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Pacific News Minute: Japan's "Comfort Women" Deal with South Korea Faces Problems

YunHo LEE / Flickr
YunHo LEE / Flickr

Last week, Japan and South Korea announced agreement on the painful issue of the so-called comfort women.  A deal welcomed by the United States, which hopes its two allies can work together on regional security.  But the celebrations may have been premature, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute - a couple of major problems remain.

One is the statue of a young woman in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul - it represents the thousands forced to work as sex slaves during the Second World War.  Japanese officials say it must be relocated before it will pay 8.3-million dollars to help the 46 former comfort women still alive in Korea. South Korean officials say they promised only to try to "resolve the issue in an appropriate manner.” The private group that erected the statue - former comfort women themselves, and according to an opinion poll - 2/3 of the Korean public say the statue should stay right where it is.

The second major problem is that other countries want apologies and compensation, too. Taiwan, for starters, which hopes to start negotiations as soon as this week.  Historians believe as many as 200 thousand women and girls were forced to work in Japanese military brothels, a story that emerged only in 1990 as former comfort women overcame stigma and shame to tell their stories. While the largest number came from Korea, some came from at least ten other countries. One of the principle reasons Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the deal with South Korea, was to put an end to what he regards as endless demands for apologies.  On a Japanese TV show this week, his Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga said Japan does not intend to make similar deals with Taiwan or any other countries.

Over 36 years with National Public Radio, Neal Conan worked as a correspondent based in New York, Washington, and London; covered wars in the Middle East and Northern Ireland; Olympic Games in Lake Placid and Sarajevo; and a presidential impeachment. He served, at various times, as editor, producer, and executive producer of All Things Considered and may be best known as the long-time host of Talk of the Nation. Now a macadamia nut farmer on Hawaiʻi Island, his "Pacific News Minute" can be heard on HPR Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
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