The Japanese government says its Foreign Ministry is reviewing and readjusting plans regarding the construction of a new Japanese Embassy in Seoul. 

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary made the comment in a regular media briefing on Wednesday when asked about a decision by a Seoul district last month to cancel a permit for the construction of a building that was set to house the Japanese Embassy. Suga, however, declined to give further details. 

The Jongno District Office’s decision came nearly four years after it approved the Japanese Embassy’s construction plan. Under local building laws, ground must be broken within a year once a building permit is granted, but the Japanese side did not proceed with its new building plan.

Observers say the Japanese government is likely to have abandoned the idea of rebuilding a new embassy at its former location given that a bronze statue commemorating the victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery stands right outside the site.

The fact that rallies calling for Japan to actively address the wartime issue are conducted every Wednesday near the site may have also led Tokyo to not pursue its construction.