South Korea has condemned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for remarks that echoed his country's stance of urging Seoul to follow through on a post-war bilateral agreement.

Abe told reporters on Tuesday that South Korea unilaterally carried out actions that run counter to a 1965 agreement that settled the right to seek compensation for wartime labor.

South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young issued a statement later in the day. He said Abe's remarks proved that Japan's unfair economic measures are not a matter of export controls, but retaliatory measures stemming from past problems.

The statement said that the Abe administration must not ignore the truth.

It said the administration should leave behind its egoistic attitude that denies the past, ignores human rights, and undermines the free trade order.