The plight of the so-called “comfort women” is a hugely emotional issue that has marred relations between Seoul and Japan for decades and which, for many South Koreans, symbolises the abuses of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. But with Seoul going ahead with the foundation’s establishment over the objections of some comfort women survivors themselves, the launch is expected to bring a major outcry. The sign reads Reconciliation and Healing Foundation. The foundation’s secretariat will be occupying the Vabien Suites in Seoul’s Seodaemun district, with most of its preparatory committee members taking on board positions.
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South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, left, Kim Tae-hyun, second right, head of a committee, and Kang Eun-hee, right, minister of Gender Equality and Family attend the office opening ceremony for a preparation committee for a fund aimed at compensating Korean victims of Japanese wartime military brothels, in Seoul Thursday, July 28, 2016. The South Korean government, noting it was commissioned and installed by Seoul civic groups, has said it has no plans to remove the statue.
Last December, the two nations reached a “final and irreversible” agreement, under which Tokyo offered an apology and one billion yen (USD 8.5 million) to open the foundation for the dwindling number of comfort women who are still alive.
Up to Korean 200,000 women became victims of Japanese sexual enslavement, with only 40 of them still confirmed alive.
South Korea on Thursday launched a foundation planned to be funded by the Japanese government to provide support for South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s military in World War II.
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The protesters demanded the victims receive proper compensation, and denounced the government for trying to end the comfort women issue by receiving money for the foundation.
