Japan, South Korea Reach Reparations Deal

A hotly contentious issue that has driven rage and anger across the Sea of Japan is closer to being resolved after Japan and South Korea agreed on a settlement.

Japan will pay World War II’s victims of sex slavery—known as “comfort women”— a total of $8.3 million, or 1 billion yen, which will go to the 46 still-living victims. It is unclear if the South Korean government will give all of those funds directly to victims—or takes the funds for themselves, as it did half a century ago.

A hotly contentious issue that has driven rage and anger across the Sea of Japan is closer to being resolved after Japan and South Korea agreed on a settlement.

Japan will pay World War II’s victims of sex slavery—known as “comfort women”— a total of $8.3 million, or 1 billion yen, which will go to the 46 still-living victims. It is unclear if the South Korean government will give all of those funds directly to victims—or takes the funds for themselves, as it did half a century ago.

During World War Two, many women in Korea, Taiwan, China, and other occupied parts of Asia were coerced and they were forced to work in Japanese brothels as de facto sex slaves. Stories of underage girls chained to beds and repeatedly raped by soldiers have come from the war, fueling outrage in pockets of East Asia.

While the Rape of Nanking, considered by some historians one of the most brutal instances of mass torture and war crimes in world history, has been a hot topic in China, South Korea has remained focused on the issue of comfort women. The few women who survived this trauma—only 46 are alive in South Korea—have rallied and they received support for their cause from most Koreans.

Previous Reparations

Despite their demands for stronger apologies and financial compensation, Japan has responded by pointing out that the country has already paid reparations for both the comfort women issue and for other crimes against the Korean people. In 1965, the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea established a $300 million grant to Korea and a $200 million loan, while a $300 million loan was issued to a private trust.

These funds, originally earmarked for “economic cooperation,” were originally sold to the Korean public as a way for individuals who suffered from the war to be compensated.

In fact, the money was used on several infrastructure projects, such as the purchase of raw material, the development of weather forecasting systems, dredging, and road and railway building. Individual victims, particularly the comfort women, saw little compensation.

The South Korean government paid about 300,000 won for victims of slave labor during 1975 and 1977, but no large fund from the government has been established for the comfort women, and there is little political pressure on the Korean government to establish one.

Apologies Instead

Instead, Korea continually asks for more apologies and further compensation from Japan, who has countered that their debt is already paid in full. The recent agreement is a sudden reversal of a long-established position on the Japanese side.

While Japan PM Shinzo Abe hailed the agreement as a significant step for relations between the countries, the BBC reported one former comfort woman victim as dismissing the $8.3 million paid to victims as not enough.

“I wonder whether the talks took place with the victims really in mind. We are not after the money. If the Japanese committed their sins, they should offer direct official government compensation,” said Lee Yong-soo, according to the BBC.

“If I look back, we’ve lived a life deprived of our basic rights as human beings. So I can’t be fully satisfied,” said Yoo Hee-nam according to the BBC, another victim.