Japan–South Korea Comfort Women Agreement

The Japan–South Korea Comfort Women Agreement declared that the issue of the comfort women between Japan and South Korea was to be resolved finally and irreversibly. The agreement was announced by the Foreign Ministers of both countries and confirmed by the Prime Minister of Japan and the President of South Korea by a telephone call on 28 December 2015. In 2019, the agreement had been effectively shelved.[1][2][3][4]

Background

An article of East Asia Forum reported that this agreement was pushed by the Obama administration.[5]

Announcement by Foreign Ministers at the Joint Press Occasion

Foreign Ministers of Japan and South Korea held a joint press conference at the Korea-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 28 December 2015.[1][2][3]

Statement by Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida

The Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) have intensively discussed the issue of comfort women between Japan and the ROK at bilateral meetings including the Director-General consultations. Based on the result of such discussions, I, on behalf of the Government of Japan, state the following:

(1) The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. As Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.

(2) The Government of Japan has been sincerely dealing with this issue. Building on such experience, the Government of Japan will now take measures to heal psychological wounds of all former comfort women through its budget. To be more specific, it has been decided that the Government of the ROK establish a foundation for the purpose of providing support for the former comfort women, that its funds be contributed by the Government of Japan as a one-time contribution through its budget, and that projects for recovering the honor and dignity and healing the psychological wounds of all former comfort women be carried out under the cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Government of the ROK.

(3) While stating the above, the Government of Japan confirms that this issue is resolved finally and irreversibly with this announcement, on the premise that the Government will steadily implement the measures specified in (2) above. In addition, together with the Government of the ROK, the Government of Japan will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other regarding this issue in the international community, including at the United Nations.

— Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

Statement by South Korean Foreign Minister Yun

The Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Government of Japan have intensively discussed the issue of comfort women between the ROK and Japan at bilateral meetings including the Director-General consultations. Based on the result of such discussions, I, on behalf of the Government of the ROK, state the following:

(1) The Government of the ROK values the GOJ's announcement and efforts made by the Government of Japan in the lead-up to the issuance of the announcement and confirms, together with the GOJ, that the issue is resolved finally and irreversibly with this announcement, on the premise that the Government of Japan will steadily implement the measures specified in 1. (2) above. The Government of the ROK will cooperate in the implementation of the Government of Japan's measures.

(2) The Government of the ROK acknowledges the fact that the Government of Japan is concerned about the statue built in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul from the viewpoint of preventing any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity, and will strive to solve this issue in an appropriate manner through taking measures such as consulting with related organizations about possible ways of addressing this issue.

(3) The Government of the ROK, together with the Government of Japan, will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other regarding this issue in the international community, including at the United Nations, on the premise that the Government of Japan will steadily implement the measures it announced.

— Yun Byung-se, Foreign Affairs Minister of South Korea

Summit telephone call

In the evening of the announcement by Foreign Ministers, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and President of South Korea Park Geun-hye held talks by telephone and confirmed the agreement made by Foreign Ministers.[2]

Foundation

A foundation was set up in South Korea under the agreement. Japan provided 1 billion yen to the foundation.[4]

Of the 47 women who were alive when the agreement was reached, 36 wanted to receive cash payments and 34 of them went on to receive about 10 million yen each.[4]

Reactions

Immediately after the announcement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the agreement saying " We believe this agreement will promote healing and help to improve relations between two of the United States’ most important allies. We applaud the leaders of Japan and the Republic of Korea for having the courage and vision to reach this agreement, and we call on the international community to support it."[6]

Criticism

Experts that the agreement was an intervention by the United States to remove elements of conflict between Japan and South Korea to keep North Korea in check. It was criticized by South Korean liberals and feminists as a misogynistic and political agreement by the United States, in which the victims were excluded from the agreement. South Korea's socialist groups accused American imperialism (미국 제국주의) of trampling on the human rights of sexual slavery victims. Amnesty International also criticized the agreement for not reflecting the victim's position.[7][8][9]

