Korea to raise 'comfort women' issue at UN General Assembly
Korea's top diplomat plans to implicitly raise the issue of so-called "comfort women" at the U.N. meeting this week, a foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday, in a move that would turn up the heat in the sensitive matter with Japan.
Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan has been finalizing the content and tone of his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Friday and the speech will include a reference to a "breach of women's rights committed during wartime," ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said.
"In his keynote speech, Minister Kim will definitely refer to the importance of a correct understanding of history and a breach of women's rights committed during wartime," Cho said.
Cho said it has not been finalized yet whether the minister will directly mention "Japan" and "comfort women," a euphemistic reference to up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, who were forced to serve as sexual slaves for front-line Japanese soldiers during World War II, in his speech.
However, it would be the first time that South Korea raises the issue at the U.N. General Assembly, although it has been discussed at U.N. committees.
Korea has repeatedly stressed that the issue of Japan's mobilization of Korean women as sex slaves should be resolved urgently as most victims are elderly and may die before they receive compensation or an apology from Japan.
Japan has so far ignored Seoul's demand for official talks on the matter, claiming all issues regarding its colonial rule were settled in a 1965 package compensation deal reached when the two established diplomatic relations.
Korean officials have said the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery goes beyond bilateral relations because it was a breach of women's rights committed during wartime as well as a violation of universal human rights and historic justice.
The tone of Kim's speech has been adjusted after evaluating a speech by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to the U.N. meeting on Wednesday (local time).
Speaking at the U.N. assembly, Noda neither named Korea directly nor mentioned the issue of Dokdo, the South Korean easternmost islets where Japan has also laid its claim.
However, Noda said his nation has "consistently" accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and called for strengthening the rule of law in resolving territorial disputes, in an apparent message taking aim at Korea.
Korea has flatly rejected a Japanese proposal to take the issue of Dokdo to the ICJ, saying that no territorial dispute exists regarding Dokdo and the matter is not one to be dealt with through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement.
The ministry spokesman Cho denounced Noda's remarks.
"The rule of law and the international legal procedures should not be exploited for political purposes," Cho said, when asked about the ministry's stance on Noda's speech.
"Along with the rule of law, I would like to repeat that the correct understanding of history is equally important," Cho said.
Diplomatic tension remains high between South Korea and Japan following the unprecedented Aug. 10 visit to Dokdo by Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who cited Tokyo's unrepentant attitude over its brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as a key reason for the trip.
Meanwhile, Kim and his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba will hold a bilateral meeting late Thursday (local time) in New York to discuss outstanding bilateral issues, Seoul officials said.
"The planned meeting between the foreign ministers is expected to serve as an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of developing bilateral relations in a future-oriented way as well as effective and continuous communication between the diplomatic authorities of the two countries," the Seoul ministry said in a statement. (Yonhap)
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