Thinking about the comfort women issue

All manner of discussion has arisen as a result of the recent special coverage by The Asahi Shimbun with regard to the comfort women issue.
One argument that has been raised by some in relation to the retraction by the Asahi of its articles on testimony provided by Seiji Yoshida claiming to have forcibly taken away comfort women is to the effect that the retraction has shaken the foundation for the statement issued under the name of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono (the Kono statement), which expressed an apology and remorse over the comfort women issue.
For such reasons, the Asahi would like to once again go over the major points by introducing the statements of those who were involved in the compilation of the Kono statement at that time as well as reflecting on how the comfort women issue was perceived in South Korean society.[To the Article]

We have re-examined our coverage of the "comfort women" issue in order to respond to the various questions from our readers about that coverage by The Asahi Shimbun.
We would now like to report on the results of that re-examination to our readers.
(By the team of reporters examining the comfort women issue)
The positions included in the articles are those of the individuals at that point in time. The ages of reporters given are current. Unless there is an explanation, all the articles are from the version published by the Tokyo head office of The Asahi Shimbun.

How did the comfort women issue develop into a political and diplomatic matter? Why has the relationship between Japan and South Korea become so troubled despite the efforts of the two governments to resolve the issue, and why has that situation continued until today?
(By the team of reporters examining the comfort women issue)
The positions included in the articles are those of the individuals at that point in time.

In relation to this coverage, point of views by experts from Japan and the United States on the comfort women issue will be posted.