Seoul digs in heels ahead of Japan talks

South Korea on Sunday dug its heels ahead of talks with Japan over the thorny issue of wartime sex slaves that has long strained ties.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se dismissed Japan's claim that the issue of "comfort women" who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II was settled in a 1965 agreement on normalizing relations.

"There is no change to our position and there won't be any in the future," Yun told journalists as senior officials of the two countries met to prepare for talks between Yun and his counterpart Fumio Kishida on Monday.