Japan and South Korea agree WW2 'comfort women' deal

[GennGreymane]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-3...ource=facebook

Japan and South Korea have agreed to settle the issue of "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two, in their first such deal since 1965.

Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund victims.
The issue has been the key cause for strained ties. South Korea has demanded stronger apologies and compensation.
Only 46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea.

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Media captionLee Ok Seon: "I was forced to have sex with many men each day"

The announcement came after Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul, following moves to speed up talks.
Later Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida.

"Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era," Mr Abe told reporters afterwards. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation."
Ms Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed - given the advanced age of most of the victims.
"Nine died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased."

It is estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Japan-South Korea's 'comfort women' deal

South Korean former 'comfort woman' Lee Yong-Soo (L), who was forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War Two, attends a protest with other supporters to demand Tokyo's apology for forcing women into military brothels during World War II outside the Japanese embassy in

South Korean activists for comfort women have been holding weekly demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul
Japan will give 1bn yen to a fund for the elderly comfort women, which the South Korean government will administer
The money also comes with an apology by Japan's prime minister and the acceptance of "deep responsibility" for the issue
South Korea says it will consider the matter resolved "finally and irreversibly" if Japan fulfills its promises

South Korea will also look into removing a statue symbolising comfort women, which activists erected outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011
Both sides have agreed to refrain from criticising each other on this issue in the international community
Read more: 'Comfort women' - a painful legacy

After the meeting in Seoul, Mr Kishida called the agreement "epoch-making".

"Prime Minister 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," Mr Kishida told reporters.

The wording of the deal does not explicitly state that the "comfort women" will receive direct compensation, but states that the fund will provide "support" and bankroll "projects for recovering the honour and dignity and healing the psychological wounds".
Some former "comfort women", such as Lee Yong-soo, have taken issue with this.

The 88-year-old told the BBC: "I wonder whether the talks took place with the victims really in mind. We're not after the money. If the Japanese committed their sins, they should offer direct official government compensation."

South Korean former 'comfort woman' Lee Yong-Soo (C), who was forcibly recruited to work in Japanese wartime military brothels, and her supporters demonstrate near the Japanese embassy in Seoul on 30 October 2015Image copyrightAFP
Image caption

Lee Yong-soo (centre) has taken part in protests outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul
Another former "comfort woman", 88-year-old Yoo Hee-nam, said: "If I look back, we've lived a life deprived of our basic rights as human beings. So I can't be fully satisfied.

"But we've been waiting all this time for the South Korean government to resolve the issue legally. As the government worked hard to settle deal before the turn of the year, I'd like to follow the government's lead."

In Japan journalist Nobuo Ikeda reflected the view of many on Twitter that the country had lost out, although others thought the deal could have been worse for Mr Abe.

"Japan pays 1 billion yen and our PM apologises but South Korea will 'consult about the girl's statue' - that's not a diplomatic negotiation," Mr Ikeda tweeted.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for photos before their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, 2 November 2015

Japan's PM Shinzo Abe (L) and South Korea's Park Geun-hye (R) agreed in November to accelerate talks on the issue
With only days left until the end of the year, the timing of the talks was highly symbolic and the expectations for results were high.
Earlier in the year, the South Korean president called for a resolution to the "comfort women" dispute by the year's end, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

However, few believed that a quick breakthrough could be reached on a thorny issue that has strained the region for decades and some critics say the talks have been rushed to preserve the symbolism.

It's unclear if Japan's admission of responsibility was legal or just humanitarian, and Tokyo's offer of 1bn yen has been described as a measure to help the women, not as direct government compensation.

The dozens of surviving women have asked for a formal apology specifically addressed to themselves and direct compensation. They say past expressions of regret have been only halfway and insincere.
Japan revisionists deny WW2 sex slave atrocities

Negotiators appear to have overcome several obstacles including disagreements over the wording of the agreement and the amount of compensation. Tokyo was reportedly initially considering paying only around 100 million yen.

