Relief, anger, indifference over S Korea-Japan sex slave deal

“The military use of comfort women is a fiction by Korea.”

This is why the words of people who ask why must Japan apologize over and over again, ring empty.

Nationalists in Japan are angry over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s apology. Some South Koreans say President Park Geun-hye settled for far too little money - about $8 million - and that Japan still hasn’t taken legal responsibility for atrocities during its colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

This drama will never end. People will always have something to complain about.

And when you throw in Mrs Abe's badly-timed trip to Yasukuni you can see that this is not going to end well after all.

No deal is 100% perfect. The leaders in Japan and South Korea deserve a lot of credit for resolving this matter. No human being should expect the surviving women to forgive and forget, but PM Abe had the wisdom to realize that sometimes it is better to move on. If PM Abe can apologize for past governmental misdeeds then there is no excuse for other world leaders. The deal may not be perfect, but it is surely historic on a global scale.

Burning Bush

How come woman in other parts of Asia aren't as vocal about this issue?

They are vocal about this issue. Their have been protests all over asia but for some reason. Theres even a Dutch-Australian comfort women.

Jan Ruff O'Herne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Ruff_O%27Herne

They are vocal about this issue.

Not so vocal to the extent that the issue compromises diplomatic relations with Japan.

Adjusted for inflation, $800,000,000 in 1965 was worth $6,020,820,512.82 in 2015. Journalists, when reporting on this issue, should make this distinction.

Burning BushDEC. 30, 2015 - 07:19AM JST How come woman in other parts of Asia aren't as vocal about this issue?

They are - check the news, Taiwain are making claims now too and I'm sure other countries will follow. I'm sure Japan was aware this would happen. It will all work in Japan's favor in the long run though.

Alex80DEC. 30, 2015 - 08:18AM JST They are vocal about this issue. Not so vocal to the extent that the issue compromises diplomatic relations with Japan.

Not yet.

@jansob1

When those right wing nut jobs voice their dissent, where is the outrage from the J government and the public? Silence speaks volume.

That ship sailed. Korea didn't reset the clock, Mrs. Abe did. In record fashion, I might add.

Two can play that game.

Every country that had people killed in Japanese concentration camps ( thousands were killed by the Japanese in POW camps ) could erect a statue outside their Japanese Embassy. I wonder why Japan is apologizing but also wanting to hide their actions. They should be held accountable and feel some shame and teach their children properly about their place in history. I wish they would follow in Germany's footsteps.

When those right wing nut jobs voice their dissent, where is the outrage from the J government and the public? Silence speaks volume.

Have you asked your Japanese friends, wife, gf, and their families issued an apology yet since all 120 million Japanese must apologize?

Not yet.

So do you think Australia, Netherlands, or Philippines basically will break up their diplomatic relations with Japan like S.Korea had done over this issue? Yeah, it does make perfect sense, when for example Philippines are asking for Japanese support against China.

Did I call it or did I call it?

Like I always say, it is never enough for the anti Japan nationalists.

How did I know that some would annoyingly state that the Prime Minister should beg and grovel for forgiveness on his knees, and compare what should have been done to a German politician?

And even if Abe did such a thing, it would STILL not be enough for the anti Japan crowd.

Hating Japan has been a baseless tradition and a mental illness used to galvanize a large population of people, simply for the sake of spiting Japan. Of course these people would never give up that hatred, some people simply have a need to hate for the sake of hating.

That is not to say that what Japan did should be forgotten or minimized. But there comes a point.

President Park Geun-hye has to take full responsibility for the failure to make any attempt to consult directly with these frail old women or involve any NGO purporting to be representative of their interests.

The 'slap in the face' from First Lady Akie only adds insult to injury. This so called 'deal' is turning into political pantomime, orchestrated out of convenience rather than to provide a long term resolution.

And exactly where is Japan 'hiding' what it did in the past?

Again, I called it.

