expression, noun
agonizing decision; painful choice
A decision made after much anguish and internal struggle; often used in formal or serious contexts.
彼は苦渋の決断を下した。
He made an agonizing decision.
会社は苦渋の決断で工場を閉鎖した。
The company closed the factory in a painful decision.
Compound of 苦渋 (bitter anguish) + の (attributive particle) + 決断 (decision). The phrase is a set expression describing a decision reached through painful deliberation.