Foreign Minister orders review of 'comfort women' deal with Japan
By Ko Dong-hwan
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha
Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha says the “final and irreversible” agreement between South Korea and Japan over Korean sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II needs a second look.
She said she will set up a task force to investigate how the deal ended up with such controversial terms, according to her interview with the JoongAng Ilbo Wednesday. The agreement, known as “the comfort women accord,” was inked in December 2015 by her predecessor Yun Byung-se and Japan’s Fumio Kishida under the Park Geun-hye administration.
Kang reportedly thought it was “a weird kind” of agreement when it was signed. After becoming the minister, she came across information about the deal and decided it needs to be revisited.
“Besides the terms, I couldn’t help notice that the accord, which must protect the victims’ human rights, was not faithful to such a goal,” Kang said.
She said she will oversee the task force that will comprise ministry officials and outside experts.