Monday, Dec. 19, 2011

KYOTO — South Korean President Lee Myung Bak on Sunday urged Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to put priority on resolving the long-standing issue of compensation for women forced into wartime sex slavery, making his first specific comment on the matter at a bilateral summit since taking office in 2008.

In their talks in Kyoto, Noda said the "comfort women" issue has already been "settled," but added that efforts are being made from a "humanitarian standpoint."

Most of Lee's remarks to Noda were about the politically sensitive issue, with around 40 minutes of the 60-minute talks devoted to the topic, the South Korean presidential office said. The talks raise concerns that bilateral ties, which have been friendly since Noda took the helm on Sept. 2, might become shaky as the two countries aim to bolster economic cooperation.

At the outset of their meeting at the Kyoto State Guest House, Lee called on Noda to have "sincere courage to resolve preferentially the comfort women issue, which is an obstacle to bilateral relations."

Noda told reporters after the talks that he conveyed Japan's position to Lee, while emphasizing the importance of preventing such pending issues from hurting bilateral ties.

Their talks come amid growing calls in South Korea to address the issue of compensation for comfort women, a euphemistic term for those forced into sexual servitude by Imperial Japanese troops during the war.

The issue has gained renewed attention since a statue dedicated to the women was erected last Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

During Sunday's summit, Noda voiced regret over the statue and repeated Japan's call to remove it as soon as possible.

Earlier calls to have the statue blocked or removed have thus far been turned down by the South Korean government.

Lee warned that "a second and third statue would be set up" unless Japan takes "sincere" measures on the matter, South Korea's presidential office said.

In August, a South Korean court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the government not to make an effort to resolve the issue of Tokyo refusing to directly compensate the comfort women, prompting Seoul to press for bilateral negotiations on compensation.

Japan, which has repeatedly claimed the issue was officially settled by a bilateral treaty in 1965 that normalized diplomatic ties, has rejected Seoul's call.

Political analysts say Lee's weakening grip on power may also be a factor for raising the issue, as he may feel the need to take a tough stance toward Japan on the emotional topic to avoid further domestic criticism of his government.

During a gathering in Osaka on Saturday, Lee, who was born there in 1941, expressed hope the Japanese government will make a "political decision" and said the issue "can be resolved any time if Japan will show more sincerity" in resolving the issue of wartime sex slavery.

Compensation for the thousands of women is one of the thorny historical issues related to Japan's brutal 1910 to 1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

In 1993, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged in a statement that the women were forcibly recruited into sexual servitude at the request of the Imperial Japanese Army and apologized to the victims.

Offering money as a gesture of atonement, the Asian Women's Fund was set up in 1995 at the initiative of the Japanese government. But many comfort women rejected the cash, and the fund, which disbanded in 2007, was criticized as an attempt by Japan to avoid official responsibility for state redress.

According to a Japanese official, Noda also told Lee there is also "a difficult issue that Japan has been raising," a likely allusion to the territorial dispute over islets known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea. The South Korea-controlled islets are claimed by Japan.

On the economic front, Noda and Lee agreed to resume talks on hammering out a bilateral free-trade deal that has been stalled since 2004, but failed to agree on when to restart the talks.

On regional issues, the leaders reaffirmed cooperation with each other and with the United States in dealing with North Korea's nuclear programs, the official said. The six-nation denuclearization talks involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, the U.S. and Russia have been stalled since December 2008. Lee told Noda that South Korea will continue to cooperate with Japan to settle the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea, the official said.

The latest bilateral summit is part of the "shuttle diplomacy," in which the leaders take turns visiting each other. Lee's last reciprocal visit was in June 2009, when he met with Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Lee previously visited Japan in May to attend a trilateral summit in Tokyo involving China. Noda followed with a trip to Seoul in October.

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