SEX SLAVERY DEAL

Seoul claims 2015 pact to end dispute over ‘comfort women’ rushed

SEOUL

SOUTH Korea said yesterday a 2015 deal intended to end a festering dispute with Japan over Tokyo’s wartime sex slavery was faulty, reopening a historical wound as the two countries try to rein in North Korea.

Seoul and Tokyo signed the agreement to settle the hugely emotional and decades-long issue with a Japanese apology and payment of money to survivors.

Following an election pledge, the new government of President Moon Jae-in ordered a review of the unpopular deal, which was struck by his now-jailed predecessor Park Geun-hye.

A task force yesterday published a report saying the deal was rushed and did not adequately seek out the opinions of the women forced to work as sex slaves, often known by the euphemism “comfort women”.

“The agreement was finalised... without adequately taking into account the opinions of victims in the process of negotiation,” the report said.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyungwha apologised for the deal, saying it “hurt” the victims and had “failed to reflect the victims’ views”. Observers said any move by Seoul to abandon the deal could damage relations with Tokyo as the two countries faced off against a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Tokyo urged Seoul to stick with the 2015 agreement.

“Japan’s position remains unchanged, that we ask the South Korean government to abide by the deal,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, but also other parts of Asia including China, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War 2.

The agreement was meant to put an end to the hugely emotional issue with a Japanese apology and payment.

The Japanese government denied it was directly responsible for the abuses, insisting that “comfort women” were recruited by civilians and that the military brothels were commercially operated.

Despite the agreement, ties between the two neighbours remain tense over statues, which South Korean activists positioned outside Japanese diplomatic missions in memory of the victims. Reuters

EPA PIC Lee Yong-soo, who was forcibly taken to front-line brothels by the Japanese army during World War 2, stroking a girl’s statue during its unveiling ceremony at Daegu University in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, last week.