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Media captionJapan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida spoke of the Japanese prime minister's ''sincere apologies and remorse''
Japan has repeatedly apologised or acknowledged its responsibility for wartime sex slaves, most notably in a 1993 statement by the then-chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono.

It had also resisted giving greater compensation, arguing that the dispute was settled in 1965 when diplomatic ties were normalised between the two countries and more than $800m in economic aid and loans was given to South Korea.
A private fund was also set up in 1995 for the victims and lasted for a decade, but money came from donations and not from the Japanese government.

[cant cook clean or iron]

Not the first time the issue has been "settled" and I feel like it wont be the last time either.

[hawkeyeTA]

Might as well ask the Scandinavian countries to apologize for the Vikings' raping of English and French women.

[I Push Buttons]

Might as well ask the Scandinavian countries to apologize for the Vikings' raping of English and French women.

Only some of the women enslaved by the Japanese military during WW2 are still alive today... And there is a movement in Japan that denies any of this ever even happened...

[pateuvasiliu]

Poor women. Meanwhile how many million men died in WW2?

[Deleted]

Poor women. Meanwhile how many million men died in WW2?

Well since that wasn't raised as a point, I think they agreed they were rightfully compensated (or family) at the time or the time after the war. That is just a guess, don't know any facts thereof.

[Mihalik]

Might as well ask the Scandinavian countries to apologize for the Vikings' raping of English and French women.

NOT.THE.SAME.THING.

While one has happened centuries ago, and no-one denies the history of the Viking Age, WW2 was relatively recent, and had a profound effect on the psyche of the victims and on the long term ethnic and cultural relations between neighboring nations. Japan was in the wrong, and there is no denying that.

This is more of an acknowledgment of a historical reality than anything else. People of Korean ancestry are still very much discriminated against in Japan and are often treated as second class citizens. This Japanese racial superiority complex cannot be addressed as long as Japan is unwilling to face up to its own history. And this pretty much expands to much of the rest of South East Asia.

- - - Updated - - -

Poor women. Meanwhile how many million men died in WW2?

This specifically is not a gender race. We are talking about the effective enslavement of the citizens of one nation by another, slaves who were subjected to some of the worst abuses and conditions possible, adding on top layers of humiliation.

I'm not a feminist, but War Rape is a real thing. And because men are dying it doesn't somehow make it less of an issue.

Now I'm just waiting on the Russian apologizing for raping their way across the entirety of Eastern and Central Europe in World War 2 and right after. My Hungarian grandmother 15 at the time was a victim of this (well, technically an entire refugee column of thousands were, sometimes repeatedly before they reached Austria). Women were picked out of the columns by passing Russians and raped. If they got lucky they would be raped by an officer, whom often even gave them a ration or two as "compensation". The men would be dragged from the columns if of military age and typically detained. Elderly men or younger boys would typically be just stripped of all their possessions.

Anyways long story.

Still, would be nice if Russia would acknowledged their own shit too. Tho expecting an apology from them, is like waiting for the rain in the Sahara.

[Santti]

"Comfort women". Is anyone else a bit disgusted by that? Softening it to make it sound like it wasn't that bad. They were sex slaves, not "comfort women". I wonder if there is a time we will call rape victims "unwilling sperm recipients", like George Carlin suggested.

[sarahtasher]

Confort women is rather obviously the Japanese euphemism ?

[pateuvasiliu]

I'm not a feminist, but War Rape is a real thing. And because men are dying it doesn't somehow make it less of an issue.

Sure. But where is the comfort for the dozens of millions of men that died?


[Infracted - Attempting to derail]

[negawonka]

"Comfort women". Is anyone else a bit disgusted by that? Softening it to make it sound like it wasn't that bad. They were sex slaves, not "comfort women". I wonder if there is a time we will call rape victims "unwilling sperm recipients", like George Carlin suggested.

