National News

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Several civic groups jointly adopted a petition Tuesday calling on the Japanese government to enter negotiations with the South Korean government to resolve the issue of former comfort women exploited by the Japanese military.

The move came after South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled last month that it is unconstitutional for the government to make no specific efforts to settle the issue with Tokyo.

"The Japanese government has ignored desperate appeals of the victimized women for 20 years" since one victim came forward as a former comfort woman in 1991, said the petition, adopted at a public gathering at the Diet members building in Tokyo, which drew around 100 people, including several parliamentarians.

"We hope the Japanese government will agree to hold talks with the South Korean government over the issue and get on the path to early settlement," as the victimized women are getting older and time is running out, the petition noted.

The petitioners expect Tokyo to fully compensate for the hardships suffered by former comfort women and offer an apology to them to restore their honor.

The issue of compensation for Korean women forced into wartime sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers was raised during a meeting between South Korean foreign minister Kim Sung Hwan and Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba in New York last week.

Gemba reiterated Tokyo's stance that Seoul's right to claim individual compensations was dissolved with the conclusion of an agreement in 1965 when the two countries normalized relations.