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| South Korea and Japan Reach Deal on Wartime ‘Comfort Women’ | South Korea and Japan Reach Deal on Wartime ‘Comfort Women’ |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — More than 70 years after the end of World War II, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement on Monday to resolve their dispute over Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japan’s Imperial Army. | SEOUL, South Korea — More than 70 years after the end of World War II, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement on Monday to resolve their dispute over Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japan’s Imperial Army. |
| The agreement, in which Japan made an apology and promised an $8.3 million payment, was intended to remove one of the most intractable logjams in relations between South Korea and Japan, both crucial allies to the United States. The so-called comfort women have been the most painful legacy of Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, which lasted from 1910 until Japan’s World War II defeat in 1945. | The agreement, in which Japan made an apology and promised an $8.3 million payment, was intended to remove one of the most intractable logjams in relations between South Korea and Japan, both crucial allies to the United States. The so-called comfort women have been the most painful legacy of Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, which lasted from 1910 until Japan’s World War II defeat in 1945. |
| The Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers, announcing the agreement in Seoul, said each side considered it a “final and irrevocable resolution” of the issue. | The Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers, announcing the agreement in Seoul, said each side considered it a “final and irrevocable resolution” of the issue. |
| The deal won praise from the governing party of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea but was immediately criticized as insufficient by some of the surviving former sex slaves as well as opposition politicians in South Korea, where anti-Japanese sentiments run deep. | The deal won praise from the governing party of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea but was immediately criticized as insufficient by some of the surviving former sex slaves as well as opposition politicians in South Korea, where anti-Japanese sentiments run deep. |
| The United States has repeatedly urged Japan and South Korea to resolve the dispute, a stumbling block in American efforts to strengthen a joint front with its Asian allies to better cope with China’s growing assertiveness in the region, as well as North Korea’s attempt to build a nuclear arsenal. | The United States has repeatedly urged Japan and South Korea to resolve the dispute, a stumbling block in American efforts to strengthen a joint front with its Asian allies to better cope with China’s growing assertiveness in the region, as well as North Korea’s attempt to build a nuclear arsenal. |
| “The issue of ‘comfort women’ was a matter which, with the involvement of the military authorities of the day, severely injured the honor and dignity of many women,” the foreign minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, said on Monday, as he read from the agreement at a news conference in Seoul. “In this regard, the government of Japan painfully acknowledges its responsibility.” | |
| Mr. Kishida also said that his boss, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, “expresses anew sincere apologies and remorse from the bottom of his heart to all those who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as “comfort women.” | |
| Mr. Abe later called Ms. Park to deliver the same apologies, Ms. Park’s office said. | Mr. Abe later called Ms. Park to deliver the same apologies, Ms. Park’s office said. |
| “I hope that the two countries will cooperate closely to build trust based on this agreement and open a new relationship,” she was quoted as telling Mr. Abe. Ms. Park, who had refused to hold a summit meeting with Mr. Abe until last month, has repeatedly urged Japan to address the grievances of comfort women before the neighbors can improve ties. | “I hope that the two countries will cooperate closely to build trust based on this agreement and open a new relationship,” she was quoted as telling Mr. Abe. Ms. Park, who had refused to hold a summit meeting with Mr. Abe until last month, has repeatedly urged Japan to address the grievances of comfort women before the neighbors can improve ties. |
| Although Japan had previously apologized, including in a 1993 statement that acknowledged responsibility for the practice, the agreement on Monday signaled a compromise for Mr. Abe. | Although Japan had previously apologized, including in a 1993 statement that acknowledged responsibility for the practice, the agreement on Monday signaled a compromise for Mr. Abe. |
| As recently as last year, under pressure from his right wing to scrap the apology, Mr. Abe and his conservative political allies agreed to review the evidence that led to it. | As recently as last year, under pressure from his right wing to scrap the apology, Mr. Abe and his conservative political allies agreed to review the evidence that led to it. |
| Under the agreement, the Japanese government will give the $8.3 million to a foundation that the South Korean government will establish to offer medical, nursing and other services to the women. | |
| That Tokyo will provide money directly from the national budget is a potentially significant departure. A previous fund created after the 1993 apology, the Asian Women’s Fund, relied on private donors and was never fully accepted in South Korea. Although 60 former comfort women from South Korea had received financial aid from the fund, many others refused to accept it. | That Tokyo will provide money directly from the national budget is a potentially significant departure. A previous fund created after the 1993 apology, the Asian Women’s Fund, relied on private donors and was never fully accepted in South Korea. Although 60 former comfort women from South Korea had received financial aid from the fund, many others refused to accept it. |
| Japan also won an important concession from Seoul, a promise not to criticize Tokyo over the comfort women again. | Japan also won an important concession from Seoul, a promise not to criticize Tokyo over the comfort women again. |
| Historians say that at least tens of thousands of women, many of them Korean, were lured or coerced to work at brothels from the early 1930s until the end of World War II. The Korean women who survived the war had lived mostly in silence because of the stigma, until some of them began speaking out in the early 1990s. | Historians say that at least tens of thousands of women, many of them Korean, were lured or coerced to work at brothels from the early 1930s until the end of World War II. The Korean women who survived the war had lived mostly in silence because of the stigma, until some of them began speaking out in the early 1990s. |
| A total of 238 former comfort women have since come forward in South Korea, but only 46 are still living, most of them in their 80s and 90s. | A total of 238 former comfort women have since come forward in South Korea, but only 46 are still living, most of them in their 80s and 90s. |
