The Korea Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Apr. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – A South Korean human rights organization has strongly condemned the Japanese government’s recent assertion in its annual diplomatic report that the issue of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II has been resolved.
In a statement, the Korea Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan said the claim by the Japanese government that the “comfort women” issue was settled through a 2015 agreement with South Korea was “absurd and a deplorable evasion of responsibility.”
“The Japanese government has consistently ignored the calls for an official apology and legal compensation from not only Korea but also countless victims across Asia and the Pacific region,” the group said. “It denies the coercive nature of the system and is attempting to erase the history of the Japanese military’s sex crimes while pressuring the South Korean government to abide by the 2015 deal.”
The commission urged Japan to take responsibility as the perpetrator nation, saying, “What the Japanese government must do is one thing: Instead of issuing a diplomatic report riddled with lies and blaming the victim countries, it should now fulfill its obligations to the international community by officially apologizing and providing legal compensation to the victims, as ruled by South Korean courts.”
In its annual Diplomatic Bluebook detailing foreign policy and diplomacy, released in April, the Japanese government maintained its position that the 2015 agreement “finally and irreversibly” resolved the comfort women issue.
Tokyo also stated that it cannot accept the rulings by South Korean courts in January 2021 and November 2023, which ordered Japan to compensate the victims who filed damages suits.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
