S. Korea calls on Japan not to hurt deal on sex slaves

South Korea reiterated its call on Japan Monday to refrain from making comments or taking actions that could damage the spirit of their rare deal over Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.

Seoul's reaction came as Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier in the day that there is no change in Japan's understanding that a statue symbolizing South Korean victims of Tokyo's sex slavery in front of Japan's Embassy in Seoul will be relocated at a proper manner.

The two sides reached a rare deal last month to resolve the issue of Japan's wartime sex slaves, under which Japan apologized and 1 billion yen (US$8.29 million) in reparations will be funded by the country. South Korea agreed to end the dispute once and for all if Japan fully implements the deal.

Seoul's foreign ministry said that there should be no more utterances from Japan that can spark misunderstanding about the deal, urging Japan to honor the agreement.

"Japan should show a sincere attitude in carrying out the deal in a way to restore the victims' dignity and heal their pain," said a ministry official, asking not to be named.

"The statue was set up by civic groups, so the government does not have any authority to order the relocation of the statue," he added.

In a show of strong protest, the Foreign Ministry called in an official at Japan's embassy in Seoul earlier in the day, according to a diplomatic source.

The Seoul government has been under fire as some of the victims and their supporters have accused it of failing to obtain Japan's acknowledgment of legal responsibility and rashly reaching the deal without consulting them.

Critics also said that the Seoul-Tokyo agreement failed to clarify the fact that the Japanese government and its military took the leading role in forcing women into sexual servitude.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea submitted a resolution to the National Assembly calling for the government to nullify the deal and renegotiate with Japan.

Opposition lawmakers rebuked the government for agreeing on the deal in a "final and irreversible" manner, calling it invalid.

"The Japanese government should sincerely apologize for victims of Tokyo's sex slavery and acknowledge its legal responsibility and compensate them," the resolution read. "We also call for the government to renegotiate with Japan over the issue."

There are only 46 surviving South Korean victims, raising urgency for the issue to be resolved.

South Korea has demanded Japan acknowledge state responsibility for the issue and offer proper compensation, while Tokyo insists the matter was settled under a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral ties.

(Yonhap)