ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 South Korea's top diplomat takes "comfort women" issue to UN

• published: 05 Mar 2014
• views: 484

Title: South Korea's top diplomat takes "comfort women" issue to UN We begin this evening with Seoul's diplomatic efforts to address Japan's wartime sexual slavery issue. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se raised the unresolved matter of "comfort women"... at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva... less than hour ago. For more on what he said..., we are joined by our Hwang Sung-hee in the studio. Sung-hee... fill us in. Good evening. Minister Yun Byung-se's speech at the UN Human Rights Council session was largely focused on urging Japan to take responsibility and compensate the victims of its wartime sexual slavery. Speaking on the need to stop sexual violence in armed conflicts around the globe, Minister Yun said there are violations that took place in the past in which the perpetrators have yet to repent. He said "without repenting past wrongdoings, a brighter future will not be secured" and pointed to the so-called comfort women as a living evidence of such case. The South Korean diplomat said the comfort women issue is not just a bilateral issue between Japan and the victimized countries, but a universal human rights issue and an unresolved problem still haunting us today. Minister Yun called on the international community to urge the Japanese government to take responsibility and to educate its current and future generation with regard to the comfort women issue. This is the first time since 2006... that Seoul's top diplomat is attending the UN Human Rights Council session and the first time ever that the comfort women issue is being raised. An estimated 200-thousand women, mostly Korean, were used as sex slaves by the Japanese army in the early 20th century and many are still waiting for a heartfelt apology from Tokyo. Korea and Japan relations are certainly at their lowest ebb in years. How toxic are they ties at the moment? It's been a year since President Park Geun-hye took office, but she has yet to sit down for summit talks with her Japanese counterpart. President Park has been critical of Prime Minister Abe for his nationalistic stance and his tendency to glorify Japan's World War II history, rather than taking responsibility for the country's wartime crimes. Her latest warning came last Saturday on the anniversary of the 1919 uprising in Korea against Japanese colonial rule, where she said a leader who fails to acknowledge mistakes cannot open a new future. Her speech also came a day after Japan said it would review a landmark apology it issued in 1993 to the comfort women. The apology -- dubbed the Kono Statement after then-chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono -- acknowledged for the first time that so-called "comfort women" were forced to serve in army brothels. But Tokyo said last week it would set up a panel to review the evidence on which that apology was based, with nationalist politicians in Japan calling the women's accounts a "total lie." Going back to Minister Yun's speech in Geneva... he also touched upon dire human rights conditions in the north. That's right. Minister Yun talked about the UN's investigation into North Korea's human rights abuses, expressing hope that the investigation will lead to practical steps for improving human rights conditions in the reclusive regime. The South Korean diplomat called on all nations to stop the forced repatriation of North Korean refugees who have left their country in search of freedom and to ensure their safety. Minister Yun also talked about war-separated families and wartime abductees, calling it one of the most serious humanitarian tragedy, and urged North Korea to cooperate in solving the issue and begin by holding reunions for such families on a regular basis. Thank you for that report. That was our Hwang Sung-hee, reporting live on Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's address to the UN in Geneva. Title: Seoul proposes Red Cross talks with Pyongyang on family reunions