Tensions flare on anniversary of SKorea-Japan deal

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korean police surrounded dozens of protesters holding a sit-in demonstration in Busan Wednesday, on the first anniversary of an agreement to compensate victims of Japan’s twentieth century sexual slavery.

Officers were being blocked from forcibly removing an unauthorized statue of a young girl that activists managed to erect outside the Japanese consulate in the southeastern city, echoing a similar monument to so-called “comfort women” across from Tokyo’s embassy in Seoul.

Thousands of Korean women were enslaved during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule -- last year’s deal saw Tokyo promise to pay one billion yen ($8.5 million) through a foundation to support now elderly surviving victims, just 39 of whom are registered with the government.

Opposition lawmakers, civic groups and some ex-“comfort women” rejected the agreement as insufficient and lacking legal responsibility.

There have been persistent reports too that Seoul may have been open to Tokyo’s desire to remove the statue outside its mission in the South Korean capital.

Still, the South’s Park Geun-hye administration celebrated the pact as a breakthrough following years of pressure on Japan, including from United States President Barack Obama who described Tokyo’s past abuse of women as “egregious”.

But the deal has been called into further question of late as a result of President Park’s impeachment Dec. 9.

A separate Park policy -- the introduction of state-published history textbooks -- was postponed this week, for example.

South Korea’s protest culture has also been particularly strong as millions of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks to rally against the president.