Japan sets up fund for South Korean ‘comfort women’ forced to work in wartime brothels

South Korea and Japan have agreed to resolve the issue of ‘comfort women’, as those who were forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels were euphemistically known. The issue has long plagued ties between the neighbours.

The foreign ministers of the two countries said, after a meeting in Seoul, that the ‘comfort women’ issue would be “finally and irreversibly resolved”, if all conditions were met.

The agreement will be welcomed by the United States, which has been keen for improved relations between its two major Asian allies, given an increasingly assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.

Strains between Tokyo and Seoul have prevented the two countries from signing an agreement to share sensitive military information, so a year ago they signed a three-way pact.

Seoul routes its information to the United States, which then passes it on to Japan, and vice versa.

“It is historic and epoch-making that such an agreement has been reached,” Japan’s foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, told a news conference, adding that Japan was “painfully aware” of its responsibilities.

.@UN chief welcomes agreement between #Japan and Republic of #Korea on ‘comfort women’ https://t.co/Uc18YCZV3i pic.twitter.com/3JnsuVJ21s

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) December 28, 2015

“Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences, and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds, as ‘comfort women’.

“I believe this has set up a stage for advancement of security co-operation between Japan and South Korea, as well as among Japan, the United States and South Korea”.

Japan will contribute one billion yen ($8.3m) to a fund that will help the former ‘comfort women’, and work with South Korea to run a programme to restore their honor and dignity, Kishida said.

South Korea’s foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, said he valued Japan’s efforts.

“On the premise that the steps pledged by the Japanese government are earnestly carried out, the Korean government confirms that the matter is finally and irreversibly resolved,” Yun told the news conference.

The two countries have been trying for decades to overcome divisions over the ‘comfort women’ issue.

Japan had been insisting that South Korea lay the issue to rest this time, since many officials resented what they saw as South Korea’s use of the issue for domestic political gain, despite past steps taken by Tokyo.

South Korea wanted a clearer statement by Japan of its responsibility for the women’s suffering.

A powerful symbol of success would be the fate of a statue commemorating ‘comfort women’, which has been erected in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, and which has been an irritant to Tokyo.