Sex slavery foundation on verge of dissolution

By Kim Rahn

A state-run foundation, established to support the former sex slaves following the 2015 Korea-Japan deal over the issue, faces virtual dissolution as almost all its directors have tendered their resignations amid controversy over the deal’s defects.

If the Korean government allows the organization to be disbanded, it may signify its intention not to accept the deal but to modify it, as it was recently found to have been reached without consideration of the victims and also contained secret agreements.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Sunday, five among eight of the directors at the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation offered to resign Dec. 26, a day before the foreign ministry’s fact-finding team announced the results of its inspection of the sex slavery deal.

The remaining three directors are government officials who were dispatched to assist the foundation’s work. The organization initially had 11 directors, and three of them, including its head Kim Tae-hyun, had already quit earlier this year.

According to the foundation’s own rules, it requires at least five directors for decision-making, so the organization is on the verge of collapse.

The foundation was set up last July, about half a year after the Park Geun-hye administration and the Japanese government reached the sex slavery deal, under which the latter provided 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) to support the victims. The fact-finding team said the foundation actively urged the victims to receive their shares of the money, offering 100 million won ($93,000) each to 34 surviving victims and 20 million won each to bereaved families of 58 victims.

The directors’ resignations do not directly mean the foundation is disbanded, because its dissolution requires approval from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the ministry in charge of the sex slavery issue.

But it will be difficult for the foundation to continue its original function following the team’s findings of the many defects in the deal. President Moon Jae-in also confirmed the issue cannot be settled through the deal.

The gender equality ministry said it does not have any plans yet on what to do with the foundation, including whether to change its function or disband it, adding it will make a decision after consulting with other related government bodies including the foreign ministry.