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"Comfort women" issue far from over yet: historians

Xinhua, May 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Fifteen associations of history scholars and educators in Japan issued a joint statement here on Monday, demanding the related parties sincerely face the "comfort women" issue so as to fundamentally solve this problem.

The statement said that the Japan-Korea Agreement, which was reached following a conference held at the end of last December between the two nations'foreign ministers, failed to sufficiently address the hopes and desires of the parties involved, adding that it only represents an intra-governmental accord that appears designed to suppress future debates.

The 15 associations consist of the Japanese Historical Council, the Japanese Society for Historical Studies and the Association of Historical Science believe that the agreement obscures the issue of official involvement in the "comfort women" system as it only vaguely acknowledges the "involvement of the Japanese military authorities."

Under the Dec. 28 agreement, Japan pledged to pay 1 billion yen (about 8.3 million U.S. dollars) from its state funds to launch a new foundation for the so-called comfort women, a euphemism referring to Korean women coerced into sexual servitude for Japanese military brothels before and during WWII.

In return, Seoul agreed on a "final and irreversible "resolution on the wartime sex slavery and the two countries" will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other"in the international community. Regarding this, the statement said the agreement threatens to suppress subsequent historical research and any future solutions to the issue that research can provide.

The statement also pointed out that the agreement makes no reference to historical education, despite the fact that accounts of the "comfort women" issue continue to be removed from Japanese textbooks.

"We believe that the agreement is incapable of truly and fundamentally resolving the 'comfort women' issue," the statement said.

South Korea's foreign ministry declared Monday that a preparatory committee would be launched on Tuesday to establish the World War II sexual slavery victims foundation, which was agreed upon in December last year with Japan.

South Korean sex slavery victims and advocacy groups have continued rally to protest the agreement every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, expressing their reluctance to receive the funds from Japanese coffers and demanding the nullification of the agreement. Enditem