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Basu: Japan’s apologies on ‘comfort women’ not enough
It took a lot of bravado for Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to acknowledge and apologize for Japan’s war-time role in South Korean “comfort women” crimes.
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Historians estimate more than 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were forced into sexual slavery at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
On Monday, Seoul and Tokyo reached the breakthrough deal in which the Japanese government apologized and offered reparations of 1 billion yen (US$8.3 million) to the victims.
Beijing-based activist Tong Zeng said that the agreement between Seoul and Tokyo was “a really big shock” for China.
But Kishida said the comfort women system “deeply hurt the honor and dignity of many women under the involvement of the Japanese military at the time, and Japan strongly feels responsibility”.
The landmark deal between Korea and Japan over the thorny issue of sex slaves is facing a strong backlash in Korea.
While Washington has welcomed the deal as a harbinger of better relations between its allies, the deal quickly proved controversial here.
“If it is true that Abe plans to make the donation contingent on removing the statue, this deal looks dead on arrival, ” Delury said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Seoul considers the agreement “final and irreversible”, as long as Japan faithfully follows through with its promises. A civic group representing the victims said it was “humiliating”.
“Both nations have demonstrated tremendous bravery and fortitude in forging this agreement”. They opposed the deal partly because it does not address the issue of Japan’s legal responsibility.
The language mirrored past expressions of remorse by other prime ministers, although it was seen by some in Seoul as an improvement on previous comments by Abe’s hawkish government, which has been accused of whitewashing wartime atrocities.
But Ilagan gave credit to the South Korean government for initiating the diplomatic efforts in making Japan give in to pressure. “It’s rather removed from the people’s will. I feel really sorry because [your government] has been doing so well”.
In South Korea, the victims and their supporters have been sharply critical, but the general public seems more willing to accept the deal.
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In a poll of 508 people released on Thursday, 51 percent of them said the government did a poor job negotiating the agreement while 43 percent said it did well.