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Japan reportedly to face comfort women issue beyond Korea: official

ROC Central News Agency

2015/12/30 14:06:09

Tokyo, Dec. 30 (CNA) The Japanese government must have been aware of Taiwan's demands over the 'comfort women' issue, given that Japanese officials told NHK that their government will face the issue directly with countries other than South Korea based on different conditions, according to Taiwan's representative to Japan Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳).

Japan must have been aware of Taiwan's demand of an apology and compensation to the Taiwanese women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army during World War II, known euphemistically as 'comfort women,' given Japanese officials' statements and remarks, Shen said in an interview with CNA late Tuesday.

Shen said that Taiwan's representative office will strive to negotiate with the Japanese government over the issue. Shen just returned to Japan from Taiwan after meeting with Taiwan's Foreign Minister David Lin (林永樂) for talks over the issue.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Lin asked Japan to issue an apology to Taiwanese 'comfort women,' and offer them compensation and strongly requested that Japan negotiate with Taiwan over the issue as soon as possible.

Lin issued the demand a day after Japan and South Korea reached an agreement in Seoul to settle the issue of 'comfort women,' in their first such deal since 1965.

Japan has apologized and will pay 1 billion yen -- the amount South Korea asked for -- to fund victims. Only 46 former 'comfort women' are still alive in South Korea.

Shen said given that officials from the Taipei-based Interchange Association Japan (IAJ) and Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs have told Japan's public broadcaster NHK later Tuesday that the Japanese government will face the issue directly, the Japanese government must have been aware of the stance of Taiwan's foreign ministry on the issue.

The IAJ issued a statement saying that it is not suitable for it to explain the details of its communications with Taiwan over the issue.

The IAJ said that the Japanese government will squarely face the issue with countries other than South Korea according to different conditions.

In related developments, Taiwan's foreign ministry said Tuesday that the government will soon hold a cross-agency task force meeting to tackle comfort women-related issues and based on the conclusions drawn from the meeting, Taiwan's representative office will continue to negotiate with Japan.

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 Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Indonesia.

According to the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, which has been dedicated to helping Taiwanese comfort women, around 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced into prostitution at brothels run by the Japanese military during World War II.

A total of 58 have come forward to ask for compensation and demand a formal apology from Japan, and only four of them are still alive, it said.

But despite the foundation's repeated calls for an apology and compensation for the comfort women in their annual protests in previous years, Japan has never given them a positive response.

(By Yang Ming-chu, Tai Ya-chen, Elaine Hou and Evelyn Kao)
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