Japan says UN's recommendation on 'comfort women compensation efforts' is "inappropriate for retroactive application"

"Problems Before the Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women"

The Japanese government stated that the issue of comfort women is not a matter for the committee to address at this time, in response to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recommendation to continue efforts to guarantee the rights of comfort women victims.

Takeshi Iwaya, Japanese Foreign Minister. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 8th, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at a press conference, "Our country (Japan) does not apply the convention retroactively to issues that occurred before the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was concluded," adding, "The basic view is that it is not appropriate to address the comfort women issue in the report on the implementation of this convention."

He continued, "The Japanese government delegation responded to the questions raised by the committee regarding the comfort women issue and explained Japan's thoughts and responses politely and seriously," adding, "Among these were responses based on the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation established during the tenure of Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (with South Korea)."

He further stated, "We will continue to make efforts to clearly explain Japan's views and responses to the comfort women issue to the committee and the international community so that the international community can properly understand."

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, the committee recommended that the Japanese government continue efforts to guarantee the rights of victims, including compensation claims, related to the issue of comfort women during the Japanese colonial period.

The committee was established under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and is composed of lawyers and human rights experts. It proposes improvements or recommendations on issues related to discrimination against women, but its recommendations are not legally binding.

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