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U.S. welcomes agreement between Japan, S. Korea on wartime sex slavery

Xinhua, December 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United States welcomes the announcement by Japan and South Korea that they have reached an agreement regarding the sensitive historical legacy issue of "comfort women," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday.

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 U.S. applauds the leaders of Japan and South Korea for having the "courage and vision" to reach this agreement, Kerry said in the statement, calling on the international community to support it.

"We believe this agreement will promote healing and help to improve relations between two of the United States' most important allies," the top U.S. diplomat said, adding that Tokyo and Seoul have made clear that by implementing this agreement they will "finally and irreversibly" resolve this issue.

The U.S. looks forward to continuing to work with both countries on regional and global issues, including advancing economic ties and security cooperation, Kerry said. Endit