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outh Korean President Moon Jae-in’s questioning of the 2015 agreement between his country and Japan on the settlement of the decades-long sex slavery dispute has angered Japan, because the official deal was signed by South Korea’s democratically elected leader, Park Geun-hye. This is an unfortunate moment amid the nuclear threat from North Korea.

“It has been confirmed that the 2015 comfort women negotiation between South Korea had serious flaws, both in process and content,” Moon said in a statement in December, without elaborating on whether he wanted to scrap the peace agreement.

The president, who took office last May, was right when he said the “agreement does not resolve the issue over comfort women” because the forced sex workers suffering will never be healed by a legal document.

However, he also needs to remember that the 2015 pact is legally binding until both parties agree to review or drop it. It raises questions about South Korea’s credibility if it fails to respect a treaty it signed.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Tuesday the government of President Moon would not seek a renegotiation, but expect Japan to take further efforts to help the women “regain honor and dignity and heal wounds in their hearts.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un must be excited to witness the ongoing tension between his two archenemies as he can benefit greatly from the quarrel without putting forth much effort.

Historians estimate tens of thousands of Korean women were forced into sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during the 1910-1945 colonial era. The Japanese military also committed similar acts in China and on a smaller scale in Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia.

Japan has refused to follow in the footsteps of Germany, which has openly admitted its war crimes and provided internationally acknowledged compensation to its victims. The past human rights abuses have continued to haunt the survivors of slavery, especially in Korea and China, while Japan clearly wants to sweep history under the rug, as it is only a matter of time until the remaining victims pass away.

Both South Korea and Japan need to resolve their dispute soon to enable them to form a solid force in facing the real nuclear threat from the unpredictable North Korean leader. South Korea and Japan would be playing a dangerous game if they prolonged the open spat.