Ruling party leader calls for new 'comfort women' deal

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae attends the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, Friday. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae urged the Moon Jae-in administration Friday to strike a new deal with Japan over “comfort women.”

This is virtually a call to discard the previous deal reached in December 2015 between the governments of Moon’s predecessor Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was criticized for neglecting opinions from the victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery.

Her remark came a day after President Moon Jae-in described the 2015 deal as “gravely flawed,” prompting strong protests from Tokyo.

Despite Japan’s opposition, Moon hinted at renegotiating the 2015 accord after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ fact-finding team revealed Wednesday that the Park administration fell short of listening to the victims before striking the deal.

“There should be a new agreement that can convince victims,” Choo said during the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly. “A deal cannot be considered a deal if it is aimed at covering up the truth and also muzzling the victims.”

She cited a need to deal with historical issues separately from the “future-oriented” relationship between the two neighbors.

“History and the future should be dealt with separately,” she said. “We should not give up future-oriented relations while trying not to dent the truth and principles regarding history.”

Cheong Wa Dae said Moon may announce follow-up measures to be taken over the 2015 agreement during his New Year’s address.

Japan has been reacting sensitively to Moon’s move. Citing multiple Japanese officials, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Friday that Abe is geared toward delaying his decision on whether to accept Moon’s invitation to attend the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February 2018.

The officials said the timing is not appropriate for Abe to visit Korea, considering the Seoul-Tokyo accord is about to fall apart.

Against this backdrop, Choo asked Japan to “refrain from dealing with the case emotionally,” saying “I urge Japan to act accordingly to match with its honor reputation.”

“Japan should think it over to find solutions that can best serve its national interest,” Choo said.

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae said Moon remains unchanged in his pursuit of a two-track strategy in dealing with Japan -- separating economic and security matters from history-related issues.

The rival parties here have responded differently to the findings of the foreign ministry’s task force aimed at uncovering the hidden details of the 2015 agreement.

The DPK accused the previous government of not openly sharing the sensitive parts of the deal in a bid to avoid public criticism.

It also demanded an apology from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmakers who supported the controversial deal when Park was in office.

The liberal opposition parties -- the People’s Party and the Justice Party -- each asked for the deal to be scrapped and renegotiated.

The LKP criticized the Moon government for “exploiting diplomatic issues for political retaliation” against the previous government. It said the Moon administration’s move to revise the Korea-Japan accord could heighten security risks instead of resolving the row with Japan over “comfort women.”

The Bareun Party, a breakaway group from the LKP, said the Moon administration should “prudently consider” before finalizing its decision on the 2015 deal.