The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan on Monday
reached a deal meant to resolve a decades-long impasse over Korean women forced
into Japanese military-run brothels during World War II, an important
breakthrough for the Northeast Asian powers.
The deal, which included an apology from Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe and a 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) aid fund from Tokyo for
the elderly former sex slaves, could reverse decades of animosity and mistrust
between the thriving democracies, trade partners and staunch U.S. allies.
"This marks the beginning of a new era of
Japan-South Korea ties," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told
reporters at a news conference. Abe, he said, apologizes "from his
heart" to the women for their pain and for "scars that are difficult
to heal physically and mentally."
The issue of former Korean sex slaves, euphemistically
known as "comfort women," has been the biggest recent source of
friction between Seoul and Tokyo, especially since the hawkish Abe's 2012 inauguration.
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