Image copyright AFP Image caption Activists for comfort women erected a statue of a girl which they call a 'peace monument' outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011 
 
 Japan and South Korea have agreed to settle the issue of "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two, in their first such deal since 1965. 
 
 Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund victims. 
 
 The issue has been the key cause for strained ties. South Korea has demanded stronger apologies and compensation. 
 
 Only 46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lee Ok Seon: "I was forced to have sex with many men each day" 
 
 The announcement came after Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul, following moves to speed up talks. 
 
 Later Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida. 
 
 "Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era," Mr Abe told reporters afterwards. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation." 
 
 Ms Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed - given the advanced age of most of the victims. 
 
 "Nine died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased." 
 
 It is estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan. 
 
 Japan-South Korea's 'comfort women' deal 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption South Korean activists for comfort women have been holding weekly demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul 
 
 Japan will give 1bn yen to a fund for the elderly comfort women, which the South Korean government will administer 
 
 The money also comes with an apology by Japan's prime minister and the acceptance of "deep responsibility" for the issue 
 
 South Korea says it will consider the matter resolved "finally and irreversibly" if Japan fulfils its promises 
 
 South Korea will also look into removing a statue symbolising comfort women, which activists erected outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011 
 
 Both sides have agreed to refrain from criticising each other on this issue in the international community 
 
 Read more: 'Comfort women' - a painful legacy 
 
 After the meeting in Seoul, Mr Kishida called the agreement "epoch-making". 
 
 "Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women," Mr Kishida told reporters. 
 
 The wording of the deal does not explicitly state that the "comfort women" will receive direct compensation, but states that the fund will provide "support" and bankroll "projects for recovering the honour and dignity and healing the psychological wounds". 
 
 Some former "comfort women", such as Lee Yong-soo, have taken issue with this. 
 
 The 88-year-old told the BBC: "I wonder whether the talks took place with the victims really in mind. We're not after the money. If the Japanese committed their sins, they should offer direct official government compensation." 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Lee Yong-soo (centre) has taken part in protests outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul 
 
 Another former "comfort woman", 88-year-old Yoo Hee-nam, said: "If I look back, we've lived a life deprived of our basic rights as human beings. So I can't be fully satisfied. 
 
 "But we've been waiting all this time for the South Korean government to resolve the issue legally. As the government worked hard to settle deal before the turn of the year, I'd like to follow the government's lead." 
 
 In Japan journalist Nobuo Ikeda reflected the view of many on Twitter that the country had lost out, although others thought the deal could have been worse for Mr Abe. 
 
 "Japan pays 1 billion yen and our PM apologises but South Korea will 'consult about the girl's statue' - that's not a diplomatic negotiation," Mr Ikeda tweeted. 
 
 Kevin Kim, BBC News, Seoul 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Japan's PM Shinzo Abe (L) and South Korea's Park Geun-hye (R) agreed in November to accelerate talks on the issue 
 
 With only days left until the end of the year, the timing of the talks was highly symbolic and the expectations for results were high. 
 
 Earlier in the year, the South Korean president called for a resolution to the "comfort women" dispute by the year's end, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. 
 
 However, few believed that a quick breakthrough could be reached on a thorny issue that has strained the region for decades and some critics say the talks have been rushed to preserve the symbolism. 
 
 It's unclear if Japan's admission of responsibility was legal or just humanitarian, and Tokyo's offer of 1bn yen has been described as a measure to help the women, not as direct government compensation. 
 
 The dozens of surviving women have asked for a formal apology specifically addressed to themselves and direct compensation. They say past expressions of regret have been only halfway and insincere. 
 
 Japan revisionists deny WW2 sex slave atrocities 
 
 Negotiators appear to have overcome several obstacles including disagreements over the wording of the agreement and the amount of compensation. Tokyo was reportedly initially considering paying only around 100 million yen. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida spoke of the Japanese prime minister's ''sincere apologies and remorse'' 
 
 Japan has repeatedly apologised or acknowledged its responsibility for wartime sex slaves, most notably in a 1993 statement by the then-chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono. 
 
 It had also resisted giving greater compensation, arguing that the dispute was settled in 1965 when diplomatic ties were normalised between the two countries and more than $800m in economic aid and loans was given to South Korea. 
 
 A private fund was also set up in 1995 for the victims and lasted for a decade, but money came from donations and not from the Japanese government. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Statues of comfort women have repeatedly led to diplomatic strains 
 
 South Korea's foreign ministry has said a 2015 deal with Japan to compensate forced World War Two sex slaves failed to meet the needs of the victims. 
 
 A panel appointed by the ministry said the deal did not take into account the views of the surviving women. 
 