Despite all the apologies and compensation given by Japan towards its victims, the anti Japan crowd throughout the world continue to lie and misrepresent the Japanese government and people.

Japan has 'never' apologized. Japan hasn't 'done enough.' Japan is 'whitewashing' its textbooks and history.

The Netherlands' case is also someway absurd, since at the time the Ducth were occupying Indonesia. I doubt Dutch soldiers, when colonized the country, never raped the local girls.

They should keep the statue where it is. Japan has no right to demand its removal

President Park Geun-hye has to take full responsibility for the failure to make any attempt to consult directly with these frail old women or involve any NGO purporting to be representative of their interests.

As I already said, it's 1965 again. ,The Korean Government grabbed the money, without considering the victims' real interests. But some people likes bashing only the Japanese government. Why can't they be balanced and more honest, when it's so blatant that both the governments are such a failure for their own people's sake?

Masses' IQ think Japan responsible for atrocities. Enlightened understand overempowered corrupt ever responsible shifting blame to masses - just like stupid poor against Obama healthcare

We must look into the Karayuki-san's too. These women also have their shares.

@DaDude

When did I ask that all Japanese apologize? It's closer to 127million, by the way.

When Donald Trump made outrageous remarks about Muslims, women, Mexicans, etc., Obama and other political leaders condemned his speech. That's more akin to what I was saying. When right wingers in Japan say sex slaves were a fabrication by Korea, did Abe condemn what they say?

When right wingers in Japan say sex slaves were a fabrication by Korea, did Abe condemn what they say?

Abe is right wing as well. But the ex-Pm Murayama for example often expressed his criticism over these words. Ex-Pm Hatoyama went to pay his respect in China apologizing for Japanese colonialism, even though many people on this site call him an idiot for some reason (probably for his pro-Chinese politics). Don't pretend Japan is all right wing.

oldman_13DEC. 30, 2015 - 10:21AM JST

Japan has 'never' apologized. Japan hasn't 'done enough.' Japan is 'whitewashing' its textbooks and history

Yes, yes and yes. Yep, you're right on the button there.

Alex80"The Korean Government grabbed the money".

Yes, and some later they will continue to scream about "lack of apology". This is nothing short of plain money extortion and various Japan-bashers from all parts of the world always support it.

Mrs Abe's badly-timed trip to Mr Abe and his right wingers it was perfectly timed, just another perfect example of Japan saying there doing one thing but thinking comepletly the opposite. Hypocrisy is an art form in this country

This is nothing short of plain money extortion

Oh come on, are you serious? It's $8 million US dollars, do you seriously think South Korean government is so broke they'll do anything for $8 million dollars? But it's amusing to read such comments.

Adjusted for inflation, $800,000,000 in 1965 was worth $6,020,820,512.82 in 2015

$6 billion is still peanuts in 2015. Consider that Japan stole from Korea for 35 years, taking so much of its raw materials, shipped tons and tons of Korean food production, used forced slave manpower, etc etc, Japan got off pretty lightly. What Japan stole from Korea for over the 35 year period, is far far more than $6 billion. Also consider what Germany paid to all the European countries that it pillaged - they all add up to hundreds of billions of dollars in today's monetary value. What did Japan pay for its pillage and destruction of Asian countries?

“Insisting that Japan take legal responsibility is the same thing as saying we don’t want to resolve the issue of comfort women,” said Jin Chang Soo, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank

That's totally false reasoning. So why can't Japan take legal responsibility if Japan is really sorry? Well.. because they're not really sorry.

Japan, however, doesn’t consider the 1 billion yen as compensation,

There you have it, it's not compensation. So what is it then? Oh yes, it's not compensation because they're not really apologizing, only making it look they're apologizing. Words for the international audiences, and totally different words when the international attention is shifted away. Is it that hard to say "we're sorry, and this is the compensation we will give you, as a token of apology"? Is it that hard to say one or two sentences? Instead, they're still playing word games yet again.

