The
issue has been the key cause for strained ties. South Korea
Only
46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea
The announcement came after Japan 's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his
counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul
Later
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye
to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida.
"Japan and South Korea
Ms
Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed -
given the advanced age of most of the victims.
"Nine
died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the
elderly comfort women will be eased."
It is
estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese
soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China , the Philippines ,
Indonesia and Taiwan
Japan-South Korea
§
Japan
§
The
money also comes with an apology by Japan
§
South Korea says it will consider the matter
resolved "finally and irreversibly" if Japan
§
South Korea will also look into removing a statue
symbolising comfort women, which activists erected outside the Japanese embassy
in Seoul
§
Both
sides have agreed to refrain from criticising each other on this issue in the
international community
After the meeting in Seoul
"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," Mr Kishida told
reporters.
The wording of
the deal does not explicitly
state that the "comfort women" will receive direct compensation, but
states that the fund will provide "support" and bankroll
"projects for recovering the honour and dignity and healing the psychological wounds".
Some former
"comfort women", such as Lee Yong-soo, have taken issue with this.
The
88-year-old told the BBC: "I wonder whether the talks took place with the
victims really in mind. We're not after the money. If the Japanese committed
their sins, they should offer direct official government compensation."
Another former "comfort
woman", 88-year-old Yoo Hee-nam, said: "If I look back, we've lived a
life deprived of our basic rights as human beings. So I can't
be fully satisfied.
"But
we've been waiting all this time for the South Korean government to resolve the
issue legally. As the government worked hard to settle deal before the turn of
the year, I'd like to follow the government's lead."
In Japan
"Japan pays 1 billion yen and our PM apologises
but South Korea
With only days left until the end of
the year, the timing of the talks was highly symbolic and the expectations for
results were high.
Earlier in the
year, the South Korean president called for a resolution to the "comfort
women" dispute
by the year's end, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
However, few
believed that a quick breakthrough could be reached on a thorny issue that has
strained the region for decades and some critics say the talks have been rushed
to preserve the symbolism.
It's unclear
if Japan 's admission of
responsibility was legal or just humanitarian, and Tokyo
The dozens of surviving women have asked for
a formal apology specifically addressed to themselves and direct compensation.
They say past expressions of regret have been only halfway and insincere.
Structure of
the Lead：
WHO- comfort
women
WHEN-
WHAT- agreement
WHY- comfort
women
WHERE- soul
HOW- apologize,
compensation
1. brothels 妓院
2.
statement 聲明
3.
irreversibly
不可逆
4.
remorse
悔恨
5.
explicitly
明確的
6.
dignity
尊嚴
7.
deprived
被剝奪
8.
dispute
爭議
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