South Korea not to seek renegotiation on sex slavery deal with Japan

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha bows before a press conference held at the ministry office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

South Korea will not seek to renegotiate a controversial agreement it reached with Japan in December 2015 to settle a dispute over Tokyo’s wartime sexual slavery, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Tuesday.

“We cannot deny the deal was an official agreement reached between the two countries,” Kang told reporters. “We decided not to seek renegotiation of the deal based on the opinions from the victims and considering relations with Japan.”

The announcement came as a follow-up to a recent investigation into the deal. A ministry fact-finding panel concluded the deal was “gravely flawed” and failed to reflect the views and opinions of the victims.

Japan has fiercely protested the results of the investigation, saying the agreement was “irreversible.”

However, the South Korean government thought otherwise. Kang took issue with the 1 billion yen fund provided by Tokyo to women sexually enslaved for its military during the Japanese occupation.

Kang said Seoul will set up its own fund to assist the surviving victims and help them recover their dignity, instead of using the money Japan provided under the deal.

The government will cover the 1 billion yen for the victims and decide at a later point whether to return the money from Japan, she said, adding Seoul will negotiate with Tokyo on what to do with it.

This move is seen as an attempt to heed the voices of the victims, who were invited to Cheong Wa Dae to speak with President Moon Jae-in last week.

The minister unveiled the government’s stance on the issue 13 days after the disclosure of the inspection results, Dec. 27.

The Moon administration looked into the sex slavery deal, which some sex slaves, civic groups representing them and liberal politicians claimed needed to be scrapped as it was made behind closed doors, ignoring the victims’ opinions.

In addition, when the deal was struck, Tokyo did not clearly state the nature of the funds, whether it was for humanitarian assistance or legal reparations.

Civic groups representing the victims have stated that Japan must acknowledge not only its ethical but also legal responsibility for its wartime atrocities.

Hours after Kang’s announcement, Japan said the deal could not be modified at all. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters in Tokyo that Japan would not accept any demands from South Korea to modify the agreement.

Meanwhile, about half of the 1 billion yen in funds has already been provided to the victims.

According to a separate inspection of a foundation set up to hand out the funds disclosed last month, 34 out of 47 victims received money.

Nine refused payment and two payments were concluded impossible because the deceased victims had no surviving family members. For another two, the payment was halted because they were too ill to express their intention of accepting the money.