The monument was jointly dedicated by Nassau County, the South Korean city of Gwangju and the Korean American Public Affairs Committee.

Along with thousands of others, these women were enslaved during Japan’s 20th century imperial expansion – including the colonization of South Korea between 1910-45.

Seoul’s foreign ministry said Japan should maintain the spirit of the pacifist constitution, which has been sustained after the end of World War II, and contribute to regional peace and stability when deciding on and implementing its security and defence policy. Korea’s foreign ministry’s director-general of the Northeast Asia affairs bureau, Lee Sang-deuk, said after the meeting the two sides agreed to continue making efforts to resolve remaining issues.

South Korea has called for Japan to sincerely apologise for and compensate for the wartime sexual brutalities, but Japan has claimed that all issues on sexual slavery were already resolved with the 1965 treaty that normalised diplomatic ties between Seoul and Tokyo.

More than 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese troops, according to some historians.

The focus of the envisioned talks will be on laying the groundwork for a bilateral summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun Hye, who have not met since assuming office in 2012 and 2013, respectively, amid territorial and historical disputes. She did not elaborate.