the deal was inked, they argued the deal remains a stumbling block to correctly solving the issue as 24 South Korean victims died over the three-year period. 

They said although the UN is continuously advising Seoul and Tokyo to seek a permanent solution reflecting the victims’ voices, the Japanese government is refusing it and instead continuing to distort historical facts and defaming the victims.