South Korea and Japan reached agreement on Monday on their dispute over wartime sex slaves that has soured relations for decades, as Tokyo’s leader hailed a “new era” in ties with Seoul.
Japan offered a “heartfelt apology” and a one-billion yen ($8.3 million) payment to Korean women forced into Japanese military brothels during World War II. Now the two countries, both close US allies, “will welcome a new era”, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo after speaking by phone with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.
The fate of the 46 surviving South Korean “comfort women” is a hugely emotional issue in South Korea, and a source of much of the distrust that has marred relations with its former colonial ruler Japan for decades.
The deal would be “final and irreversible” if Japan fulfils its responsibilities, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se said after talks in Seoul with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
Kishida said the issue was “one that deeply hurt the women’s honour and dignity with the involvement of the (Japanese) military at the time, and from this viewpoint the Japanese Government keenly feels its responsibility”.
Abe, he said, extends “his feeling of heartfelt apology and regret to all of those who as comfort women have suffered great pain, both mentally and physically, that is difficult to heal”. “I think the agreement we reached is historic and is a ground-breaking achievement,” Kishida said.
The deal, he said, “will not only benefit our country but also largely contribute to the region’s peace and stability”.