Peace Monument Row

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Political parties in Korea have harshly criticized the Japanese government for its attempts to remove the Peace Monument honoring victims of Japanese wartime sex slavery near the Japanese consulate in Japan. Here’s more.

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Japan's Foreign Ministry has announced that it has ordered the Japanese ambassador to Korea and the consul general to Busan to return to Japan for the time being. The move comes in protest of the installation of the so-called "comfort woman" Peace Monument in front of the Japanese consulate general in Busan. The measure represents Tokyo's official response to the issue. In his recent appearance on NHK, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that South Korea and Japan already reached a final agreement on the issue of former sex slaves of the Japanese army in 2015 and that the Japanese government had already implemented it. Korean politicians harshly criticized the Japanese government for its latest comments. The ruling Saenuri Party said that Prime Minister Abe is using Korea-Japan relations for political reasons in order to maintain his power. The Democratic Party of Korea, for its part, warned the Japanese government against using civil issues to create a diplomatic conflict, and urged it to promise to never do this again in the future. South Korea's Foreign Ministry reiterated its stance that both sides must faithfully implement the agreement on the former sex slaves of the Japanese army. Observers say that bilateral ties between Korea and Japan will likely deteriorate for the time being due to the ongoing conflict.