Japan Officially Apologizes to South Korea for World War II 'Comfort Women'
LatestAt the end of World War II, an estimated 200,000 South Korean women were forced by the Imperial Japanese Army to work in brothels as “comfort women,” a euphemized term for sexual slavery, for the Japanese military. On Monday, South Korea accepted Japan’s reconciliatory apology and offer to contribute 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to a victims’ fund.
Of the women who were forced into sexual slavery, only 46 remain alive in South Korea.
At a joint press conference, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said that as long as Japan held up its side of the deal, the issue would be considered “irreversibly” resolved. The two countries will also “refrain from criticizing and blaming each other in the international society, including the United Nations,” he continued.
“The issue of ‘comfort women’ was a matter which, with the involvement of the military authorities of the day, severely injured the honor and dignity of many women,” said Japan’s foreign minister Fumio Kishida in the press conference. “In this regard, the government of Japan painfully acknowledges responsibility.”
“Our job was to revitalize the soldiers,” said Kim Bok-dong, who was 14 years old when she was forced to work at a “comfort station,” in an interview with CNN. “On Saturdays, they would start lining up at noon. And it would last until 8 p.m.”