Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hopes to attend the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony next month. He also expressed his willingness to hold a summit with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in.

SHINZO ABE JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER "As long as the situation permits, I hope to attend the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony. Tokyo will hold the Olympics games in 2020, and I hope to attend the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony, which will also be held in Asia, to cheer on the athletes. At the same time, I hope to hold a summit meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in order to clearly present our position on the agreement settlement regarding the comfort women issue between Japan and South Korea."

Shinzo Abe made the announcement, following speculation that he might not attend the opening ceremony because of tensions over a 2015 "comfort women" agreement between Japan and South Korea. In that deal, Tokyo agreed to pay 9 million US dollars to support surviving South Korean women who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels in World War Two, in an attempt to settle the highly sensitive issue once and for all. But the South Korean government recently decided that the deal was flawed, because not enough efforts were made to reach out to the victims before negotiating the settlement. Japan has protested against the move and demanded South Korea continue implementing the agreement.