Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea but also from China, Indonesia and other Asian nations, were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II.
The issue, a key sticking point in ties between the two neighbors, further strained relations in recent months amid an increasingly aggressive campaign in Japan to claim these "comfort women" were common prostitutes.
Park has urged Japanese leaders to offer an apology, and on Sunday repeated the call for Tokyo to use "all means" to resolve the issue as the number of survivors rapidly dwindles.
"We now have only 53 survivors aged nearly 90 on average. Time is running out to restore their honor," Park said in a speech marking the anniversary of the country's 1919 uprising against the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.
The victims have not been given redress for their treatment despite repeated efforts in the decades since the war.
- Japan issued a landmark apology in 1993 - known as the Kono Statement.
But a tranche of the political right, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, still claim the wartime army brothels were staffed by professional prostitutes.
Tokyo also embarked on a global campaign to promote more sympathetic version of Japan's wartime atrocities in school textbooks.
Such efforts to "distort" the history also hurt relations, Park said.
Seoul-Tokyo ties have been icy for years since a long-running territorial row flared up and exacerbated other long-standing historical disputes.
Abe and Park have not met for a formal two-way summit since they took power in 2012 and 2013 respectively, raising concerns over the partnership between the two main US military allies in Asia.
AFP
globaltimes.cn
2/3/15
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Related:
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Obama urges Japan to deal with wartime sexual servitude issue
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Japan said on Monday that it would continue to look to pursue its country's viewpoint on history after South Korea's president urged Japan to acknowledge the “historical truth.”..
ReplyDeleteThe request was made by President Park Geun-hye on Sunday at an official ceremony to mark the Independence Movement Day.
This year commemorates the 96th anniversary of the declaration of the nation's independence from Japanese colonization on March 1, 1919.
Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said Japan would try to work with South Korea while also adhering to its own position.
“We [both] have our own individual issues. We are making effort to convey our country's viewpoint and gain understanding on our stance, starting with the leadership, through emphasizing dialog at higher levels of politics and through various endeavors,” Suga said at a regular news conference............http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-japan-to-continue-to-push-its-stance-on-history/2664211.html
2/3/15
Leaders of Japan, S.Korea Pledge to Overcome Issue of ‘Comfort Women’...
ReplyDeleteJapan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye agreed to accelerate negotiations on the so-called comfort women issue, local media reported Monday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — "With this year marking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties, we agreed to accelerate negotiations [on the issue] with the aim of concluding them as early as possible," Abe told journalists following talks with the South Korean president, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
The meeting between the two leaders was the first since Abe and Park took the office in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
According to varying estimates, between 20,000 and 400,000 women were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied territories during World War II. Most of the victims were from Korea, China and the Philippines. Various reports on the survivors have found that the so-called comfort women were often beaten and tortured.
Last week, the South Korean leader said she expected the Japanese side to settle the issue in a way the victims would accept.
sputniknews.com
2/11/15