ID :
207223
Thu, 09/15/2011 - 05:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/207223
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S. Korea expected to propose talks with Japan Thursday over wartime sex slave
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea is expected to propose holding talks with Japan on Thursday to discuss the issue of Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, a senior government official said.
The move comes after the Constitutional Court ruled late last month that it is unconstitutional for Seoul to take no action over the dispute between the victims, who were forced to serve Japan's military, and Tokyo, which refuses to compensate them.
"Since the Constitutional Court's ruling, we have proceeded with legal and diplomatic reviews on the issue and are considering making an official proposal today to Japan on bilateral consultations," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The proposal is likely to be delivered to the Japanese government via the Japanese embassy in Seoul, the official said.
The issue of the former sex slaves, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional unresolved issues between South Korea and Japan. The Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony from 1910-45.
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
Japan has acknowledged its wartime military used sex slaves, but refuses to directly compensate or apologize to victims individually, maintaining that all claims were settled with South Korea by the postwar Treaty of Basic Relations with South Korea in 1965.
The move comes after the Constitutional Court ruled late last month that it is unconstitutional for Seoul to take no action over the dispute between the victims, who were forced to serve Japan's military, and Tokyo, which refuses to compensate them.
"Since the Constitutional Court's ruling, we have proceeded with legal and diplomatic reviews on the issue and are considering making an official proposal today to Japan on bilateral consultations," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The proposal is likely to be delivered to the Japanese government via the Japanese embassy in Seoul, the official said.
The issue of the former sex slaves, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional unresolved issues between South Korea and Japan. The Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony from 1910-45.
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
Japan has acknowledged its wartime military used sex slaves, but refuses to directly compensate or apologize to victims individually, maintaining that all claims were settled with South Korea by the postwar Treaty of Basic Relations with South Korea in 1965.
