August 7, 1996

ASIAN WOMEN’S FUND AND GOVERNMENT
REACH AGREEMENT ON COMFORT WOMEN COMPENSATION

On July 17 the Asian Women's Fund, which has been considering the problem of using donations to pay compensation to former so-called comfort women in Asian countries, who were forced to act as sex slaves for soldiers of the former Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, held a meeting with the government on the matter. As a result of the meeting, the two sides agreed (1) that about 700 million yen will be paid from the national treasury over the next 10 years as welfare and medical services and (2) instead of paying the money directly to the former comfort women, the services will be provided through organizations delegated by governmental bodies in the recipient countries. The Asian Women's Fund itself plans to begin paying compensation to former comfort women by August 15, which is the anniversary of the war's end. As this date approaches, a heated discussion is taking place about how to mesh this individual compensation from the private sector with the government's welfare and medical project.

  The Asia Women's Fund held a meeting of its steering committee and board of directors on July 16 to decide on the general outline of the government's welfare and medical project. According to the Mainichi Shimbun on July 17, the project (1) will be implemented over 10 years, (2) will comprise the equivalent of an estimated 700 million yen in funds, which will be directed toward a total of 300 former comfort women in the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan, (3) will be implemented by the central or local governments in these two countries and region or by organizations delegated by these governments, and (4) will consist of assistance for nursing services (such as home helpers), housing environment development, medical expenses, and medical goods. Regarding these funds of 700 million yen, which will be taken by the government from the national treasury, attention has focused on how this payment will be handled in view of the government's constant position that as far as international law is concerned, the problem of compensation between states has already been settled. The Asahi Shimbun reported as follows on July 17 : "The two sides agreed that, instead of direct payments to the former comfort women, the project should be implemented through organizations delegated by governmental bodies in the recipient countries. Regarding the amount of the project and the period, the government accepted the fund's proposal, while the fund compromised with the government by agreeing that direct compensation to individuals should not come from the national coffers."

However, the reason why the two sides agreed on the figure of 700 million yen lacks clarity. The Sankei Shimbun on July 17 reported a committee member who attended the meeting as saying, "The lump sum to be paid by the fund from [private-sector] donations and so on will total about 600 million yen, so it was agreed that the amount to be taken from the national treasury should exceed this sum. It's only natural that we should be accused of making a groundless decision." Further discussion can be expected on this point.

Prior to this, on June 4 the fund's steering committee and board of directors had decided that the fund would pay compensation to the former comfort women of "no less than 2 million yen each" and would attach a letter of apology from Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Regarding the sum, opinions had been divided over whether to pay 2 million yen or 3 million yen. According to the Asahi Shimbun on June 5, the chairman of the fund's board of directors, Bumbei Hara, and others had decided on the figure of 2 million yen "because the amount of donations had reached only about 340 million yen and because the level of compensation should be about the same as the condolence money paid by the Japanese Government to former Japanese soldiers in Taiwan."

On this point, the Asahi Shimbun carried a comment on the same day casting doubt on the method of paying compensation through a private-sector fund: "The fund method was a last resort in making some kind of response to the problem of the comfort women, who the government recognized had been coerced, while upholding the position of the former administration of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama that the compensation problem had been settled and there would be no individual compensation. It will be difficult to fend off criticism that the character of the compensation is hard to understand and the government's responsibility is vague."

 Furthermore, another problem is that it is not at all certain that the payments to the former comfort women will be carried out smoothly. According to the Mainichi Shimbun on June 5, "There are moves among the former comfort women to demand state compensation from the Japanese government and to refuse to accept anything from the fund." The newspaper went on to report that Taiwan respects the response of the nongovernmental Taipei women's rescue foundation, which demands "repentance and state compensation" and looks set to refuse any other compensation. According to the Mainichi, the LILA Pilipina in the Philippines, another nongovernmental organization, also says that "what we want is not compensation but justice."

Meanwhile, regarding Prime Minister Hashimoto's decision to issue a letter of apology, the Yomiuri Shimbun on June 4 reported that at a meeting with Asian Women's Fund Chairman Hara, Prime Minister Hashimoto promised to issue "a letter of heartfelt apology and remorse." However, the Yomiuri went on, "the prime minister promised to issue a letter, but he did not refer to the contents or method of delivery." Some members of the fund's board of directors urge that the word "repentance" should be clearly used, but the government, fearing that if the word "repentance" is used clearly, it might open the way for lawsuits demanding individual compensation from the state, has not changed its position against issuing any letter of repentance and looks ready to keep the specific contents of the letter sealed until the last moment.

The letter of apology is expected to be based on a statement made in August 1993 by Yohei Kono, the chief cabinet secretary in the administration of then Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, who said that "the government takes this opportunity to extend its sincere apology and feelings of remorse to all of the women who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."
In a press conference held after a meeting with South Korean President Kim Young Sam on Cheju Island in South Korea on June 23, Prime Minister Hashimoto similarly stated that "I believe nothing has injured women's honor and dignity more than this comfort women issue. I would like to express heartfelt apology and remorse" (reported in the Mainichi Shimbun and other newspapers on June 24). Regarding this matter, the Asahi Shimbun added a request in an editorial on June 24: "Relations of confidence between Japan and South Korea cannot be built only with words," it said. "The prime minister himself has homework to do concerning what he will write in his letter of apology to the former comfort women."

(Copyright 1996 Foreign Press Center / Japan)

Source : www.mofa.go.jp