 The agreement had been made by South Korea's previous government hoping to end decades of diplomatic tensions. 
 
 South Korean activists estimate that up to 200,000 women were forced to work in brothels for WW2 Japanese soldiers. 
 
 Critics have said the deal with Japan was reached without consultation with the survivors - known as "comfort women" - did not contain Japan's acknowledgement of legal responsibility, and did not provide direct compensation to the victims. 
 
 The South Korean government will now review the panel's findings and consult again with victims, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told a news conference. 
 
 The existing agreement "failed to sufficiently reflect a victim-oriented approach, which is the universal standard in resolving human rights issues", she said. 
 
 Money and apologies 
 
 Under the 2015 deal, Japan had apologised and agreed to pay 1bn yen ($8.8m; £6.6m) to a fund for helping the victims. 
 
 The money was to come with an apology by Japan's prime minister and the acceptance of "deep responsibility" for the issue. 
 
 South Korea in turn said it would look into removing the statues symbolising comfort women set up by activists outside Japan's embassy in Seoul and consulate in Busan. 
 
 Activists have installed the statues to draw public attention to the suffering of the women. 
 
 The statues have led to diplomatic tensions between Japan and South Korea as well as other countries where such statues have been erected. 
 
 The majority of the comfort women were from Korea, while others were from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan. 
 
 Some were willing, others were lured with the offer of paid work as cooks or cleaners and many were forced, a UN report said. ||||| Participants pay respects to Japan's wartime sexual slavery victims who died this year at Wednesday Demonstration near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday / Yonhap 
 
 
 
 By Jung Min-ho 
 
 
 
 Many people have expressed anger and frustration over the Park Geun-hye administration's "secret deal" over the Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery. 
 
 
 
 "It is such a shame the Park government excluded the victims from its talks with Japan," said a 28-year-old woman, who refused to give her name. "The government is in no position to make a deal for them unless they agree. Apparently, they never agreed." 
 
 
 
 On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Park government did not make adequate efforts to listen to the surviving victims before reaching the agreement. 
 
 
 
 The two nations made the "final and irreversible" deal on Dec. 28, 2015, to resolve the longstanding diplomatic issue. Japan apologized to the victims and agreed to contribute 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) to a foundation dedicated to supporting them. 
 
 
 
 But the news shocked the victims, who had no idea about the government move. They said they could not accept an agreement. 
 
 
 
 "The deal makes sense only if there were no victims still living. But many are. I do not understand why the government made a rush for it," said a 66-year-old man surnamed Jung. "I do hope the two countries will work together for a better future after resolving the issue, but not that way." 
 
 
 
 Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul for the latest "Wednesday Demonstration," which has been held there every week since January 1992. 
 
 
 
 They urged President Moon Jae-in to scrap or renegotiate the deal, saying there isn't much time left for the victims. 
 
 
 
 "This year alone, eight of the victims have passed away," lead organizer Han Kook-yeom said. "The government should not ask them to wait any longer. It should start talks with Japan now." 
 
 
 
 Despite the cold weather, about 500 students and members of civic groups participated in the rally. Some were holding flowers to pay respects to the eight women who died this year. 
 
 
 
 Baek Mi-soon, head of the Korean Women's Association United, spoke each of the eight women's names and said, "We will remember them as human rights activists who fought for the rights of women and all humans." 
 
 
 
 Japan has urged Korea to honor the agreed-upon deal. But the Moon government has said there appears to have been procedural problems. 
 
 
 
 On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters she would talk to the victims and civic groups before making any decision on future talks with Japan.
– South Korea and Japan say they've reached a deal to resolve a disturbing legacy of World War II—the issue of sex slaves, or "comfort women," forced to work in Japanese brothels for soldiers. An estimated 200,000 women, many of them Korean, were forced to take part, though only 46 remain alive today in South Korea, reports the BBC. Under the deal, Japan will pay $8.3 million to a fund to help victims, though the New York Times says the agreement has vague wording that doesn't "clarify whether the responsibility that the Japanese government acknowledged was legal or moral." Still, the countries say that if Japan does what it has promised, the issue will be "finally and irreversibly resolved." But the newspaper quotes one survivor who says it does not go far enough. "I will ignore it completely,” says 88-year-old Lee Yong-soo, who wants Japan to unequivocally admit legal responsibility. The deal doesn't go that far, though it comes with an apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: He "expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women," says Japan's foreign minister. South Korea says it will now consider removing a statue memorializing victims erected by activists outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011. The pact is expected to clear the way for stronger military relations between the two nations, a development that Reuters notes will be welcomed by the US because of an increasingly aggressive China.