The U.N. human rights chief on Thursday stressed the need for a “satisfactory solution” to end the sufferings of the former so-called comfort women, taking a swipe at Japan, which has resisted their calls for a sincere apology and compensation.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein met with Kim Bok-dong, Gil Won-ok and Lee Yong-soo, who were forced by Japan into sex slavery in frontline brothels during World War II, during his visit a day earlier to a museum on women’s wartime human rights in Seoul. The meeting was part of his three-day trip chiefly aimed at overseeing the launch of a U.N. field office here to monitor and study North Korea’s human rights situation.

Addressing their stories, he appeared deeply moved by what he called the “power of human contact” and how “gentle, strong and determined” the women were.

“I find it terribly sad that, despite some significant steps taken by Japan over the years, the victims of this terrible crime do not feel their suffering has been adequately and universally recognized. In the final analysis, it is only the victims who can decide whether enough has been done,” Zeid said at a news conference.

“I think there is something that can be done beyond what’s already been done. … I feel the personal contact with these victims of past abuse can take discussions a long way toward a resolution.”

His remarks came as pressure is building between Seoul and Tokyo to formulate a lasting, acceptable agreement to sate the aging victims’ demands for a genuine official apology and compensation.

Earlier in the day, the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan said that another former comfort women has died, bringing the figure of surviving South Korean victims to 49.

Kim Youn-hee died of natural causes at a Seoul hospital on Wednesday, it said. She was 83.

Kim, who was born in 1932, was forced to work in a factory in Japan at age 12 and then transferred to a military brothel. She came back home after Korea was freed from the 1910-45 colonial rule but lived the rest of her life at a mental institution.

Her death followed two other victims dying last week, further slimming the list of surviving victims. Initially, 238 women were on the list of government-registered former sex slaves.

Historians say more than 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual slavery at frontline Japanese military brothels during the colonial era.

South Korea has urged Japan to resolve the grievances of the victims, saying the issue is becoming increasingly urgent as most victims are well over 80 years old and may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan.

Japan has snubbed Seoul’s demand for official talks on compensating the aging Korean women, claiming all issues regarding its colonial rule were settled in a 1965 package compensation deal under which the two countries normalized their relations.

The two sides have held eight rounds of director-general-level talks since April 2014 over the issue of the victims, which Seoul believes is a wartime human rights issue that goes beyond the bilateral relationship.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said in an interview with Yonhap on Thursday that South Korea is poised to speed up efforts for a new chapter in its often-troubled ties with Japan after a years-long “slow and steady” approach.

Both sides, he pointed out, have a strong political determination to move toward the future, while dealing wisely with conflicts over their shared history.

But the issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II is more complicated, he said.

Yun said it’s important to “heal the wounds of the victims’ minds” and the Japanese government is well aware of what it should do.

He compared it to a prescription for a patient, saying that the components of medicine are crucial.

South Korea and Japan are hoping to resolve the dispute over the “comfort women” within this symbolic year, he added.

“Details are quite important in the matter and very serious efforts are required (to resolve it),” he said.

He was, however, optimistic of a “win-win deal” on Tokyo’s push for the listing of early industrial sites, some associated with its wartime brutality, as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Tens of thousands of Koreans were forcibly conscripted to work at several candidate facilities in the 1940s. The World Heritage Committee plans to decide whether to approve Japan‘s bid early next month.

South Korea wants Japan to include a clear explanation of the bitter historical background in relevant UNESCO records.

“We expect an outcome that fully reflects South Korea’s fair concern,” Yun said, adding that he reached a consensus with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, on the matter in their Tokyo talks earlier this week.

Another key litmus test is what Abe will say about history in his August speech to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“There seems to be a consensus that the format and contents of Prime Minister Abe’s address should meet the expectations of neighboring countries and the international community,” Yun said.

He reaffirmed a push for the resumption of trilateral summit talks also involving China within this year.

Yun was cautious, however, about a separate one-on-one meeting between Park and Abe, saying the appropriate conditions should be created first.

“There is still a way to go,” he said.

By Shin Hyon-hee and news reports (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)