Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military's sexual slavery during World War II, sheds tears during a news conference at the Press Center in Seoul on Feb. 16, 2021, calling for the government to bring the "comfort women" issue to the International Court of Justice. Comfort women refer to around 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, who were forcibly taken to front-line military brothels by the Japanese army during the war. (Yonhap)
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met with a victim of Japan's wartime sexual slavery Wednesday, as Seoul seeks to defuse persistent historical tensions with Tokyo amid Washington's calls for tighter trilateral cooperation with its key Asian allies.
The meeting with Lee Yong-soo, Chung's first with a sexual slavery victim since taking office last month, came as the 92-year-old Lee has stepped up calls for the government to bring the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with no diplomatic solution in sight.
Lee was expected to repeat the call during the meeting with Chung.
The meeting also came two days after President Moon Jae-in extended an olive branch to Tokyo, reiterating his commitment to dialogue with Japan "at any time" and stressing that the two countries should not be bound by the past.
The issue of the comfort women, a euphemism for the victims, has gained renewed attention, as a local court ordered Tokyo to make reparations for 12 former sex slaves in January, with a Harvard professor inflaming public sentiment with his paper casting victims as prostitutes.
Lee, one of the 15 registered surviving Korean victims, demanded last month that Seoul refer the wartime humanitarian case to the ICJ to "hold Japan accountable under the international law" and "resolve the issue permanently and live in peace with each other."
The foreign ministry has stricken a cautious tone, saying it would listen to the victims' opinions and carefully consider her demands.
Seoul's efforts to explore a diplomatic resolution have been stalled, as Tokyo has insisted that the comfort women issue has already been settled in a 2015 government-to-government deal, which critics say has failed to sufficiently reflect victims' voices.
Amid the unresolved row over the issue, the US State Department has called the wartime sexual enslavement an "egregious violation of human rights" -- remarks in tune with its key policy effort to promote liberal values like human rights.
The comfort women case, along with the issue of Japan's colonial-era forced labor, remains a nettlesome challenge to Seoul's efforts to mend relations with Tokyo long strained over historical and territorial spats.
South Korea has been seeking to enlist Japan's support in creating diplomatic opportunities to reengage with North Korea through such events as the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled for this year, at a time when the US pushes for stronger trilateral cooperation among the three countries.
On Monday, Lee also met with Gender Equality Minister Chung Young-ai. Lee stressed the need to bring the case to the international court to clarify Tokyo's responsibility for the wartime atrocity. (Yonhap)
