Five months after Seoul and Tokyo reached a landmark deal on the wartime sex slavery issue,... Korea is launching a preparatory committee to lay the groundwork for a foundation that's part of the deal.
This is the first step toward implementing the agreement, but according to our Connie Kim, Korea still has other tasks to resolve.
A preparatory committee tasked with establishing a foundation for victims of wartime sexual slavery will launch Tuesday.
It's the first step toward implementation of a landmark settlement on wartime sexual slavery reached in December.
Under the agreement, Seoul and Tokyo had agreed to set up the foundation, with the Japanese government promising to contribute one billion yen, or nine-point-one million U.S. dollars.
Seoul's foreign ministry said in a joint statement released with the gender equality ministry on Monday... that the first meeting will take place Tuesday with 11 members.
The committee is expected to discuss the future direction of the foundation, and will prepare to launch the foundation as early as next month.
Foundation of Reconciliation and Healing is currently being considered as the name... in order to reflect the voices of the sexual slavery victims.
Although preparations for the foundation are already underway, Seoul still has a number of unfinished tasks to deal with first.
Japan has been asking to remove the comfort woman statue from its place outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, though Korea says that was never part of the deal.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups in Seoul have been calling for a complete re-negotiation of the deal, saying the government must not ignore the voices of the surviving "comfort women."
"Four of the women have died since the deal was made, and there are now just 42 remaining survivors.
The groups say not all of the women agree with the deal, and many of them are calling for a sincere apology from the Japanese government.
Connie Kim, Arirang News."
