South Korea plans to publish white paper on 'comfort women'

The South Korean government announced on Monday that it will publish a white paper on wartime sexual slavery victims to tell the world the truth about the Japan's military role in creating the "comfort women" system.

South Korea's Ministry of Gender Equality & Family made the announcement on Monday to mark the 21st anniversary of the Kono Statement, Tokyo's apology and acknowledgment of the Japanese military's forcing women in occupied territory, especially China and the Korean Peninsula, to be wartime sex slaves in the 1930s and '40s.

In June, South Korea's Foreign Ministry also expressed deep regret over Japan's review of the Kono Statement, saying the results were misleading and undermined the 1993 apology.

The ministry said the white paper will be a comprehensive report that analyzes and compiles data of the crimes involved in Japan's wartime sexual slavery system and the damage it did to the victims.

"New data, study results, and the interest of the international community led us to plan on publishing this white paper.

The white paper will serve as a basic frame of reference in seeking solutions and more active responses to the issue of Japan's military sexual slavery victims," said Kim Heejung, South Korea's minister of gender equality and family.

She added that they plan to translate it into various languages, including English, Chinese, and Japanese, and distribute it worldwide.

The white paper is scheduled to be published at the end of 2015, the year that marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

The white paper will explore Japan's wartime sexual slavery system by looking at it from the bigger picture of imperial Japan's war and colonization policies. The paper will list changes on official stances of South Korea, Japan and the international community with regard to the issue from the Korean Peninsula's liberation to the present day.

South Korea has demanded the Japanese government acknowledge, apologize and atone for its wartime crimes.

Japan has claimed all issues related to its wartime atrocities, including the forcible recruitment of Korean women as prostitutes, were resolved under the 1965 treaty that normalized diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Among 237 South Korean women who identified themselves as former sex slaves, only 55 are still alive.

(China Daily 08/06/2014 page11)