That might just be the closest english translation, sometimes slang and such do not translate well. In time of war soldiers from all countries use slang when referring to somethings - it is just part of the life of a soldier.

[sarahtasher]

Sure. But where is the comfort for the dozens of millions of men that died?

Those millions of men were Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Phillippinos...and thus subhuman vermin for most MRA/GGists (I mean, weak impure non-christian, non white people, and not even Japanese one, who get an excuse for making DOAX games. Plus, per right wing logic, Chinese are communists, so it's okay to kill them in the thirties !)

Why ? You feel the need of pushing Mastah Milo,Mastah Roosh, Mastah Elleam and Mastah Vox Day gospel ? Then people can respond pot to kettle.

[Hana Song]

What a joke

Sure. But where is the comfort for the dozens of millions of men that died?

What is your problem?!

[Strangebrew]

Those millions of men were Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Phillippinos...and thus subhuman vermin for most MRA/GGists (I mean, weak impure non-christian, non white people, and not even Japanese one, who get an excuse for making DOAX games)

Why ? You feel the need of pushing Mastah Milo,Mastah Roosh, Mastah Elleam and Mastah Vox Day gospel ? Then people can respond pot to kettle.

Holy shit, get the fuck over yourself.

[Deleted]

Might as well ask the Scandinavian countries to apologize for the Vikings' raping of English and French women.

Rule number one in war..only the louser comit warcrime.... the winner did was was nesesery...and the Vikings was vinners....

Not: there are lots of vinners who need to pay for what they done...

[Shadowspire]

Sure. But where is the comfort for the dozens of millions of men that died?


[Infracted - Attempting to derail]

Ok guy, look. I get you are k. The men, suffer d just as much as women thing, I do and when it comes to current problems this is true, but and I really need you to understand this.
A soldier dying, no matter how fucked up, is expected to probably die during war time. And no country helps the vets,it's talked about even to this day in America.
But no one, and I mean really no one, expects to actually be raped repeatedly by their "saviors" maybe the ppl who ya know invade bu it's still fucked up dude.

[sarahtasher]

Holy shit, get the fuck over yourself.

You are going to pretend that the kind of people that scream like posessed that evil brown and black and yellow ''races'' are ''outbreeding'' western civilization because of ''feminism'' care about the lives of the Chinese butchered by the IJA in Nanking ?

People feel free to bring a cheap and crude MRA ''argument'' (read, a meme they found on redpill sites) in a thread about IJA warcrimes ? (And got infracted for it) I can reply pot to kettle.

And back to the topic, the IJA ghastly conduct in China and Korea is well document but seldom acknowledgded by Japanese, who use the excuse of the ''threat'' posed by 2015 China to not actually acknowledge what they did to the 1930 China. The downfall of KMT China, incidentally, have much to do with Japan.

Infracted for derailing

[Strangebrew]

You are going to pretend that the kind of people that scream like posessed that evil brown and black and yellow ''races'' are ''outbreeding'' western civilization because of ''feminism'' care about the lives of the Chinese butchered by the IJA in Nanking ?

Except nothing you say have any root in reality, stop posting your insane bullshit while derailing the thread.

[Florena]

You are going to pretend that the kind of people that scream like posessed that evil brown and black and yellow ''races'' are ''outbreeding'' western civilization because of ''feminism'' care about the lives of the Chinese butchered by the IJA in Nanking ?

People feel free to bring a cheap and crude MRA ''argument'' (read, a meme they found on redpill sites) in a thread about IJA warcrimes ? (And got infracted for it) I can reply pot to kettle.

Nowhere in this thread was feminism bashed nor was white genocide or whatever people that mentioned. Your rant came out of nowhere.

[sarahtasher]

Nowhere in this thread was feminism bashed nor was white genocide or whatever people that mentioned. Your rant came out of nowhere.

Post 5 and 10 ?