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Tokyo to propose new fund for former ‘comfort women’
Japan’s top diplomat Fumio Kishida plans to visit Seoul for the meeting with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se on Monday, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.
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The foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea announced Monday that the two countries have agreed on a way to resolve the issue of wartime “comfort women”, which has long strained their relations.
South Korea and Japan “should turn the agreement into a precious opportunity to restore honor and dignity” to the comfort women and heal their scars, Park said in a telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea’s presidential office.
Another official said what’s more important is whether or not the victims can accept Japan’s offer.
South Korea and other Asian countries say the Japanese military forced thousands of women to work in brothels during the Second World War.
Park and Abe pledged in November to seek “the earliest possible resolution” to the issue, noting that this was the 50th year of their diplomatic relations.
“The Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) have intensively discussed the issue of comfort women between Japan and the ROK at bilateral meetings including the Director-General consultations”.
Reacting to the announcement, former comfort woman Lee Yong-soo, 88, was not so definite, telling reporters: “I will ignore it completely”.
In total it is estimated that 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War Two but not all of them were Korean.
Former sex slaves had mixed reactions.
The Asahi newspaper reported on Saturday (Dec 26) that the Japanese side was in discussions on using government funds to pay for medical and welfare services for the comfort women.
– Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will again express feelings of apology and remorse to former comfort women.
Seoul is demanding a fresh formal apology and compensation for the Korean women.
The breakthrough came shortly after South Korean courts recently acquitted a Japanese journalist accused of smearing the name of South Korea’s president. Many South Koreans still harbor bitter resentment over that period, but South Korean officials have also faced calls to improve ties with Japan. South Korea says it will now consider removing a statue memorializing victims erected by activists outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011. Abe’s government in recent years has praised Japan’s contributions, while criticizing South Korea for unnecessarily prolonging the problem.
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There are 46 surviving Korean “comfort women”, many of whom have actively campaigned for an apology.