President Park Geun-hye on Friday called on Japan to make the utmost efforts to resolve the issue of its sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, saying that such an endeavor would be the first step in improving strained bilateral ties between the neighbors.

   The remarks were made during Park's meeting with Toshihiro Nikai, the chairman of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, earlier in the day.

   Leading a 1,400-member delegation, the Japanese politician arrived in South Korea a day earlier for a four-day visit in his capacity as the head of a Japanese tourism agent association.

   The meeting between Park and Nikai came as bilateral ties remained strained over the unresolved issue of the imperial Japanese army's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.

   Historians say as many as 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese imperial soldiers during the war.

   Although Seoul and Tokyo kicked off monthly director-level talks last year to settle the thorny issue, no progress has been made.

   "In order to meaningfully mark the 50th anniversary of normalizing South Korea-Japan diplomatic ties this year and to leave stable South Korea-Japan relations to future generations, the first step of improving bilateral ties will be to make the utmost efforts to resolve the core current issue of the comfort women,"

Park said during the meeting, using the euphemistic term for the sexual enslavement victims.

   During the meeting, Nikai also delivered to Park a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling for "mutual efforts to make the 50th anniversary of the normalization of South Korea-Japan diplomatic relations a good year for both of the countries," according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

   Park also urged Nikai to muster his personal efforts and attention to resolve the grievances of the 53 living sexual enslavement victims.

   Nikai pledged his commitment to helping improve bilateral ties, the presidential office noted.

   Referring to worries that Abe may revise Japan's previous apologies to wartime victims in his forthcoming statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Park also noted that "the world will be closely watching (the issuance)." (Yonhap News)