How will Japan and South Korea Resolve the Comfort Women Issue?
History indicates that sexual slavery is a common occurrence in human history. Just before and during the World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army is accused of turning some Korean women and girls into sex slaves, comfort women. The term “comfort women” is translational of the Japanese word “ianfu” which is a polite term for a woman prostitute. Historians suggest that thousands of women could have been involved in the sexual slavery. While some historians quote a figure as low as 20 thousand, some indicate that as many as 400 thousand women could have been forced into the sexual slavery.
Several years after the World War II, the comfort women issue remains unresolved between South Korea and Japan. However, the two countries that enjoy a cordial working relationship have made efforts towards finding an amicable solution to the issue. Two years ago, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his South …