By Chung Min-uck
Japan has no interest in following a United Nations recommendation that its politicians stop abusing former sex slaves forced to serve Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted the Tokyo government as saying Wednesday it has no intention to abide by the suggestion by the U.N. Committee Against Torture (CAT), saying that it was “not legally binding” and therefore it was “not obligated to abide by it.”
The U.N. committee last month adopted a recommendation that called for Japan to take all necessary measures to stop its right-wing government officials and politicians from insulting women victimized by the imperial Japanese army.
The committee also urged Tokyo to verify the truth behind insensitive remarks made by its right-wingers who deny the nation’s past enslavement of women from its former colonies.
The move came following Japanese right-wing politicians’ defamatory remarks made recently, including Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s comments that military brothels were “necessary” during the war.
Politicians there are seeking to exploit nationalist sentiment as they brace for an upper house election next month.
Meanwhile, a Civic group in Japan voiced concern that the Japanese government is hiding relevant facts on its mobilization of what it calls “comfort women” in order to avoid responsibility.
“Comfort women” is a euphemistic expression referring to those who were coerced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were forced to serve Japanese soldiers.
“Japan should listen to the international community’s message that Japanese right-wingers stop the defamation of sex slavery victims,” said a Korean foreign ministry official.
Seoul-Tokyo ties have deteriorated recently over controversial remarks and actions by Japanese leaders and lawmakers that deny, or even glorify, their country’s colonial era.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se canceled his planned visit to Japan in April in a diplomatic protest against a visit by Japanese leaders to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo where the remains of many Class-A war criminals are entombed.
“The CAT’s recommendations are not legally binding,” said Doh See-hwan, a research fellow at the state-run Northeast Asian History Foundation. “But it sets the guideline for basic human rights conditions to be provided by a U.N. member nation. It is pitiful that, unlike Germany, Japan does not abide by U.N. recommendations.”
According to the researcher, Germany is making apologies and compensation up to this date even to newly-identified victims from World War II. In contrast, Japan is sticking to its old position that all compensation has been paid to South Korea, which arguably suffered the most under its colonial rule that lasted for 35 years, following the 1965 Seoul-Tokyo treaty that offered compensation and soft loans.