Japan has responded negatively to South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s New Year proposal for the two sides to put their heads together to resolve the longstanding wartime forced labor issue. 

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi asserted during a press conference Friday that the ball is in South Korea's court. 

Motegi said what Seoul offered as a solution to the issue is unclear. He reiterated Tokyo’s stance that it will not accept South Korean claims and that South Korea needs to resolve it. 

When asked about a recent proposal by an alliance of South Korean and Japanese civic groups to form a joint consultative body on the issue between the two governments, the top Japanese diplomat said he wants to refrain from responding to each move by the plaintiffs and their advocates.  

In a New Year's press conference on Tuesday, Moon urged Japan to take the victims’ position into account. He also said Seoul’s proposal may not be the only solution and invited Tokyo to join hands in addressing the issue. 

Tokyo has argued that all colonial reparation issues, including compensation for South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War II, were settled with a 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized Seoul-Tokyo ties.