SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Wednesday it will dissolve a foundation funded by Japan to compensate South Korean women who were forced to work in Japan’s World War II military brothels.
The widely expected decision, if carried out, would effectively kill a controversial 2015 agreement to settle a decades-long impasse over the sexual slavery issue and threatens to aggravate a bitter diplomatic feud between the Asian US allies over history. Many in South Korea believed the Seoul government settled for far too less in the sex slave deal and that Japan still hasn’t acknowledged legal responsibility for atrocities during its colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono sharply criticized South Korea’s decision to shut down the foundation, saying that Seoul would violate the “most basic rule to live in the international society” by walking back on the deal. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba summoned South Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Su-hoon to the ministry to lodge a protest.
“The announcement is problematic and unacceptable,” said Kono, urging Seoul to stick with the agreement signed under its previous government.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
