Did the so-called agreement announced by the Foreign Minister of Japan Mr. Furnio Kishida and the Foreign Minister of South Korea Mr. Yun Byung Se make real progress in resolving the long-standing Comfort Women (or Sex Slaves) issue?

If you study the so-called “Agreement,” there is only one conclusion that you can come to, and that is:  Not only that it was not a breakthrough agreement, it raised more issues than resolving issues.  It definitely did not reflect the sentiments of the South Korean people, especially the former comfort women and the organizations that have championed their cause for decades.  Its apology lacked sincerity, and it did not acknowledge and assume responsibility for the atrocity that the Japanese government inflicted on innocent women and girls.  It did not mention any follow-on action to educate people about what happened in the past so that these wrongs will not be repeated in the future.  Its purpose seemed to be just the opposite, so that this issue will never be raised again in the future.  It was supposed to be a final and irreversible resolution of the comfort women issue, yet it was not even documented and signed as a written agreement.

The fact that President Park seemed to have changed her mind in the last year on this long-standing, important issue, while going against the sentiments of her people, raises the question on the complicity played by the U.S. government, in particular, what pressure did the U.S. exert on South Korea and what were promised to President Park by the U.S. government?

Finally, besides the comfort women in Korea, there were many other comfort women in other parts of Asia, such as China, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.  What is Japan going to do to right the injustices inflicted on these other women and girls?

For a more detailed assessment of this agreement, see the article “Meaning of 12/28/2015 Japan and South Korea’s Oral Agreement on Comfort Women”:  http://www.dontow.com/2016/03/meaning-of-12282015-japan-and-south-koreas-oral-agreement-on-comfort-women/.