But the apparent finality of the deal - both sides called the matter “resolved finally and irreversibly,” if faithfully implemented

Yes, the key word here is "faithfully implemented". With that, I have very low confidence that Japan will keep their part of their bargain. Look what happened six months ago when Japan won the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Status for 23 industrial sites after conceding to South Korea’s demand that the registration make clear that some of the locations used forced laborers from the Korean Peninsula. Japan was supposed to raise a memorial for the visitors to see. Yet Japan went back on their words merely after few hours after the agreement was signed. Japanese government insisted that "forced labor" wasn't "forced". And Japan never raised a memorial for the forced laborers at the UNESCO sites. They went back on their words, and they'll do it again, in similar fashion with more doublespeak. Japanese government is an organization that is a master expert at doublespeak. They've perfected the science down to a tee.

If is the all responsibility of the Japanese govt to decide if they want, by their actions, the country to be perceived as a modern progressive an mature country knowing when to do a mea culpa when needed or rather like a country practicing the double language, evading responsibilities and practicing the usage of loophole as a mean to impose their views.

$6 billion is still peanuts in 2015.

Forgot to mention that 70% of the 1965 Treaty money from Japan ($800 million at that time), were loans with interests, and not even grants. And they were repaid by South Korea long ago. So Japan essentially paid only $250 million which is nowhere near the $6 billion value that the poster erroneously have come up with.

I hate to say this, but it's time to move on. This subject was one of those toxic, radioactive subjects were whatever the outcome, no-one will be either satisfied nor happy. Moreover, there's a lot more pressing problems between these two countries that need more attention. It's sad that this happened in history and no money will ever be complete atonement for what happened. However, it's time to turn the page. The victims don't have to forgive or forget, thus.

Yes, yes and yes. Yep, you're right on the button there

Thank you igloobuyer, you exactly proved my point.

Anyone else?

.

Japan should reconsider and rescind their request. Keep the statue. Abe and his wife should visit it for every time they have visited Yasukuni. It must happen.

By a simple action, Japanese government officials, and any Japanese can show separation from its Imperial past.

Keeping the statue is a reminder that Japan has a responsibility that it will never forget. However it also becomes a responsibility for Korea and China to an extent, to acknowledge Japan has changed. Keep it to keep the agreement.

All three leaders should place flowers on the statue together. Discuss the stupidness of war, and how righwing dogma is a threat to each country's security and the economic stability of the region.

Forge a future together. Turn around, and walk away

Does this mean that Japan will stop rewriting history?

So what is really behind this deal? We need to consider how two US proxy states were disciplined at a time when hegemony in the region is being challenged by China.

“Your act of selling out the country is unforgiveable,” and “Retract it!” One wore a placard saying, “The military use of comfort women is a fiction by Korea.”

Ganbare Nippon needs to personally get on their hands and knees and apologize not only to Korea and Koreans, but to their ancestors for spitting on their graves and using their names to further personal and ludicrous agendas. The 'fiction' is the one they have created, and as long as they insist on the stance that it is made up when they were never there and could not know, and when they call the people who were there and DO know paid whores, even this apology and compensation will never be enough, and the issue not settled. What Abe needs to do is take this group and tell them that such nonsense is what's illegal, and shut them down or lock them up -- show that he's serious about what he pledges.

And "Ganbare Nippon" as a name for a rightist group? I hope they know how lame that is to boot.

Yes, and some later they will continue to scream about "lack of apology".

But unlike now, they will not find much support around the world.

As Chinese, what both politicians did, and expecially Abe apology will do. Please dont compare Japan to Germany. This is asian way. Over here, apology is big deal than germany. Please think how it is here.Now South korea and Japan have to deal with own protest and move on. Betray or not, each politician have to deal with it. I hope China, Korea and Taiwan will have some place to coop. Ww2 victims and civillians should now rest, dont torment again and it should be remember how hard thier hardships. Now Asia should band together and move on as they have much potential than the old west. Dear god, please make it happen and become great nations.