| Initial reactions to the resolution from former comfort women in South Korea were far from welcoming. | Initial reactions to the resolution from former comfort women in South Korea were far from welcoming. |
| “The agreement does not reflect the views of former comfort women,” said Lee Yong-soo, 88, during a news conference held after the agreement was announced. “I will ignore it completely.” | “The agreement does not reflect the views of former comfort women,” said Lee Yong-soo, 88, during a news conference held after the agreement was announced. “I will ignore it completely.” |
| She said that the deal fell far short of the women’s longstanding demand that Japan admit legal responsibility and offer formal reparations. | She said that the deal fell far short of the women’s longstanding demand that Japan admit legal responsibility and offer formal reparations. |
| “We are not craving for money,” she said. “What we demand is that Japan make official reparations for the crime it had committed.” | “We are not craving for money,” she said. “What we demand is that Japan make official reparations for the crime it had committed.” |
| She said she also opposed the removal of a statue of a girl symbolizing comfort women that a civic group established in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in 2011. During negotiations, Japan insisted that South Korea remove the statue, and South Korea said on Monday that it would discuss the matter with the former sex slaves. | She said she also opposed the removal of a statue of a girl symbolizing comfort women that a civic group established in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in 2011. During negotiations, Japan insisted that South Korea remove the statue, and South Korea said on Monday that it would discuss the matter with the former sex slaves. |
| The civic group, the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery in Japan, called Monday’s deal “shocking.” | |
| “It’s a humiliating diplomacy for South Korea to give a bushel only to get a peck,” the group said in a statement. “The agreement is nothing but a diplomatic collusion that thoroughly betrayed the wishes of comfort women and the South Korean people.” | |
| In a statement, Ms. Park appealed to South Koreans to accept the agreement in the broader context of the need to improve ties with Japan, a neighbor and important trading partner, adding that her government wanted to seal a deal before the aging women passed away. | |
| Japan has maintained that all legal issues stemming from its colonial rule of Korea were resolved with the 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries. Negotiators from both nations forged a compromise with the vaguely worded agreement on Monday, which did not clarify whether the responsibility that the Japanese government acknowledged was legal or moral. Mr. Kishida made it clear on Monday that the money Japan was offering was not legal reparation. | Japan has maintained that all legal issues stemming from its colonial rule of Korea were resolved with the 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries. Negotiators from both nations forged a compromise with the vaguely worded agreement on Monday, which did not clarify whether the responsibility that the Japanese government acknowledged was legal or moral. Mr. Kishida made it clear on Monday that the money Japan was offering was not legal reparation. |
| The deal was announced after Mr. Kishida met with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, in Seoul. Their meeting came after 12 rounds of negotiations that the two governments have held since spring 2014 to narrow their gaps on the dispute. | The deal was announced after Mr. Kishida met with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, in Seoul. Their meeting came after 12 rounds of negotiations that the two governments have held since spring 2014 to narrow their gaps on the dispute. |
| Mr. Yun and Mr. Kishida said they hoped that the deal would open a “new phase” in bilateral ties, long strained over historical disputes stemming from colonial rule. They also said that Seoul and Tokyo would refrain from criticizing each other over the issue at the United Nations and elsewhere. | Mr. Yun and Mr. Kishida said they hoped that the deal would open a “new phase” in bilateral ties, long strained over historical disputes stemming from colonial rule. They also said that Seoul and Tokyo would refrain from criticizing each other over the issue at the United Nations and elsewhere. |
| The initial reaction in Japan was generally positive. Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who made a historic apology in 1995 for Japan’s role in World War II that many conservatives opposed, said that Mr. Abe had “decided well.” | |
| “It’s commendable that the Japanese government admitted responsibility,’’ he said at a news conference. | |
| Tomomi Inada, a right-wing member of Mr. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, suggested the deal would be worth it if it succeeded in putting the dispute to rest. “There is great meaning in achieving a final and irreversible resolution,” she said. | |
| The Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, welcomed the agreement but cautioned Mr. Abe’s government that any future support for revisionist causes could undermine it. | |
| “We expect further constructive dialogue to prevent any backsliding,” the party said in a statement. | |
| Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation, a research group, said Mr. Abe had chosen a pragmatic approach that elevated economic and security ties over the bristly historical revisionism he has sometimes championed. | Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation, a research group, said Mr. Abe had chosen a pragmatic approach that elevated economic and security ties over the bristly historical revisionism he has sometimes championed. |
| “Team Abe is basically realist, though Abe himself has sometimes veered from that,” Mr. Watanabe said. | “Team Abe is basically realist, though Abe himself has sometimes veered from that,” Mr. Watanabe said. |
| Stable relations with South Korea, he added, were vital to Mr. Abe’s most cherished foreign policy goal: nurturing alliances to counter the growing power of China. “Ultimately, Abe believes in the balance of power.” | Stable relations with South Korea, he added, were vital to Mr. Abe’s most cherished foreign policy goal: nurturing alliances to counter the growing power of China. “Ultimately, Abe believes in the balance of power.” |
| But Hiroka Shoji, a researcher on East Asia at Amnesty International, said the agreement should not be the end of the road in securing justice for the former sex slaves. | But Hiroka Shoji, a researcher on East Asia at Amnesty International, said the agreement should not be the end of the road in securing justice for the former sex slaves. |
| “The women were missing from the negotiation table, and they must not be sold short in a deal that is more about political expediency than justice,” she said. “Until the women get the full and unreserved apology from the Japanese government for the crimes committed against them, the fight for justice goes on.” | “The women were missing from the negotiation table, and they must not be sold short in a deal that is more about political expediency than justice,” she said. “Until the women get the full and unreserved apology from the Japanese government for the crimes committed against them, the fight for justice goes on.” |