In a speech Friday marking the 100th anniversary of the launch of a popular uprising against Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule, South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to strengthen cooperation with Japan to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon's remarks, at the annual commemoration of the March First Independence Movement, follow a fraying of South Korea-Japan ties over historical grievances, including the issue of "comfort women."

The term comfort women is a euphemism used to refer to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II.