TOKYO: Japan and South Korea said Monday they had "finally and irreversibly" resolved a dispute over wartime sex slaves that has bedeviled relations between the two countries for decades.
In something of a surprise development, the two countries' foreign ministers met in Seoul to finalize a deal that will see Japan put $8.3 million into a South Korean fund to support the 46 surviving so-called "comfort women" and to help them recover their "honor and dignity" and heal their "psychological wounds."
The move will be welcomed in Washington, which has been both concerned and annoyed by the fighting between its two closest allies in Asia. This year marks seven decades since the end of World War II and the end of the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula.
Independent historians have concluded that as many as 200,000 women and girls - from occupied countries such as Korea, China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations - were coerced by the Japanese Imperial Army to work as sex slaves during the war.
"We made a final and irreversible solution at this 70th anniversary milestone," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo after speaking to his South Korean counterpart, President Park Geun-hye, on the phone.
Earlier, in Seoul, his foreign minister had said Abe "expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences."
"I feel we've fulfilled the responsibility of the generation living now," Abe said after his call with Park. "I'd like this to be a trigger for Japan and South Korea to cooperate and open a new era."
In Seoul, Park said it was "especially meaningful" to reach the agreement before the end of 2015, the 50th anniversary of normalized relations between Japan and South Korea.
"The most important thing is for Japan to diligently and promptly implement what has been agreed to restore comfort women victims' honor and dignity and heal their wounded hearts," Park said, according to the Yonhap News Agency, after meeting with Fumio Kishida, Japan's foreign minister.
Seoul promised this would be the end of the dispute - which has been officially "resolved" before - if Japan fulfills its side of the agreement. It comes less than two months after the two leaders held their first summit, and after the resolution of a high-profile court-case, with a Japanese journalist this month acquitted of defaming Park.
South Korea, Japan reach settlement on wartime Korean sex slaves
South Korea, Japan reach settlement on wartime Korean sex slaves
US, South Korea sign nuclear guideline strategy to deter and respond to North Korea
WASHINGTON: The US commitment to deterrence against North Korea is backed by the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear, US President Joe Biden told South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in a meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of a NATO summit.
The two leaders also authorized a guideline on establishing an integrated system of extended deterrence for the Korean peninsula to counter nuclear and military threats from North Korea, Yoon’s office said.
The guideline formalizes the deployment of US nuclear assets on and around the Korean peninsula to deter and respond to potential nuclear attacks by the North, Yoon’s deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing in Washington.
“It means US nuclear weapons are specifically being assigned to missions on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim said.
Earlier Biden and Yoon issued a joint statement announcing the signing of the Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula.
“The Presidents reaffirmed their commitments in the US-ROK Washington Declaration and highlighted that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response,” it said.
DPRK is short for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. ROK refers to South Korea’s formal name, the Republic of Korea.
Cheong Seong-Chang, a security strategy expert at the Sejong Institute and a strong advocate of South Korea’s own nuclear armament, said the new nuclear guideline is a significant progress that fundamentally changes the way the allies will respond to a nuclear threat from North Korea.
“The problem is, the only thing that will give South Korea full confidence is a promise from the US of an immediate nuclear retaliation in the event of nuclear use by the North, but that is simply impossible,” Cheong said.
“That is the inherent limitation of nuclear deterrence,” he said, adding whether the nuclear guideline will survive a change in US administration is also questionable.
Yoon’s office said the guideline itself is classified.
North Korea has openly advanced its nuclear weapons policy by codifying their use in the event of perceived threat against its territory and enshrining the advancement of nuclear weapons capability in the constitution last year.
Earlier this year, it designated South Korea as its “primary foe” and vowed to annihilate its neighbor for colluding with the United States to wage war against it, in a dramatic reversal of peace overtures they made in 2018.
Both Seoul and Washington deny any aggressive intent against Pyongyang but say they are fully prepared to counter any aggression by the North and have stepped up joint military drills in recent months.
Yoon reaffirmed South Korea’s support for Ukraine, pledging to double its contribution to a NATO trust fund from the $12 million it provided in 2024, his office said. The fund enables short-term non-lethal military assistance and long-term capability-building support, NATO says.
It made no mention of any direct military support for Ukraine. Yoon’s office has said it was considering weapons supply for Kyiv, reversing its earlier policy of limiting its assistance to humanitarian in nature.
