Abe's political need behind deal with ROK

Besides, the Abe administration needed to settle the "comfort women" issue with the ROK to enhance its chances of winning the upper house election in July. His ruling Liberal Democratic Party may greatly benefit from the deal on a sensitive historical issue by gaining public support and neutralizing the opposition parties' accusation that Abe is not competent enough to pursue better relations with Japan's neighbors.

However, the rapprochement between Japan and the ROK is neither final nor irreversible, because some embedded uncertainties could keep haunting East Asia. Many in the ROK, especially the surviving "comfort women" such as the 88-year-old Lee Yong-soo have rejected the deal. Lee said she would ignore the agreement and urge Japan to provide legal compensation for the victims if Abe truly wants to resolve the issue.

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, known for installing the statue of a girl symbolizing the "comfort women" in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011, has also denounced the deal.

In fact, the "comfort women" issue is not just about the ROK and Japan, because the estimated 200,000 victims were from not only the Korean Peninsula, but also China, Southeast Asian nations, Russia and other countries.

In other words, the issue can be settled only when Japan sincerely reflects upon the atrocities it committed in other countries more than seven decades ago. Japan still has a mountain to climb in this regard, as well as other issues such as the attempts by many Japanese politicians, including Abe, to revise Japan's wartime history.

Since some Japanese right-wing politicians are yet to face up to their country's past, the Japan-ROK deal on the "comfort women" issue cannot be seen as Japan's genuine repentance and remorse. At best, it is an act of Abe's political expediency.

The author is an associate researcher at the Japan Studies Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.