S. Korea Unveils Secret Talks on Comfort Women Accord with Japan

Seoul, Dec. 27 (Jiji Press)--A South Korean task force released on Wednesday a report elaborating on the contents of secret high-level talks between the South Korean and Japanese governments on the bilateral accord to resolve the issue of so-called comfort women. The accord, announced on Dec. 28, 2015, was wrapped up largely in the secret talks, the task force of the Foreign Ministry said, announcing the results of its probes into bilateral negotiations on the deal about the women forced into prostitution for Japanese troops chiefly during World War II. The high-level talks progressed consistently in the form of secret negotiations held separately from official bureau-chief-level meetings, bringing together then South Korean National Intelligence Service chief Lee Byung-kee, who also has work experience as ambassador to Japan and chief of the president's secretary office, and Shotaro Yachi, head of the secretariat of Japan's National Security Council, according to the task force report. The team criticized then South Korean President Park Geun-hye for not releasing contents that could be negative to her country. The issue of comfort women will inevitably be rekindled even if the two governments declare that it has been resolved finally and irreversibly, unless victims in South Korea accept such a declaration, the task force warned. The team made public the existence of undisclosed parts of the accord for the first time, such as responses to a statue of a girl symbolizing the issue set up in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul and other similar memorials established in third countries. Furthermore, the report said that the accord chiefly reflected the governments' views without representing the opinions of the victims, criticizing a lack of communication with former comfort women. In the accord, the two countries agreed to resolve the comfort women issue "finally and irreversibly" and refrain from mutual accusations in the international arena. In the undisclosed parts of the agreement, Japan urged South Korea not to sympathize with supporter groups for the victims if they complained about the accord but persuade them to accept it, the report said. Tokyo also said that it wanted to hear more on detailed plans to transfer the girl's statue in Seoul. Furthermore, Japan described the establishment of similar statues and memorials in third countries as "inappropriate" at a time when peoples hope to coexist in peace and harmony. In addition, Tokyo asked Seoul not to use the term "sex slaves" to refer to comfort women, according to the report. In response, the South Korean government agreed not to support moves to establish related statues and memorials, so Japan-South Korea relations would develop in a healthy way. Seoul also confirmed there would be no official use of the term sex slaves for the issue. The task force further found that Seoul initially sought Tokyo's apology through a cabinet decision, in order to make the apology "irreversible." But in the secret high-level talks, Tokyo demanded the agreement resolve the issue not only "finally" but also "irreversibly." The context then changed to an irreversible solution to the issue, against the South Korean government's intention to make Japan's apology irreversible, the report pointed out. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who launched his administration in May this year, set up the task force to review the negotiation processes and the contents of the accord, claiming that many South Koreans could not accept the agreement emotionally. The report did not include any policy advice to the government. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said that the government will decide what to do in the wake of the report after sufficiently consulting with the surviving former comfort women and their support groups as well as experts. She did not rule out the possibility of scrapping the accord or renegotiating a deal, saying all options will be kept open. In response to the report, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said in a statement that it was "unthinkable" that there was any problem in the negotiation process. If the South Korean government moves to alter the agreement, Japan-South Korea relations will become "unmanageable," he suggested, stressing that such an attempt is "totally unacceptable." The Japanese government "strongly" requests that the South Korean side continue to implement the agreement as the "final and irreversible" solution to the problem, Kono said. END