Japan to suggest government-backed fund for South Korean ‘consolation ladies

The website says that some in the Japanese government support a plan which would entail Mr Abe sending letters to “comfort women” which will allude to Japanese “responsibility” and referring to an “apology”.

Japan’s foreign minister said on Friday he was arranging a visit to South Korea and hoped for an early resolution to a row over “comfort women”, as those forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels are euphemistically known.

The agency had earlier cited an unnamed government official as saying that a trip was being planned to present new proposals to Seoul after Kishida was instructed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit the neighboring country before the anniversary year ended.

South Korea, which for a time appeared willing to put the issue to rest, has said those steps were not enough. The two leaders agreed then to accelerate negotiations on the comfort women issue, aiming for a resolution as soon as the end of the year.

Abe has also expressed concern over a statue of a girl symbolizing the comfort women that has been placed in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

In addition, Tokyo has maintained that all compensation issues relating to Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled with the 1965 Japan-South Korea basic treaty and an attached agreement, which literally stipulates that compensation “is settled completely and finally”.

On Nov. 2, Abe and South Korean president Park Geun-hye held their first one-on-one summit, agreeing to speed up talks on a final settlement of the comfort women issue.

Recent court rulings in South Korea have apparently removed obstacles to the two countries’ efforts to tackle the comfort women issue.

Right-wingers in Japan, some seen as close to Abe, have tried to play down Japan’s responsibility for the exploitation of the comfort women.

Quoting an anonymous diplomatic source, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Abe wants a December 28 meeting between Kishida and his Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se.

The court’s decision came in response to a complaint filed by a woman who said the treaty blocks her right to seek more compensation because of her late father’s wartime slavery.

“The South Korean government has always changed its attitude after seeing the emotional reactions of its people”, one of the high-ranking Japanese officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.