hankyoreh

Former comfort woman Lee Yong-soo

The people who tried to achieve historical justice for the former comfort women are furious, while those who wanted to cover up the issue are smiling. This is the aftermath of the “final settlement” for the issue of the comfort women - women forced to serve as sex slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army - reached by the governments of South Korea and Japan on Dec. 28. Though this was a humiliating diplomatic move that is comparable with the Korea-Japan basic treaty that restored diplomatic relations with Japan in 1965, the South Korean government knows no shame.

From the time that the comfort women issue was first raised, the key to a solution has been for the Japanese government to acknowledge its legal responsibility. But the South Korean government dispensed with this altogether.

While the government boasts that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged “responsibility” for the first time, the Japanese immediately clarified that this was not “legal responsibility.” There is a world of difference between simple responsibility and legal responsibility.

For Japan to take legal responsibility would mean that it acknowledged that it had committed war crimes in the past and would have to take the necessary measures that this entails. This would include a thorough investigation, prosecution of the guilty parties, a clear apology based on the facts, compensation for the victims, disclosure of related documentation, discussion in textbooks, and memorial projects designed to prevent such crimes from reoccurring.

But nothing of the kind appears in this settlement. All that Japan has to do is pay 1 billion yen (US$8.30 million) to a foundation that the South Korean government will set up for the comfort women. And even this is not reparations, but financial assistance. The South Korean government is basically selling Japan indulgences for its sins.

The declaration that this is a “final and irreversible settlement” to the comfort women issue is even more perplexing. The government is effectively muzzling itself.

The case is never closed on serious historical crimes. Even though it was long ago that Germany joined and implemented an international convention about the Holocaust, it continues to apologize even today and takes additional measures when necessary.

In principle, the perpetrator must keep their head bowed until the victim is satisfied.

The declaration of a “final and irreversible settlement” for the comfort women issue is a carbon copy of the “complete and final resolution” of all claims for damages associated with Japan’s colonization of South Korea that appeared in the 1965 treaty. For many years, that treaty has proven an obstacle to the efforts of Koreans forced to work as conscripted laborers under the Japanese Empire to receive compensation for their work.

Now the Japanese are even promising to keep a close eye on South Korea to see if it keeps its word. This settlement has enabled the perpetrator to talk back to the victim.

The South Korean government’s promise to work for the relocation of the peace statue of a young girl, symbolizing the comfort women, located in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul demonstrates its blind and willful capitulation to the Japanese. In so doing, the government is also overstepping its authority and treading on the rights of citizens.

There are already dozens of such statues in various parts of the world. They have become a symbol of conscience, by which the global community reflects upon the pain of the past. The government’s promise is anti-historical in the sense that it blatantly defies this trend.

Since the settlement was announced, Japanese and American government officials have openly called for more cooperation on security between South Korea, the US, and Japan. The US is not concealing its hopes that the settlement will add momentum to its policy of rebalancing to Asia, which is targeted at China. It is frequently assumed that US influence played a major role in the agreement.

Last year, South Korea was the world’s largest importer of weapons, the majority of which were manufactured in the US. As South Korea is entangled in a security and cooperative relationship led by the US and Japan, it is losing ground on the comfort women and other important historical issues and shouldering greater financial and political burdens.

The South Korean government makes the far-fetched argument that it reached a practical solution with the Abe government, which it describes as strongly conservative. Though there is some truth to this, the losses far outweigh the gains. The government should repeal this agreement and restart the negotiations.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]