ID :
210201
Thu, 09/29/2011 - 10:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/210201
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea forms task force on Japan's wartime sexual slavery
SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign ministry has set up a task force to deal with the issue of compensation for Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japan's World War II soldiers, an official said Thursday.
The task force was formed as Japan has yet to respond to South Korea's Sept. 15 proposal to hold bilateral talks to discuss the issue, following a ruling late last month by the Constitutional Court that it's unconstitutional for the Seoul government to make no specific effort to settle the issue with Tokyo.
"The task force, manned by diplomats who have specialized in international laws and bilateral relations with Japan, will seek ways to resolve the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said.
Japan, which ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45, has acknowledged that its wartime military used sex slaves, but refuses to directly compensate them individually, arguing that the issue was settled by a 1965 normalization treaty.
Despite the Japanese claim, some South Korean officials said that Seoul could ask Tokyo to directly compensate the victims because Japan's wartime sexual slavery was regarded as a "war crime against humanitarianism."
The issue of the former sex slaves, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional issues that still remains unresolved between South Korea and Japan.
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's former wartime sexual enslavement is becoming an increasingly urgent priority as most victims are elderly and fear they may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan.
The task force was formed as Japan has yet to respond to South Korea's Sept. 15 proposal to hold bilateral talks to discuss the issue, following a ruling late last month by the Constitutional Court that it's unconstitutional for the Seoul government to make no specific effort to settle the issue with Tokyo.
"The task force, manned by diplomats who have specialized in international laws and bilateral relations with Japan, will seek ways to resolve the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said.
Japan, which ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45, has acknowledged that its wartime military used sex slaves, but refuses to directly compensate them individually, arguing that the issue was settled by a 1965 normalization treaty.
Despite the Japanese claim, some South Korean officials said that Seoul could ask Tokyo to directly compensate the victims because Japan's wartime sexual slavery was regarded as a "war crime against humanitarianism."
The issue of the former sex slaves, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional issues that still remains unresolved between South Korea and Japan.
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's former wartime sexual enslavement is becoming an increasingly urgent priority as most victims are elderly and fear they may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan.