Many media in South Korea and South Korean experts also believed the agreement was forced by the United States and criticized the Obama administration.[10][11][12][13] They criticized the Biden administration for the same reason.[13]

In November 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump visited the Blue House in South Korea. At this time, South Korean President Moon Jae-in deliberately made Trump meet with Lee Yong-soo, a victim of Comfort Women and a feminist activist who opposes the 2015 agreement imposed by former Obama administration. Lee hugged Trump, and she often made positive comments about Trump afterwards. This is a manifestation of South Korean liberals and South Korean feminists' dissatisfaction with the American liberal former Obama administration. (As a result, South Korean liberals, unlike American liberals, tend not to recognize Donald Trump as a 'far-right' because he supported South Korea's women's rights.)[14][15]

Demise

Due to low public support, especially in South Korea, the agreement was starting to fall apart by 2017.[16]

According to Japanese media, in 2019, the President Moon Jae-in administration dissolved the foundation, effectively annulling the agreement.[4] However, Moon administration said it had never annulling the agreement.[17]

See also

Japanese official statements

References
  1. "Announcement by Foreign Ministers of Japan and the Republic of Korea at the Joint Press Occasion". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. December 28, 2015. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  2. "Japan-ROK summit telephone call". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. December 28, 2015. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  3. "한·일 외교장관회담 공동기자회견 발표 내용" [Contents of the announcement at a joint press conference at the Korea-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting]. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. December 28, 2015.
  4. "South Korea formally closes Japan-funded 'comfort women' foundation". Japan Times. July 5, 2019.
  5. "The US the big winner in 'comfort women' agreement". East Asia Forum. 7 January 2016.
  6. "Resolution of the Comfort Women Issue". U.S. Department of State. December 28, 2015.
  7. "History haunts Japan–South Korea ties". Lowy Institute. 4 February 2021. Nonetheless, facing a common threat from North Korea and under US pressure, both countries reached an agreement in 2015 to "finally and irreversibly" settle the comfort women issue.
  8. ""COMFORT WOMEN" DEAL MUST NOT DENY SURVIVORS JUSTICE". Amnesty International. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  9. "제국주의가 저지르고 은폐한 '위안부' 문제" [The 'comfort women' issue committed and concealed by [Japanese imperialism and American] imperialism]. Workers' Solidarity. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2023. 한·일 '위안부' 합의는 한·미·일 동맹을 구축하려는 미국 제국주의가 관장해 나온 것이다. [The Japan-South Korea Comfort Women Agreement was led by American imperialist forces with the aim of building a United States-Japan-South Korean military alliance.]
  10. ""미국이 개입해 박근혜 정부 압박… 한일 위안부 합의 졸속 타결"". 한국일보. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  11. "위안부 굴욕 협상의 배후에 미국이 있다". 프레시안. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  12. "한일 위안부 협상, 막후엔 미국이 있다". OhmyNews. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  13. "[주진우 라이브] "미국은 위안부 문제에 관심 없어…한-일 협력으로 중국에 대응할 생각뿐"" ["The United States is not interested in the issue of comfort women. ... They only want to check China with South Korea-Japan cooperation."]. KBS NEWS. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  14. "트럼프 국빈방문 뒷이야기…문 대통령에게 명함 전해달라 한 이용수 할머니" [Behind the scenes of Trump's state visit ... Elderly lady Lee Yong-soo asked President Moon to deliver her business card]. 경향신문. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  15. "트럼프와 포옹한 이용수 할머니, 일본에 일침 "참견 마라"" [Elderly lady Lee Yong-soo hugged Trump. ... She spoke strongly to the Japan's [right-wing Japanese nationalist government] "Don't interfere"]. 중앙일보. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  16. Panda, Ankit. n.d. “The ‘Final and Irreversible’ 2015 Japan-South Korea Comfort Women Deal Unravels.” Accessed April 23, 2021. https://thediplomat.com/2017/01/the-final-and-irreversible-2015-japan-south-korea-comfort-women-deal-unravels/.
  17. "文대통령 "위안부 판결 솔직히 곤혹… 한일 관계, 미래지향적이야"". 서울경제. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
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