Parliamentary committee chief calls for efforts to resolve sex slavery issue
By KH디지털2Published : April 2, 2015 - 09:00
The chief of South Korea's parliamentary committee on Wednesday called for Tokyo's efforts to resolve the issue of Japan's wartime enslavement of Korean women as she visited the neighbor amid strained bilateral ties over their shared history.
The visit by Rep. Na Kyung-won of the ruling Saenuri Party comes as diplomatic friction between the neighboring countries has grown over the issue of compensation for Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45.
Meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Na urged Japan to resolve the so-called comfort women issue, saying that "it is the problem that should be resolved first in regard to South Korea-Japan relations," according to party officials.
She also said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's address at a joint U.S. Congress session, set for April 29, should contain a "forward-looking" message, highlighting Seoul's demand for the prime minister's apology over the long-standing issue.
Kishida, in return, expressed his hopes that Abe's Congress address could be made in a way that South Korea and the international community would understand and appreciate, the party officials noted.
Na also met with Shinako Tsuchiya, the chief of the lower house's foreign affairs committee, and other politicians to discuss ways to improve bilateral ties.
During her two-day visit, Na is also scheduled to meet with Japanese female lawmakers and Korean residents in the neighboring country.
A key topic of discussion is expected to be a statement Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to release in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Speculation is rife he will not include words of apology for Tokyo's past atrocities.
It is Na's first overseas trip since being elected chairwoman of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and unification in February. She is also a female leader of the South Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union. (Yonhap)
The visit by Rep. Na Kyung-won of the ruling Saenuri Party comes as diplomatic friction between the neighboring countries has grown over the issue of compensation for Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45.
Meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Na urged Japan to resolve the so-called comfort women issue, saying that "it is the problem that should be resolved first in regard to South Korea-Japan relations," according to party officials.
She also said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's address at a joint U.S. Congress session, set for April 29, should contain a "forward-looking" message, highlighting Seoul's demand for the prime minister's apology over the long-standing issue.
Kishida, in return, expressed his hopes that Abe's Congress address could be made in a way that South Korea and the international community would understand and appreciate, the party officials noted.
Na also met with Shinako Tsuchiya, the chief of the lower house's foreign affairs committee, and other politicians to discuss ways to improve bilateral ties.
During her two-day visit, Na is also scheduled to meet with Japanese female lawmakers and Korean residents in the neighboring country.
A key topic of discussion is expected to be a statement Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to release in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Speculation is rife he will not include words of apology for Tokyo's past atrocities.
It is Na's first overseas trip since being elected chairwoman of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and unification in February. She is also a female leader of the South Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union. (Yonhap)