Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday that he will attend the opening ceremony of South Korea's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Feb. 9.

The announcement put an end to weekslong speculation that he may forgo the trip in protest against Seoul's recent move to revisit the 2015 deal in relation to so-called comfort women, a euphemism for the women and girls who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels before and during World War II.

"If circumstances allow, I am thinking of attending the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics," Abe told a group of reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday morning.