Seoul Welcomes Tokyo’s Announcement to Stand by Sex Slavery Apology
South Korean President Park Geun-hye welcomed Japan’s announcement that it would stand by past historical apologies, her spokesman said Saturday, raising hopes of a turnaround in strained Seoul-Tokyo relations.
“We are glad that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his intention to inherit the Murayama and Kono statements,” Park was quoted as saying by presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook.
“We hope this will be a chance to ease the pain of victims from Japan’s wartime sex slavery, and further bolster Tokyo’s relationship with Seoul as well as other countries in Northeast Asia,” Park added.
Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-1945.
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