S. Korea`s provincial assemblies adopt resolutions on former sex slaves

GEOJE, South Korea, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- Two of South Korea's provincial
assemblies adopted resolutions Thursday, urging Japan to resolve the issue of
women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II, officials
said.
The resolutions adopted unanimously by the assemblies of South Gyeongsang
Province and the nearby Geoje City called for Tokyo's official apology to former
sex slaves, as well as compensation.
They also urged Japan to establish a government body to deal with the comfort
women issue and make a correct description of the issue in school textbooks.
Historians say more than 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea and other
neighboring Asian nations, were forced by the Japanese military to serve in
frontline brothels during the war. Tokyo has acknowledged the existence of these
women, euphemistically called "comfort women," but denies any government
involvement, saying the victims were recruited by groups acting independently.
Over the past decades, both South and North Korea, along with the international
community, have repeatedly urged Japan to issue an apology. Korea was under the
colonial rule of Japan from 1910-1945.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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