Japan told South Korea on Thursday that there is «no other policy option» but to maintain a deal related to Korean women who were forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels, a Japanese Foreign Ministry source said. The ministry petitioned the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo about Japan
Japan told South Korea on Thursday that there is «no other policy option» but to maintain a deal related to Korean women who were forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels, a Japanese Foreign Ministry source said.
The ministry petitioned the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo about Japan’s concerns over President Moon Jae In’s statement that the December 2015 deal cannot resolve the «comfort women» issue because the negotiations were flawed. Moon was citing a report released Wednesday by a task force his government commissioned.
A Japanese government source said Tokyo’s «position of seeking the steady implementation of the agreement is unchanging,» suggesting it plans not to agree to any further demands Seoul might make in the wake of the report.
The South Korean task force found in its report that the opinions of former comfort women were not «sufficiently reflected» in the negotiation process that led to the agreement under Moon’s impeached predecessor Park Geun Hye.
According to the source, Japan adheres to the bilateral commitment at the time that the deal was meant to «finally and irreversibly» resolve the comfort women issue.
«If we get to the point where the South Korean government demands a rethink of the agreement, we’ll be (in a situation) where countries can’t keep their promises to one another,» a senior Japanese official said.
