Japan insists Korea remove peace statues

By Lee Min-hyung

Officials of Korea and Japan sat down for the fifth round of talks to narrow their differences over the wartime sex slavery issue, but found differences were too deep and fundamental to be narrowed.

On Sunday, a Korean official said that Japan was insisting that the comfort girl statue, widely known as peace statue, set up in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and monuments in the United States be removed.

The Korean side pointed out that the statues were established by non-profit groups and therefore the government was not in a position to do anything.

"If Japan resolves the wartime sex slavery issue, it could influence the (monument building) movement by private groups, although this is not something that the (korean) government can guarantee," a high-ranking official said on condition of anonymity. "Korea's position is that Japan should come up with resolutions that address the victims," he said.

The Korean side stressed that Japan must produce a set of measures to show remorse to the wartime victims.

In response, a Japanese official stated that Tokyo had already taken necessary measures in the past and therefore the issue was resolved.

Despite this, he said, the Korean government continued to put pressure on Japan to take additional measures.

The wartime sexual slavery issue is a constant stumbling block in Seoul-Tokyo relations. Earlier Korea requested Japan take sincere measures for the victims and linked the settlement of the issue to a summit between the leaders of the two countries.

Earlier, Korea requested Japan take sincere measures for the victims and linked the settlement of the issue to a summit between the leaders of the two countries.

There was no summit between the two sides as Japan didn't take any measures.

The Japanese military forced as many as 200,000 Asian women to work as sex slaves during World War II.

Asian countries including Korea and China have called for the island nation to issue an apology for its atrocities.

But Japan has continually denied its wrongdoings.