"Irreversible" means nothing to South Korea. Perhaps this "irreversible" agreement might last until Park's term as president is over. Then the next government will deem it "not good enough" or "not sincere enough" or "unconstitutional" and the whole game of playing the eternal victim will start all over again - demanding more apologies, more compensation, building statues of "comfort women" all over the world.

Please dont compare Japan to Germany.

It's a valid comparison.

This is asian way. Over here, apology is big deal than germany.

Then why has Germany properly apologized, and Japan hasn't?

I hate to say this, but it's time to move on.

Well.. there's the matter of Taiwanese comfort women who are now demanding Japan. What about Chinese, North Korean, Filipino, and Indonesian comfort women who would also not just stand by? One down South Korea, five more to go for Japan.

Does this mean that Japan will stop rewriting history?

Well now that Japan admitted their wrong doing and apologized in front of the world's video cameras, if they rewrite history to claim the women were volunteer prostitutes, then they will prove themselves that they are lying. Either they are lying about the women as prostitutes, or they are lying about Japan having 'apologized'. Japan has to pick one explanation when they rewrite their history.

Ignorant public who doesn't know history when Japan already had paid a lot of yen of which many SKoreans even agree and remember that current PM Park's father was leader of SK and his administration pocketed the money and paid nothing to those who were to receive it. Can anyone who knows the truth blame "|Both sides compromised in Monday’s surprise deal, so neither got everything it wanted. Nationalists in Japan are angry over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s apology. Some South Koreans say President Park Geun-hye settled for far too little money" those who say she settled for little obviously didn't pay attention in history class.

I know this is a complicated issue but I would really breathe a sigh of relief if you could stop calling Germany an example of dealing with past guilt. No doubt, Willy Brandt was honoured for kneeling at the memorial and should be revered forever. The „stepping stones“ set all over places of Jewish memorial are a great thing as well, and I hope there will be many more to honor murdered homosexuals and communists as well (those minorities massacred by the Nazis often get overlooked).

But I grew up in Germany and I would like to tell you what growing up with eternal guilt is like. At school, in history lessons we moved straight from Napoleon to Kaiser Wilhelm, WW I and the Weimar Republic. For the last two years of school, there was only the Third Reich – Hitler, the Holocaust, and how we had been liberated by the USA, Great Britain, France and Russia. At that time there was almost no one at school who had not lost grandparents or other relatives in the firestorms that the Allied forces brought upon our cities to 'liberate' us.

Imagine the dichotomy of „liberation“ and „grandma had been bombed out twice already and lost her life in the third bombing“. This made two mindsets: One being the meek one, ashamed by history, hiding being German when abroad (I usually passed as Finnish or Estonian during my stays in Britain, I even got rid of any traces of German accent within weeks). The other one lead to aggressive opposition. That's where our current Neonazi-problem stems from.

Please allow the Japanese to be proud of being Japanese. No doubt, Japanese history has to be taught without any whitewashing. No doubt, victims of war have to be compensated. But please do not imprint on the Japanese the massive inferiority complex we Germans have been carrying since the war. It only gives rise to domestic terror.

We Germans are NO examples of nice people who came to terms with their past. Numerous homes of refugees have been torched during the past few months, people who don't look „Aryan“ enough suffer from harrassment and violent attacks, and the young folks responsible for those vile deeds offer all but the same excuse: We're Germans and we're sick of feeling guilty about it.

Extremist rightwing movements are on the rise all over Europe, and I'm worried that it happens in East Asia for the same reasons like over here: That we do not dress our past like a wound but poke into it so that it becomes a festering sore that is never going to heal.

A Realist: And what would be wrong about erecting more statues? Do you think despite the fact that the atomic bombings were horrific events the monuments should be torn down, or no more put up in the name of peace and the memory of those who suffered? If anything, the government's admitting what happened and apologizing is a sign of guilt and acknowledgement. The thing is, the statues, if more go up, need to be put up for that purpose, and not, for example, put up in front of Japanese embassies in order to antagonize as well.

