South Korea and Japan could soon discuss the possibility of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sending a letter to Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II, according to Japanese news reports.
According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se asked his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, to take "steps to approach the victims" during their talks in Seoul last week.
The talks produced a landmark agreement under which Japan apologized and acknowledged responsibility for the wartime atrocity and offered reparations of 1 billion yen (US$8.3 million) to the surviving South Korean victims. Seoul promised not to raise the issue again if Japan fulfills its commitments.
Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during the war. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910-45. The victims are euphemistically called "comfort women."
A letter from Abe was one of several options that were reportedly considered for inclusion in the deal. It was not in the actual agreement.
Japanese media have quoted Abe's key aide, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko, as saying that a letter will be considered in the future.
The reports have prompted speculation that it will be on the agenda for the next round of working-level talks between the two countries later this month.
A Foreign Ministry official in Seoul, however, denied that the two sides have plans for another meeting.
The deal has raised controversy in South Korea as some of the victims and their supporters have accused the government of failing to obtain Japan's admission of legal responsibility and rashly reaching the deal without consulting them. (Yonhap)
