‘Comfort women’ fund set for shaky start

Seoul will launch a 1 billion yen ($9.5 million) fund on Thursday for the victims of Japan’s sexual servitude during World War II, following months-long debate with Japan and ongoing protests at home.

The organization, called the Foundation for Reconciliation and Healing, has several tasks to carry out, including persuading reluctant victims. Korea and Japan have also yet to agree on the timing of the funds’ transfer.

An 11-member public-private preparation committee has been gearing up for the launch since its formation two months ago. It has been drafting articles of association and arranging office space for a secretariat and other administrative work. Prior preparation work was also carried out by an advisory panel.

The committee’s chief -- Kim Tae-hyeon, professor emeritus in social welfare studies at Sungshin Women’s University -- has been tapped to lead the foundation’s board of directors. The board is scheduled to hold its inaugural meeting and put up a signboard in front of the organization’s office in downtown Seoul.

“The ceremony reflects most victims’ wish for the foundation’s early establishment and our sense of urgency given their aging and illnesses,” a Foreign Ministry official said.

“Though its projects are to be hammered out, the bulk of the money will be spent on consoling the victims and we will try to minimize administrative costs.”

The fund is part of a settlement between Seoul and Tokyo under which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered an apology in recognition of the government’s responsibility for wartime sex slavery and pledged 1 billion yen from state coffers for the foundation.

The funds are expected to be provided shortly after the institution begins it work “without a snag,” though no exact time frame has been set, the ministry said. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida also vowed close cooperation for the project during their talks Monday on the margins of a security conference in Laos.

While many victims living on their own have welcomed the plan, particularly those associated with advocate groups have remained fiercely opposed to it, with some having filed a constitutional appeal.

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, the leading challenger, held a news conference Monday criticizing the deal and accusing the Seoul government of “coaxing” the victims into attending the ceremony for what it said was “a free lunch.”

By Shin Hyon-hee(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)