South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has emphasized the importance of protecting the rights of the South Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor. 

In a media briefing on Thursday marking her two years in office, Kang addressed the Supreme Court's rulings last year in favor of wartime forced labor victims and the diplomatic flare-ups between Seoul and Tokyo over some follow-up actions to the rulings.  

She said the top court's decisions merit more active assessment from the South Korean government beyond a show of the administrative branch's respect for the judiciary’s judgment, noting it's a matter of history and human rights. She said the scars of the victims should be healed from a humanitarian point of view. 

Regarding recent actions by South Korean plaintiffs to seek the selloff of seized assets of Japanese firms implicated in Japan's wartime forced labor, Kang said they are exercising their rights and it's not something the South Korean government can intervene in. 

She still stressed South Korea’s will to develop forward-looking relations with Japan while squarely facing history. 

She said dialogue between the two countries will continue so bilateral relations could improve with the upcoming G20 Summit in Japan potentially providing the momentum.  

Asked whether President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will sit down on the sidelines of the multilateral summit in Osaka next month, Kang said related discussions and reviews are under way at various levels.