Two South Korean 'comfort women' demand direct apology from Japan

Two elderly South Korean 'comfort women' have gone to Japan to demand a face-to-face apology from the Japanese PM for wartime sexual abuse.

Lee Ok-sun and Kang Il-chul, two Korean women who were forced to work in Japan's wartime military brothels, attend a press conference at the parliament building in Tokyo on Jan. 26, 2016. Source: AAP

Two elderly South Korean women abused by Japan's wartime military-run brothel system are in Japan to reject the recent settlement agreement between the two governments.

They are also demanding that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe give them a face-to-face apology and formal compensation.

Lee Ok-sun, 88, and Kang Il-chul, 87, told reporters on Tuesday that the agreement neglected the victims' feelings and was "wrong".

The December agreement included an indirect apology from Abe and Tokyo's pledge of Y1 billion ($A12.09 million) fund for the South Korean victims.

The two women are among tens of thousands of Asian "comfort women" sexually abused in Japan's military-run brothel system during the World War II.

The Japanese government set up a fund in 1995 but that was not seen as sincere by some, especially in South Korea.