An apology from the Japanese government doesn't mean it is now time to pretend it never happened, my friend.

How come woman in other parts of Asia aren't as vocal about this issue?

They do. Philippine comfort women. WW II 'comfort women' push fight for justice, compensation

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2015/08/14/WW-II-comfort-women-push-fight-for-justice-compensation.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSB_ezMrkDQ

Please allow the Japanese to be proud of being Japanese.

The Japanese have lots to be proud of - not least of which being a pacifist nation for the past 70 years.

But what they don't have to be proud of is a proper reconciling of their atrocities in WWII. If they would deal with that, they could be proud of that as well. This step with the sex slaves is a good one - they should be proud of coming to a solution on this.

When did I ask that all Japanese apologize? It's closer to 127million, by the way.

Oops! 7 million more I left out. The newborn babies should say "I'm sorry" as their first words. At that point you may lose a little bitterness towards the country you for some reason call your home.

In Tokyo, about 180 members of a rightist group, Ganbare Nippon, chanted, “Your act of selling out the country is unforgiveable,” and “Retract it!” One wore a placard saying, “The military use of comfort women is a fiction by Korea.”

Stupid Japanese right winger. These are the people that give Japan bad name. I support Abe action. Abe action will make Japan image more positive.

smithinjapan DEC. 30, 2015 - 02:19PM JST What Abe needs to do is take this group and tell them that such nonsense is what's illegal, and shut them down or lock them up -- show that he's serious about what he pledges.

I think he should talk to his wife first.

Hi RonriiUrufu, well written and presented ....and may I say that took courage

If JT will allow me to balance opinion

SPIEGEL ONLINE international....Moderate Left-ish

Fear, Anger and Hatred: The Rise of Germany's New Right....

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/refugee-crisis-drives-rise-of-new-right-wing-in-germany-a-1067384.html

@sfjp330DEC. 30, 2015 - 04:41PM JST

What law do you propose they broke?

Ironically RonriiUrufu you may have proved at least from a individual prospective the people of Germany have come to terms with the past.

We want to see the prime minister kneel down before this girl’s statue and apologize like West German Chancellor Willy Brandt did at the memorial

Mmmm, this is a big part of the problem. The Japanese Prime Minister has issued a very specific apology (to add to the others) as well as a considerable sum of money. My feeling is that the majority of South Koreans will accept it for what it is, and so they should. The right wing or more extreme folk will demand more because they don't want the issue resolved as it allows them to continually slip the boot into Japan. This is also a political football South Korean politicians have been guilty of kicking around for right wing votes in Korea for years which has exacerbated the problem. Hopefully this silences them also.

For those who always like to compare Japan to Germany, this might interest you. RonriiUrufu. Hope you don't take this too offensive.

War Guilt - Japan vs Germany (A comment posted in The Diplomat) Andrzej Kozlowski University of Warsaw http://www.mimuw.edu.pl/~akoz/History/JapanandGermany.pdf

Good catch. There are also a number of other very interesting articles on that site exposing views not commonly raised in the West.

DieRealityCheckDEC. 30, 2015 - 05:54PM JST For those who always like to compare Japan to Germany, this might interest you. RonriiUrufu. Hope you don't take this too offensive. War Guilt - Japan vs Germany (A comment posted in The Diplomat) Andrzej Kozlowski University of Warsaw http://www.mimuw.edu.pl/~akoz/History/JapanandGermany.pdf

The writer of this comment seems unfamiliar with what he's writing about I'm suspicious that this person is speaking on behalf of the far right in Japan: Japan didn't have a 'racist ideology'!? Come one, everyone who knows Japan both during the war and even now know 'nihonjinron' which characterizes Japan and the Japanese as the superior Asian (or indeed 'human') race. This is one of the reasons the Japanese and Nazi Germany found common ground and were allies during the war - they felt they were both superior races who had been treated wrongly by the world.

