South Korea, Japan reach landmark deal on WWII sex slaves
SEOUL, South Korea — An apology from Japan’s prime minister and a pledge of more than $8 million sealed a breakthrough deal today on a decades-long impasse with South Korea over Korean women forced into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II.
The accord, which aims to resolve the emotional core of South Korea’s grievances with its former colonial overlord, could begin to reverse decades of animosity and mistrust between the two thriving democracies, trade partners and staunch U.S. allies. It represents a shift for Tokyo’s conservative government and a new willingness to compromise from previously wary Seoul.
A joint statement from both countries’ foreign ministers said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women,” their euphemistic name.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Abe would be issuing a separate written statement or if it would be directly delivered to the 46 surviving former Korean sex slaves, now in their 80s and 90s.
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 the hawkish Abe government.
Another deciding factor was that the $8.3 million came from the government, not private sources, something Tokyo has been reluctant to provide in the past.
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.
Abe also called Park and reiterated his apology. He said Tokyo would implement the deal and called the issue settled irreversibly. Park said she hopes the two countries will build up mutual trust and open a new era in bilateral ties based on today’s agreement, it said.
After phoning Park, Abe told reporters the agreement was based on his commitment to stop younger generations from being obliged to apologize.
