Honoring Kono statement

Retraction would mean Japan’s diplomatic gaffe

Yohei Kono, the former Japanese chief Cabinet secretary who admitted in a formal statement in 1993 his country’s coerced sexual slavery during World War II, said Monday that his statement was based on a careful study of extensive records and testimonies.

In an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan’s leading newspapers, Kono urged Japan to admit its historical misdeeds and slammed the nation’s rightwing politicians who are seeking to revise his statement.

“If Japan denies the forced sexual slavery, it could result in Japan’s sense of human rights being questioned in the U.S. and Europe as well as in Asia,’’ he said.

We see Kono’s comment on the “comfort women” issue as a rare voice of conscience from Japan’s intellectuals, given that the country’s far-right politicians argued recently that the so-called Kono statement be revised or retracted.

It said: “Comfort stations were operated in response to the request of the military authorities of the day. The then Japanese military was, directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women.

“In many cases, they were recruited against their own will, through coaxing, coercion and so on, and at times, administrative and military personnel directly took part in the recruitment.’’

The Kono statement, based on an extensive study by the Japanese government from December 1991 through August 1993, rightfully points out Japan’s coercion in recruiting the wartime sex slaves and deserves praise for “extending its sincere apologies and remorse to all those who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.’’

In this respect, Japan’s latest move to revise or retract the statement is nothing but a futile attempt to turn back the clock and such an act, as Kono said, will only lead to a loss of Japan’s national credibility.

Japanese far-rightists’ claim that there is no documentary evidence proving that the Japanese military forced Korean women into sexual slavery also contradicts the truth. First of all, such an argument amounts to ignoring the results of the study conducted by the Japanese government itself for 20 months.

And what about vivid testimonies on sexual slavery made by the assailants, including Japanese veterans, as well as the victims? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton even insisted on using the term “sexual slaves,’’ instead of “comfort women,’’ to express her sympathy for the horrible nature of the wartime atrocities perpetrated against them by the Japanese military.

We don’t think, either, that the U.S. House of Representatives and the European Union adopted resolutions condemning Japan without hard evidence.

To be frank, the Kono statement was just a half-baked apology devoid of mention of legal responsibilities and compensation.

It’s up to Japan to retract the Kono statement but it’s obvious that such an act would mean the island country’s total diplomatic failure. We urge Japanese politicians to reflect on its past misdeeds sincerely and take proactive steps to win sympathy from the international community. <The Korea Times>

news@theasian.asia