Seoul : South Korean women forced into wartime sexual slavery and hundreds of supporters held a rally against a “humiliating” deal with Japan designed to settle the issue, and vowed to keep fighting for justice.
Japan offered an apology and a USD 8.3 million payment Monday to the 46 surviving South Korean women, under an agreement which both nations described as “final and irreversible.” The plight of so-called “comfort women” forced into World War II army brothels is a hugely emotional issue that has for decades marred ties with Japan, which ruled the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The landmark deal has met with an angry reaction from victims and activists, who took issue with Tokyo’s refusal to accept formal legal responsibility. Japan said the one-billion-yen payment was aimed at “restoring the women’s dignity” but was not official compensation. “The fight is still on,” survivor Lee Yong-Soo said at the protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, attended by one other victim and about 250 protesters.
Gatherings have been held weekly there for years, demanding Japan’s formal apology and compensation. “We will continue to fight to make Japan take formal, legal responsibility and apology so that victims who have already perished will have justice,” 88-year-old Lee added.
The rally was sombre as the lives of nine former sex slaves who died this year were commemorated, but later turned angry with protesters shouting slogans denouncing Japan and its prime minister Shinzo Abe.
