FILE – In this Feb. 3. 2014, file photo, a visitor looks at portraits of late former “comfort women” who were forced to serve for the Japanese troops as a sexual slave during World War II, at the House of Sharing, a nursing home and museum for 10 former sex slaves, in Toechon, South Korea. ‘Comfort women” were present wherever the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and occupied in Asia from the early 1930s through the end of World War II. That aspect of wartime history was kept quiet until the early 1990s, when a South Korean woman came forward, joined by some others, seeking Japanese help and accountability. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
(The Associated Press)
FILE – IN this Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, file photo, students gather near a “comfort-woman” statue during a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea.‘Comfort women” were present wherever the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and occupied in Asia from the early 1930s through the end of World War II. That aspect of wartime history was kept quiet until the early 1990s, when a South Korean woman came forward, joined by some others, seeking Japanese help and accountability. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
(The Associated Press)
FILE – In this Wednesday, April, 29, 2015, file photo, a former comfort woman Kil Un-ock, who was forced to serve for the Japanese troops as a sexual slave during World War II, attends a rally against a visit by Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe to the United States, in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. ‘Comfort women” were present wherever the Japanese Imperial Army invaded and occupied in Asia from the early 1930s through the end of World War II. That aspect of wartime history was kept quiet until the early 1990s, when a South Korean woman came forward, joined by some others, seeking Japanese help and accountability. The letters at a card read ” Oppose the alliance between U. S. and Japan. ” (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
(The Associated Press)
TOKYO – “Comfort women,” used by the Japanese military used for sex, were present wherever the army invaded and occupied Asia countries from the early 1930s through the end of World War II.
That aspect of wartime history was kept quiet until the early 1990s, when a South Korean woman came forward, joined by some others, seeking Japanese help and accountability. Since then, the two countries have been divided over how badly Japan treated comfort women and how it should atone for past behavior.
That hasn’t changed despite a 2015 agreement intended to resolve differences. After South Korean activists installed a “comfort woman” statue in front of the Japanese consulate in the South Korean port city of Busan, Japan announced last week that it would temporarily recall its ambassador to South Korea and suspend economic talks.
