Osaka decides to end sister-city ties with San Francisco

December 14, 2017

Osaka- The western Japan city of Osaka decided to end its six-decade-old sister-city relationship with San Francisco over a statue symbolizing so-called comfort women erected in the US city, Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura has said.

The decision has been made at a meeting of senior municipal officials, Yoshimura told reporters at the Osaka city government office on Wednesday.

Last month, San Francisco accepted the donation of the statue despite Osaka's request not to do so.

The Osaka government will notify San Francisco of the decision next year after a new mayor takes office there following the death of Mayor Edwin Lee on Tuesday.

Yoshimura expressed his surprise at the sudden death of Lee.

"I extend my deepest condolences," Yoshimura said, adding that he has sent a letter of mourning to the San Francisco government.

Yoshimura indicated his view that the notification is expected to be made after the San Francisco mayoral election slated for June 2018.

"It is not appropriate to notify a political decision when there is a political vacuum," he said.

There is no change in Osaka's position that the relationship of trust has collapsed, Yoshimura said.

Osaka has no plan to renegotiate the issue, Yoshimura said, stressing that his city's stance will not change after Lee's successor takes office.

Comfort women, mainly Koreans, were forced to sexually serve Japanese troops before and during World War II. Jiji Press