South Korea will confer an order of merit on a former US lawmaker who has long fought for Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, Seoul officials said Tuesday.
This photo, taken on July 7, 2016, shows former US lawmaker Mike Honda speaking during a conference in Washington DC. (Yonhap)
The Cabinet approved a proposal to give the Gwanghwa Medal of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit to Mike Honda who has been at the forefront of efforts to get Tokyo to recognize its past misdeeds and apologize to the victims. Japan colonized Korea from 1910-1945.
In 2007, the third-generation Japanese-American wrote House Resolution 121 and helped pass it through the US House of Representatives. The resolution urged Japan to formally acknowledge, apologize for and accept its historical responsibility for the sexual slavery in a clear and unequivocal manner.
The Democratic Party member served as congressman from 2001 till early this year. (Yonhap)
