Japan Demands Removal of S Korean Memorials to Japanese sex slaves.

Japan Demands Removal of S Korean Memorials to Japanese sex slaves. (SP).

Japanese officials have demanded that South Korea remove memorials in Korea and abroad commemorating the Japanese Imperial Army’s use of Korean sexual slaves during the Second World War, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday, citing South Korean government sources.

The demand was made this week during a monthly meeting between South Korean and Japanese officials. This was the fifth round of talks launched earlier this year in an attempt to resolve outstanding bilateral issues between the two countries, Yonhap explained.

The Japanese side demanded that South Korea remove a statue commemorating Korean sex slaves, which were euphemistically known as ‘comfort women’, in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, as well as monuments in several US cities.

South Korean officials were said to have reacted negatively, saying that the monuments were installed by private groups via donations.

"If Japan resolves the military comfort women issue, it will naturally influence the [monument building] movement by private groups…it is not something that the [South Korean] government could guarantee," a high-ranking South Korean official told Yonhap. "Our position is that Japan should come up with resolutions that can appease the victims," the unnamed official added.

The painful memory of the Korean sex slaves, who were forced to serve in brothels for the Imperial Japanese Army during the war, is one of the most difficult outstanding issues in South Korean-Japanese bilateral relations.

Seoul is said to be pressing Japan to issue an apology and compensation to the 54 remaining living victims of the wartime atrocities (their average age is now 88), IBT explained. Read the full story here.