By Jun Ji-hye
Cho Tae-yul, second vice foreign minister, expressed hope Friday to promptly resolve the so-called comfort women issue, a painful result of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
“The year 2015 is very significant as it marks the 70th anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japanese rule as well as the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries,” Cho said.
He made the remark during a visit to the House of Sharing in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, a shelter for Korean survivors of Japan’s sexual enslavement of women. Cho met with five elderly women and promised to resolve the issue at the earliest possible date.
“The two sides are making their utmost efforts to resolve the issue based on a correct view of history.”
Cho also vowed to recover the honor of the victims by mobilizing all possible means to promote the issue as a question of universal human rights, rather than a simple matter between the two countries.
Yoo Hee-nam, 86, one of the victims, expressed the wish that people worldwide would join hands to help them relieve resentment.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se also made a visit to the shelter in January of last year, while First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong visited another shelter in Mapo in September.
Such visits come amid growing calls for the prompt resolution of the situation as the number of survivors has decreased to 53 from 238, according to government records.
Sexual slavery, one of Tokyo’s wartime atrocities, has been a thorny issue in Korea-Japan relations. The two countries have drifted farther apart as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and some rightwing politicians there have attempted to downplay Japan’s responsibility for its atrocities.
Japan recently asked a U.S. textbook publisher to revise its description of the sexual enslavement of some 200,000, mainly Asian, women but the publisher shot down the request.
The few surviving victims have called on Tokyo country to apologize sincerely and compensate them for what was done.
Working-level officials of the two countries have met six times since April to come up with potential solutions, to no avail. Japan keeps claiming that the issue was already addressed through a 1965 bilateral treaty.
The two sides are planning to hold their seventh meeting this month.
When asked about whether Cho visit’s to the shelter was aimed at pressuring Tokyo, foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il told reporters, “Cho just did what is right for a high-level official.”