The Abe administration plans to demand that South Korea remove the "comfort woman" statue in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul as part of any agreement resolving disputes over wartime history, according to sources.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may consider expanding support to Korean women who worked in wartime brothels for the Japanese military after obtaining a firm promise the statue will be removed, the sources said Sunday.

The 1.2-meter-tall statue of a girl was erected in 2011, and since then has been what a high-ranking source described as "a headache" for Japan.