Former South Korean sex slaves, who were forced to serve for the Japanese Army during World War II, wait for results of a meeting of South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers at the Nanumui Jip (the House of Sharing) in Gwangju, South Korea, on Monday. — AP
South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement on Monday to resolve the issue of “comfort women”, as those who were forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels were euphemistically known, which has long plagued ties between the neighbours.
The foreign ministers of the two countries said after a meeting in Seoul that the “comfort women” issue would be “finally and irreversibly resolved” if all conditions were met.
Japan was “painfully aware of its responsibilities” for the affront to the women’s honour and dignity, Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference in Seoul with his South Korean counterpart.
Japan will draw on its government budget to contribute about one billion yen ($8.3 million) to a fund that will help the former “comfort women”, and work with South Korea to run a programme to restore their honour and dignity, Mr Kishida said.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to take the opportunity to boost bilateral ties soon after the agreement by the foreign ministers.
The accord will be welcomed by the United States, which has been keen for improved relations between its two major Asian allies in the face of an increasingly assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.
Strains between Tokyo and Seoul have prevented the two countries from signing an agreement to share sensitive military information, so a year ago they signed a three-way pact under which Seoul routes its information to the United States which then passes it on to Japan, and vice versa.
Ms Park “hoped that since the two governments worked through a difficult process to reach this agreement, they can cooperate closely to start building trust and open a new relationship,” her office quoted her as saying to Mr Abe.
Mr Abe told reporters in Tokyo that Japan has apologised and expressed its remorse, but added future Japanese generations should not have to keep on doing so.
“We should never allow this problem to drag on into the next generation,” he said, echoing remarks he made marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two on August 15. “From now on, Japan and South Korea will enter a new era.”
Scholars continue to debate the number of women exploited. Activists in South Korea say there may have been as many as 200,000 Korean victims, only a few of whom came forward.Only 46 survivors remain of the 238 women in South Korea who came forward, and their average age is 89. South Korea’s foreign minister Yun Byung-se said he valued Japan’s efforts.
