GS(JK) 28: Letter to The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan from the Chairman

 

 

Thank you for your letter of January 2009, concerning the Foreign Affairs Committee's Report on "Global Security: Japan and Korea", which I received via the British Embassy in Seoul.

 

In response to your first query about our statement that "Japan and South Korea regard the 'comfort women' issue as being settled" (paragraph 48), we based this on the impression which we gained from our meetings during our visit to the region in May 2008, during which the 'comfort women' issue was not raised by official Republic of Korea interlocutors, and we gained the sense that the Republic of Korea Government wished to focus on forward-looking issues (see paragraph 50 of our Report). We also based our statement on the "2007 Diplomatic White Paper" of the Republic of Korea Government, which was supplied to us by the Embassy in London, and which contains no reference to the 'comfort women' issue in its section on Republic of Korea-Japan relations.

 

In response to your second query, about our statement that "some South Korean former 'comfort women' continue to protest about their treatment" (paragraph 48), we are of course aware that the women in question are demanding action to resolve their claims, and we intended our statement to cover this.

 

I would like to draw your attention to paragraph 54 of our Report, in which we drew a conclusion, to which the British Government is obliged to respond, that

 

the issue of the Second World War 'comfort women'-Korean and other Asian women obliged to provide sexual services for the Japanese army-remains a painful and emotive issue for the South Korean public and Government, and [...] its importance should be recognised internationally, including by Japan.

 

In its response to our Report, the British Government said that it "recognise[d] and regret[ted] the suffering [the comfort women] have endured" and "appreciate[d] that this remains an important and emotive issue for those involved and hope[d] the Japanese Government can engage on the matter constructively."

 

Please rest assured that I and the other Members of the Committee have deep sympathy for the women who were drafted into military sexual slavery by Japan, on account of the suffering which they endured, and the utmost respect for the efforts of your organisation to secure redress.

 

 

23 February 2009