Japan foreign minister arranging Seoul visit to settle 'comfort women' row
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-southkorea-idUKKBN0U801M20151225
Fri Dec 25, 2015 7:37am GMT
Related: World, Japan
Japan foreign minister arranging Seoul visit to settle 'comfort women' row
TOKYO/SEOUL | By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Jack Kim
Japan's foreign minister will visit Seoul on Monday to meet his South Korean counterpart for talks aimed at an early resolution to a row over comfort women, as those forced to work in Japan's wartime military brothels are euphemistically known.
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The dispute has long plagued ties between the East Asian neighbours, although relations have warmed since Abe met President Park Geun-hye last month. That meeting took place partly under pressure from the United States, which is keen to see its two allies get along.
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Suga reiterated there was no change to Japan's stance that the matter of compensation was settled by a 1965 bilateral treaty.
However, the Nikkei business daily reported that Japan would propose creating a government-backed fund to help the former comfort women as part of a possible agreement. The Nikkei, citing a government source, said one proposal was for a fund of more than 100 million yen ($831,877) that would pay out 10 years' worth of aid at once.
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