S. Korea to cover Japan’s financial aid for ex-comfort women

January 9, 2018

Seoul- The South Korean government will shoulder the cost of the one billion yen contributed by the Japanese government to provide financial support to so-called former comfort women in South Korea, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Tuesday.

At a press conference, Kang said the South Korean government will not ask the Japanese government to renegotiate a 2015 bilateral agreement to resolve the issue of the women, who were forced into prostitution for Japanese troops before and during World War II.

The South Korean government expects Japan to continue efforts to restore the honor and dignity of the former comfort women and heal their psychological wounds, Kang also said.

While allocating funds under its state budget for covering the one-billion-yen contribution from the Japanese government, South Korea aims to discuss with Japan about what to do with the Japanese assistance, she said.

In Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters, "We can't accept any request at all from South Korea for Japan to take further measures."

Kono again called on the South Korean government to steadily implement the agreement.

The agreement is a promise between two countries, he said. "It's an international and universal principle that such an accord should be implemented responsibly even after a change of government."

He suggested that Japan will file a protest through diplomatic channels in Tokyo and Seoul.

The Japanese government provided one billion yen to the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation, which was established by the South Korean government in line with the bilateral deal reached on Dec. 28, 2015, in which the two sides confirmed that the comfort women issue is resolved "finally and irreversibly."

Utilizing the financial contribution, the South Korean government has been conducting a program to provide cash payments to the former comfort women.

Among 47 former comfort women who were alive when the agreement was concluded, 36 people have received the payments or indicated they will accept the offer.

But former comfort women opposing the deal and a group of citizens supporting them have been urging the South Korean government to return the one billion yen to the Japanese government.

The Japanese government has signaled its rejection of renegotiations on the agreement and is unlikely to accept the return of its financial contribution to the foundation, sources familiar with the situation said.

Against this background, the South Korean government's shouldering of Japan's contribution is apparently aimed at preventing irreparable damage to its relationship with the Japanese government, while showing some consideration to the former comfort women, the sources said.

In a review report released late last year, a task force under the direct control of the South Korean foreign minister criticized the agreement, citing a lack of communication with the former comfort women and failure to hear their opinions in the run-up to the agreement.

In response to the task force report, South Korean President Moon Jae-in issued a statement saying that the bilateral agreement cannot resolve the comfort women issue. He instructed related officials to take follow-up measures on the issue.

Moon held talks with some former comfort women last week and told them that the agreement was promoted by the former government, adding that it was a mistake. Jiji Press