Japan did not have a system of racial extermination, of course. This is the only real difference between the two. They did systematically murder, rape and torture millions of people like the Nazi's did however across the Asian continent for a longer period than Germany did across Europe.

Other comments are just a joke: "In fact, the Japan’s official ideology during the War put a stress on racial equality, the liberation of Asia from European colonialism and the brotherhood of Asian peoples"

Who is this guy trying to kid? This is exactly what the Japanese extreme right claim (read 'uyoku'). This was the image the fanatical leadership in Japan wanted their people to think to get them to go to war in the first place. Everyone knows now that the reason for Japan to start a war and invade all of Asia was to gain land and power because Japanese leaders felt they deserved to be a colonial power like the UK etc. And of course, they desperately needed man-power and oil!

I could go on but you get the idea.

With questionable timing for each Yasukuni visit by the PM & his wife, along with the questionably vague wording by Japanese dignitaries, I fear we're back to square one. As long as Japan keeps lurching further to the right, this will never be resolved. This among many other political issues.

Colonialism is always based on a sense of superiority, if it was British, French or Japanese. But it's absolutely true that the OFFICIAL Japanese propaganda wasn't based on race superiority but on the excuse to free Asia from the European colonialism. This is a huge difference between Nazi Germany and Emperial Japan. Your average Japanese people was brainwashed in believing they were fighting against the White aggressors to free Asia, while the German were brainwashed in believing they were Arians and one whole "race", the Jewes, had to be erased from the Earth. So you wonder how it was possible millions of German people could believe it was necessary killing all the Jewes. The official propaganda was completely different in the two countries. Japanese colonialism was like French, British, etc. colonialism. The Nazi doctrine can't be applied to Japan case. Also in European history books you learn Germany case was peculiar. Germany created the racial laws, later applied also in Italy.

And the insanity continues to grow.

Now 'civic leaders' in South Korea are continuing to voice their anger at this agreement and advocating putting up even more comfort women statues overseas.

Sadly, the comfort women are being used as props in these public displays supported by the anti Japan nationalists and their rabid fan base.

This was a clear and straight forward apology and offer to compensate by Japan. But of course no amount of apology will ever be enough.

Any sane and rational person will see through these sick games.

For the anti Japan crowd, it never was and never will be about an apology and compensation (both of which have been given numerous times by Japan). They espouse irrational hatred simply for the fact of hating. To them, promoting hatred of Japan is 'sexy' and a convenient crutch.

@igloobuyer

Japan tried to adopt assimilation policy, not ethnic cleansing. Especially when Koeans who were also Japanese fought together against allies demands Japan to aplogize in such way Germany has done, it sounds very weard, I must say.

They did SYSTEMATICALLY murder, rape and torture millions of people like the Nazi's did

In order not to be deleted by going off topic, I would not argue about this absurd comments.

In this Kozlowski paper, one would realize there were also comfort stations in Germany, and unfortunately it never apologized nor paid any reparations for that.

mea culpa- mea culpa. How long ago was this? For some no amount of apology is enough. I still wait for apology for the Mongol hordes that ravaged Europe. Banging of heads on floor would suffice.

Well.. there's the matter of Taiwanese comfort women who are now demanding Japan. What about Chinese, North Korean, Filipino, and Indonesian comfort women who would also not just stand by? One down South Korea, five more to go for Japan.

I am sure many posters here can enjoy the cases of North Korean Comfort Women. According to one's testimony, evil Japanese soldires raped, killed, made soup stock out of them and forced other victims to have it. I wouldn't be surprized all of you would believe the story 100% without any other evidences

"In Tokyo, about 180 members of a rightist group, Ganbare Nippon, chanted, “Your act of selling out the country is unforgiveable"

What's unforgivable is that chant.

mea culpa- mea culpa. How long ago was this?

From the time where people had honor...but thing aside, tot even 1 generation yet and some of the raped women are still alive.