Japanese envoys withdraw from South Korea

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - Japan’s most senior South Korea-based envoys returned home Monday, fulfilling Tokyo’s protest against the recent erection in Busan of a “comfort women” statue remembering victims of Japanese colonial era sex slavery.

Local reports confirmed Japanese Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine left Seoul shortly after Consul General Yasuhiro Morimoto’s departure from Busan -- marking a new low in bilateral ties since former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited disputed islets in 2012.

Nagamine told reporters ahead of his temporary withdrawal that last month’s installation of the statue in the South’s second city was “very regrettable”.

A similar bronze monument of a young girl outside the Japanese mission in Seoul has also been a focal point of friction despite the two sides’ celebration of a 2015 settlement under which Tokyo agreed to pay a billion yen ($8.5 million) to dozens of now elderly Korean surviving “comfort women”.

Some former “comfort women”, politicians and civic groups argue Japan has still failed to sincerely and legally compensate victims.

Local historians estimate up to 200,000 women from across Asia were forced to work in military brothels in the build-up to and during World War II -- Japanese-occupied Korea bore a significant burden as domestic maids, factory workers and students were among the girls deceived or sold into slavery from the Korean Peninsula.

A 64-year-old Buddhist monk remains in a critical condition after attempting to self-immolate at an anti-government rally in Seoul over the weekend, partly in protest against the deal with Tokyo just over a year ago.

One of Japan’s main gripes is that the agreement is seen as a final resolution to the matter.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged South Korea in an interview broadcast Sunday to honor their agreement -- even if uncertainty remains over whether the statues in question represent an infringement.

A senior lawmaker with the South’s new conservative Righteous Party accused Abe Monday of “narrow-minded behavior”.

“The priority in the agreement is not Japan's payment of 1 billion yen, but its sincere apology and repentance,” Rep. Choung Byoung-gug was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. “The installation of the statute in Busan was not done by the government. If Abe is to take issue with it, he should first address the acts by right-wing groups in Japan.”