Monk self-immolates in Seoul protest
Park a ‘traitor’ over Tokyo sex slave deal
TOKYO/SEOUL: A South Korean Buddhist monk was in critical condition last night after setting himself on fire in protest against the country’s settlement with Japan on compensation for wartime sex slaves, officials said yesterday.
The 64-year-old monk suffered thirddegree burns across his body and serious damage to vital organs. He’s unconscious and unable to breathe on his own, said an official from the Seoul National University Hospital, who didn’t want to be named citing office rules.
The man set himself ablaze late on Saturday during a large rally in Seoul calling for the ouster of impeached President Park Geun-hye, police said. In his notebook, the man called Ms Park a “traitor” over her government’s 2015 agreement with Japan that sought to settle a long-standing row over South Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s World War II military, police said.
Under the agreement, Japan pledged to fund a Seoul-based foundation that was set up to help support the victims. South Korea, in exchange, vowed to refrain from criticising Japan over the issue and try to resolve the Japanese grievance over a bronze statue representing wartime sex slaves in front of its embassy in Seoul.
The agreement has so far come short of bringing a closure to the emotional issue. The deal continues to be criticised in South Korea because it was reached without approval from victims, and students have been holding sit-in protests next to the Seoul statue for more than a year over fears that the government might try to remove it.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meanwhile has urged South Korea to remove the statues and implement the 2015 agreement.
“It has been mutually confirmed that this is a final and irreversible agreement. Japan has sincerely fulfilled its obligation,’’ Mr Abe said on a NHK news talk show aired yesterday. He said that Japan had already paid ¥1 billion (306 million baht) in compensation.
“Next, I think South Korea must firmly show its sincerity,’’ he said, adding that the agreement should be implemented regardless of leadership change as a “matter of credibility”.
At the time of the deal, Seoul said there were 46 surviving South Korean victims.
The statue issue arose amid political turmoil in South Korea. The parliament impeached Ms Park last month following a political scandal and her powers have been transferred to acting president and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.
In the pact, South Korea said it will strive to solve the issue of a statue which stands in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul “in an appropriate manner”.
Mr Abe also said he will call on US President-elect Donald Trump to reduce the burden that Okinawa prefecture bears in hosting the bulk of US military facilities in Japan, when he meets the incoming US president.
“I would like to communicate to him the fact that [the alliance] contributes to the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and brings substantial benefits to the US economy,” said Mr Abe.
Mr Trump pledged in his election campaign to make American allies shoulder more costs related to hosting US military forces abroad. Local protests in Okinawa against US military bases there increased recently after the crash-landing of an Osprey aircraft in nearby waters.
Sources familiar with bilateral relations have said Mr Abe and Mr Trump are arranging a meeting in the US shortly after Mr Trump’s inauguration. In November, Mr Abe was the first world leader to meet face-to-face with Mr Trump following his victory over Hillary Clinton.
The Japanese leader also indicated his intention to relay to Mr Trump the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, a US-led free trade agreement, which it has reached with Japan and 10 other countries, but the incoming president seeks to withdraw from.