The South Korean government on Monday acknowledged the widespread public disapproval of the controversial deal to end bilateral feuds over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women and expressed hopes to resolve the issue through joint efforts.

"The government wishes to overcome the problem wisely through joint efforts between South Korea and Japan while accepting the reality that the majority of our public do not approve of the comfort women agreement sentimentally," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a brief press release. 

It was rebutting Japanese news reports that United Nations Secretary-General Antonia Guterres expressed support for the 2015 deal during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday held on the sidelines of the meeting of G-7 countries.

The secretary-general's office has also rejected the reports, saying that "The secretary-general did not pronounce himself on the content of a specific agreement but on the principle that it is up to the two countries to define the nature and the content of the solution for this issue."

The foreign ministry echoed the view.

"Given the UN secretary-general's previous stance on supporting bilateral consultation as a means to solve conflicted issues, his latest remarks also seem to be in support of the principle that he backs problem resolution through bilateral discussion between South Korea and Japan."

It is the first time since the inauguration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in that the Seoul government has unveiled its official stance regarding the so-called comfort women deal under which Japan paid 1 billion yen ($9 million) in relief funds to South Korean victims to end the issue for good.

The deal was signed under the previous administration of Park Geun-hye who was removed from presidency in March over corruption charges. Moon has since pledged to review the agreement. (Yonhap)