China scolds EU over statement about South China Sea
BEIJING: China has rebuked the European Union over a statement about the South China Sea, saying the latter ignored historical and objective facts of the testy issue and “blatantly endorses” what it called the Philippines’ violation of its sovereignty.
On Friday, the EU issued a statement to mark the anniversary of arbitration regarding sovereignty in the region which ruled in the Philippines’ favor and which was rejected by China.
The Chinese mission to the European Union said in a statement that it is strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes the statement about the South China Sea Arbitration Award. It has made solemn representations to European Union.
The EU should be clear about facts, be objective and fair, and respect the rights and interests of China side as well as the efforts made by regional countries for peace and stability, China said.
Trump asks for hush money conviction to be tossed out
NEW YORK: Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday asked the judge who presided over his hush money trial to throw out his conviction, citing the recent Supreme Court ruling that a former US president enjoys broad immunity from prosecution.
“The jury’s verdicts must be vacated and the indictment dismissed,” Trump’s attorneys said in a court filing with New York Judge Juan Merchan.
Trump, 78, was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged she had a sexual encounter with the real estate tycoon.
Trump’s lawyers, in asking Merchan for the conviction to be dismissed, cited the landmark Supreme Court ruling from earlier this month that a president enjoys “absolute immunity” for official acts.
Some of the evidence introduced by prosecutors during the hush money trial involved actions taken while Trump was in the White House and testimony from White House aides, they said.
Trump, who is expected to be formally named the Republican Party nominee for president next week, had been scheduled to be sentenced in the case on Thursday, but Merchan postponed sentencing following the Supreme Court ruling.
Merchan said he will rule on the Trump dismissal motion on September 6 and hold sentencing — if still necessary — on September 18.
Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in an earlier court filing that he was not opposed to the sentencing delay, but that he believed the “defendant’s (dismissal) arguments to be without merit.”
Trump, the first former US president convicted of a crime, faces four criminal cases and has been doing everything in his power to delay the trials until after the November election.
He faces charges in Washington and Georgia related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump is also accused in an indictment filed in Florida of endangering national security by holding onto top secret documents after leaving the White House.
US ‘moving forward’ with 500-pound bombs for Israel
WASHINGTON: The United States is “moving forward” with sending 500-pound bombs to Israel after a pause over concerns that 2,000-pound munitions in the same shipment could be used in populated areas, a US official said Thursday.
Washington halted the bomb shipment in early May when it appeared Israel was on the verge of a major ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza that the US government strongly opposed, with Israel eventually launching a more limited incursion instead.
“We’ve been clear that our concern has been on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs, particularly in advance of Israel’s Rafah campaign which they have announced they are concluding,” the US official said on condition of anonymity.
“Because of how these shipments are put together, other munitions may sometimes be co-mingled. That’s what happened here with the 500-pound bombs,” the official said, adding: “Because our concern was not about the 500-pound bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process.”
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused President Joe Biden’s administration of slowing down weapons deliveries to Israel, which has been at war in Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas.
US officials denied the accusations, saying that the single bomb shipment was the only one affected, with the two sides later signaling progress on resolving the rift.
Biden said during a news conference on Thursday that the 2,000-pound bombs would not be sent to Israel.
“I’m not providing the 2,000-pound bombs. They cannot be used in Gaza or any populated area without causing great human tragedy and damage,” the president said.
The United States is Israel’s main military backer, but the White House has voiced frustration over the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, where Israel has conducted more than nine months of operations against Hamas.
The unprecedented October 7 attack by Palestinian militants on southern Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive aimed at eliminating Hamas has killed at least 38,345 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the Gaza health ministry.
China says it will never accept ‘unfounded accusations’ at NATO summit
BEIJING: China will never accept the “unfounded accusations” made against it at the NATO Summit this week, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said to his Dutch counterpart over a phone call, his ministry said.
Wang said China is willing to maintain contact with NATO on “an equal footing” and conduct exchanges on the basis of mutual respect, asking the military alliance not to interfere with its internal affairs.
About relations with the Netherlands, Wang said China is willing to establish close ties with the new Dutch government and carry out all-round dialogue.
He added that China believed the Netherlands will encourage the European Union to look at China objectively and rationally, and play a constructive role in maintaining healthy and stable development of China-EU relations.
