Korea expresses dismay at Japan's denial of wartime sex slavery

The South Korean government on Monday criticized a high-profile Japanese official's denial of the country's forced wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, calling on Tokyo to take "sincere measures" for the victims.

According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese military brothels during World War II as the Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony between 1910 and 1945. Those sex slaves were euphemistically called "comfort women."

"It is deeply disappointing that key figures of the Japanese government made remarks to deny the forced enslavement of Korean women," a foreign ministry official said.

Earlier in the day, Jin Matsubara, chairman of Japan's National Public Safety Commission, told parliament that no direct descriptions have been found of Japan's forced mobilization of sex slaves, suggesting an amendment to the Japanese statement that apologized for its wartime atrocities.

In 1993, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono apologized for the forced sex slavery by issuing a statement, which said the Japanese military was directly or indirectly involved in running "comfort stations," and that it coerced women into providing sexual services.

Jin Matsubara's comments are in line with similar remarks recently made by Japan's leading political figures that dismiss the issue.

Last week, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said there is "no evidence that 'comfort women' were taken captive due to the (Japanese) military's assault and threat." Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara also argued that the women were not coerced and instead chose to work in the front-line brothels.

"It is undeniable historical fact that Korean women were coerced into sex slavery, which was also acknowledged by Tokyo in 1993 via the Kono statement," Seoul's ministry official said. "We urge Tokyo once again to take sincere measures that could be accepted by the victims."

Seoul has pressed Japan to resolve the issue, which has been a long-running grievance between the neighboring countries, by apologizing and giving compensation to the Korean women on a humanitarian level.

But Tokyo has refused to do so, saying the matter was already settled by a 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Seoul's foreign ministry held a meeting involving a task force and advisors on Monday on how to resolve the comfort women issue with Japan.

The meeting came on the eve of the first anniversary of the ruling by South Korea's Constitution Court that it is unconstitutional for the Seoul government to make no specific effort to resolve the issue with Tokyo.

Among diverse options, Seoul officials reportedly thoroughly discussed whether to propose Japan set up a joint arbitration committee to deal with the matter.

"Last year, we made a proposal to Japan to hold a bilateral consultation meeting to discuss the comfort women issue, but Tokyo has not made any response so far," another ministry official said.

"We will make a decision on other possible measures such as suggesting a committee after reviewing diverse opinions and considering diverse aspects of the circumstances," he added. (Yonhap News)