UN chief welcomes agreement between ROK, Japan to settle wartime sex slavery issue

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed the agreement reached between the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea on Japan's wartime sex slavery of Korean women.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida met earlier on Monday in Seoul to settle the long-standing row over the issue on comfort women, a euphemism for Korean women forced to serve in Japan's military brothels during World War II.

The two countries reached an agreement on the issue as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an official apology for the atrocities, expressing his "apology and remorse from the heart for all the people suffering hard-to-cure wounds and many pains" physically and psychologically.

"The Secretary-General hopes that the agreement will contribute to improving the bilateral relationship between the two countries," said a statement released by Ban's spokesperson.

"The Secretary-General has stressed the importance of the countries in Northeast Asia to build the future-oriented relationship, based on the recognition of history," the statement said.

The agreement could be seen as a progress in Seoul-Tokyo relations as the issue had strained the bilateral ties for decades. It marked the first time that the Japanese government has "officially" expressed its responsibility for the war crime.

Japan agreed to offer money from its government coffers to help South Korea set up a foundation supporting the former sex slaves. It also confirmed that the issue was settled finally and irreversibly. Enditem