UPDATE - Japan recalls envoys to SKorea as deal unravels

UPDATES THROUGHOUT

By Todd Crowell

TOKYO (AA) - A landmark bilateral agreement concerning Korean women conscripted into Japanese Imperial Army brothels during World War II is unraveling as Tokyo has recalled its ambassador for consultations.

At issue are two life size bronze statues of young girls meant to represent the so-called “comfort women”, one of them sitting outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul and most recently another in front of the consulate in Busan, South Korea’s second city.

The consul general, Yasuhiro Morimoto, was also recalled.

The point of the statues is to shame Japan and also keep alive the memory of the “comfort women”. Similar statues are found in several locations in the United States too.

Local historians estimate up to 200,000 women from across Asia were forced to work in military brothels before and during World War II -- many of them were drafted into sexual servitude from Japanese-occupied Korea.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters this week that South Korea is Japan’s neighbor, so it was “extremely regrettable to resort to such an action.”

It is not the first time that Tokyo has recalled its ambassador to South Korea.

In 2012, it withdrew its envoy after former President Lee Myung-bak personally visited the Dokdo islands in the Sea of Japan -- also known as the East Sea -- claimed by Japan and South Korea.

In that instance, the ambassador returned to his diplomatic post 12 days later.

It is not known how long Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine will stay in Japan before returning this time.

In late 2015, Tokyo and Seoul negotiated an agreement, which was billed as putting the “comfort women” issue to rest permanently.

As part of the agreement, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued an apology on behalf of Japan and contributed 8 billion yen (over $69 million) to underwrite a fund to compensate the living “comfort women”, who now number around 40 in Korea at an average age of 90.

For its part, Seoul agreed not to raise the issue and embarrass Japan at international forums, such as the United Nations. It also made a vague promise to try to remove the offending statue.

The statue sits on private property across from the embassy and is also owned by a private group, so that Seoul cannot simply order its removal. Further, any move to remove the statue would invite major demonstrations.

Japan sees that South Korea did virtually nothing to remove the statue in Seoul, and now it sees that the Koreans have erected another one in front of the Japanese Consulate-General in Busan.

The agreement was not popular in South Korea where many people consider it as an insult to the dignity of the country. (Japanese say that the two statues outside their legations impair Japan’s dignity.)

On Saturday, a 64-year old Buddhist monk set himself on fire in Seoul at a rally to protest the government’s agreement, and later succumbed to his injuries.

His notebook recorded that impeached President Park Guen-hye was a “traitor” for agreeing to the deal.

The leader of the opposition, which might come to power if Park is removed from office, once called the agreement an “unprecedented diplomatic catastrophe”. So it is not likely to defend or honor the agreement.

When the agreement was reached a year ago, it was described as a “final and Irreversible resolution” of the issue.

It would seem that it is far from being irreversible.