Ma pledges to have Japan apologize to Taiwanese comfort women

Seoul has been under growing pressure from key military ally Washington to improve ties with Japan – another major Asian ally of the U.S. – in the face of expansionist China and threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

A statement by both countries” foreign ministers said Mr Abe “expresses anew his most honest apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women’.

The Japanese and South Korean governments will work together to implement a project to redeem the dignity and honour of all former comfort women and heal their mental scars, he said.

“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.

The United States, which has troops stationed in South Korea and Japan, has welcomed the accord after years of reluctance by Seoul and Tokyo to sharing sensitive military information.

Almost 7 out of 10 South Koreans disapprove of relocating a statue of a girl that symbolizes Korean wartime sex slaves in exchange for the recent “comfort women” deal between South Korea and Japan, a local survey showed Wednesday.

At that time, Japan called for the statue to be removed before providing about ¥1 billion to a foundation to be set up by South Korea to support former comfort women, according to the official.

The foundation estimates that at least 2,000 Taiwanese women could have been forced to be comfort women.

Presidential Spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk, said the agreement “was reached in accordance with the firm principle that victims’ honour should be restored”.

The compromise agreement also drew a mixed reaction in Japan, with some far-right activists and newspapers criticizing Abe for offering the apology. He also said that they couldn’t consult them because there were other considerations when it comes to the other end of the negotiations.

Abe had been urging South Korea to give assurances that it will never revive the comfort women issue.

Among 238 women registered with the South Korean government as victims of sexual slavery, 192 have died, leaving 46 registered victims still alive.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye asked the victims and the public to understand the agreement, saying that it was urgent for the victims’ old age and the harsh reality.

South Korean women forced into wartime sexual slavery and hundreds of supporters have held a rally.