Foreign minister Park Jin says Seoul and Tokyo are in the final stages of producing a solution to the issue of compensating victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor.

The top diplomat made the remark to reporters on Monday at Incheon International Airport upon returning home from a trip to the Netherlands and Germany.

Park said he held sincere and honest talks with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, on the contentious issue when they met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, adding that he conveyed to Japan the need to yield a reasonable solution.

On whether he and Hayashi discussed the possibility of holding a South Korea-Japan summit, Park said the topic was not discussed but stressed the need to restore shuttle diplomacy for the sake of national interests.

Noting that a meeting of foreign ministers from Group of 20 nations will be held in India next month, Park said he and Hayashi will again have the opportunity to meet if they are both able to attend the gathering.