Seoul has been maintaining its stance on South Korean court decisions on wartime forced labor issues and that it will respond to Tokyo through existing diplomatic channels rather than formal talks.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said during a regular press briefing on Thursday that the South Korean government is meticulously reviewing various factors in response to the Japanese government’s call for discussions on the forced labor rulings.

The spokesman issued the statement a day before Tokyo's 30-day deadline for a response to its request for talks was set to expire. Seoul previously insisted it would not be tied to any deadline, citing the absence of specific time frames in the 1965 normalization treaty Japan has been basing its calls for talks on. 

Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, is said to be planning a visit to South Korea on Friday to meet the top nuclear envoys of Seoul and Washington and possibly discuss contentious issues between Seoul and Tokyo.