Japan is urging South Korea to "deal appropriately" with a civic group's plan to erect a statue near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to commemorate those who performed forced labor during the war, the government's top spokesman said Friday.
"Moves such as this have a completely undesirable effect on Japan-South Korea relations and are highly problematic in light of the terms of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
He said Japan made the appeal through diplomatic channels.