Japan Lashes Out as South Korea Reviews Landmark Sex-Slave Deal
- ‘Irreversible’ deal on comfort women signed in December 2015
- Japan and Korea are U.S. allies facing North Korea threats
A statue of a teenage girl symbolising former "comfort women" who served as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II, sits in Seoul.
Photographer: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
Japan reacted angrily after a South Korean government-backed panel said Wednesday that the nations’ two-year old agreement over wartime sex slaves didn’t properly reflect the views of the women coerced into military brothels before and during World War II.
After a five-month review, the nine-member task force found procedural faults in what was hailed as an “irreversible” accord, adding that Japan didn’t voluntarily offer an apology and compensation. President Moon Jae-in’s government will finalize its stance at a later date on the agreement, which was reached under his predecessor.