This would be devestating to ROK-Japan relations if South Korea backs out of this deal. It seems the Park administration should have expected to the political opposition to come out against the deal and be willing to take the political flak before signing it:
Lee Yong-soo (second from left), 89, a former victim coerced into sex slavery for the Japanese military, speaks at the press briefing held by a newly launched civic group demanding a nullification of the Korea-Japan deal in central Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Hundreds of progressive civic groups launched an umbrella organization on Thursday to demand Seoul and Tokyo invalidate the landmark deal over Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women.
The umbrella organization, which encompasses 383 civic, religious, lawyers’ and students’ groups as well as 300 individuals, announced its plan to campaign against the deal at home and abroad in a press conference held in central Seoul.
“We gathered here to invalidate the agreement, demand renegotiations with Japan and gather public support,” Kim Geum-ok, a representative for the group, said in the press briefing. “We will be at the forefront of the fight to prevent recurrence of inhumane crimes like sex slavery and win legal compensation and formal apology from Japan.” [Korea Herald]
A man bows toward the statue of independence fighter Lee Bong-chang at Hyochang Park in Seoul’s Yongsan Ward on Jan. 8, 2016, to mark the 84th anniversary of Lee’s patriotic actions against Japanese imperialism. In 1932, Lee threw a grenade toward Japanese Emperor Hirohito in a failed assassination attempt in Tokyo before being captured and hanged the same year. The Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. (Yonhap)
You would think this is something that the Japanese government would try and do on the down low sometime in the future because trying to move this statue now would be political suicide for the ROK government:
Cho June-hyuk, South Korean Foreign Ministry‘s Spokesperson
Amid an ongoing debate about relocating the statue of a young girl that symbolizes the comfort women – women forced to serve as sex slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army – from in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, there are indications that the South Korean government is shifting to a stricter legal stance on the issue.This appears to be motivated by concerns about criticism from the South Korean public, which has been increasing since the governments of South Korea and Japan reached an agreement about the comfort women on Dec. 28, as well as by a string of remarks by Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida that treat the removal of the statue as an established fact.
This is likely to provoke further conflict between the governments of South Korea and Japan.“Let me make this clear: The statue of the young girl was set up by private citizens, and there is nothing that the government can do about it,” South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Cho June-hyuk told domestic reporters and foreign correspondents at the regular press briefing on the afternoon of Jan. 5. [Hankyoreh]
This is pretty predictable that the political opposition in South Korea would twist anyway that it could the comfort women agreement between the ROK and Japan to its political advantage:
The main opposition party on Tuesday called on the Seoul government to renegotiate last month’s agreement with Tokyo to settle Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women and apologize to victims for the “unilateral” deal.
Four senior lawmakers of the Minjoo Party of Korea including its floor leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul made the demands during their hour-long talks with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se at his office in Seoul.
The lawmakers also said that Seoul should not accept Tokyo’s contribution of 1 billion yen ($8.38 million) to form a foundation to support the victims, and that the foundation should be funded with civilian donations.
Under the agreement struck on Dec. 28, Japan expressed its apology and contrition for its colonial-era atrocities, and agreed to provide 1 billion yen for the foundation to be established by the Seoul government.
Criticizing the government’s failure to secure consent from the victims for the deal, the lawmakers demanded that President Park Geun-hye and Minister Yun visit each victim and tender an apology for “unilaterally” reaching the agreement.
In response to the lawmakers’ demands, Yun said that the government does not consider any renegotiation given that the agreement was announced before the international community though it is not a formal treaty. [Korea Herald]
Like I have mentioned before, the Chinese Communist Party has no incentive to want to resolve the comfort women or any other historical issues with Japan because it makes for great domestic propaganda for them when needed. So this poll from the Communist Party mouthpiece should probably be looked at skeptically:
Most Chinese people believe that Beijing should not accept conditions set by South Korea and Japan in possibly resolving the long-running grievance of Chinese victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, a survey by a state-run Chinese media showed Thursday.
The online survey, conducted by the Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, found that 95 percent of 10,686 respondents say the deal between South Korea and Japan on wartime sex slaves “can’t” apply to China.
The remaining 5 percent say the deal “can” apply to possible talks between Japan and China in resolving the issue of Chinese victims who were forcibly mobilized at front-line Japanese military brothels during World War II.
Under the deal with South Korea announced on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized to the Korean victims and Tokyo agreed to provide 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to a fund for the victims. [Korea Times]
A statue of a young girl, symbolizing the victims of Japan’s sexual enslavement, is seen in this photo taken on Dec. 28, 2015. The statue, set up in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, has become an issue in the agreement announced on the day by South Korea and Japan to end their confrontation over “comfort women.” Japan is pressing for it to be relocated elsewhere, and South Korea said it will take into account Japan’s concerns and try to solve the situation in an appropriate manner. (Yonhap)
This should be considered unsurprising that the US back the ROK-Japan comfort women deal, but I have yet to see what China’s official response is yet. It would think it would not be in their interest to reach a deal with Japan because of the domestic propaganda it provides:
Civil society support for the Korea-Japan agreement on resolving the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery will be crucial to the deal’s success, the State Department said Tuesday.
“Everyone will make their own judgments about this agreement. But I do hope, we do hope, as the United States, that others, including here in the U.S., will support this agreement and its full implementation as we do,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said at a regular briefing.
“We believe it’s an important gesture that will promote healing and reconciliation and the support of civil society for this settlement will be crucial to its success in the end,” he said.
On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, reached the agreement that centers on Japan’s admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims. [Yonhap]
