S. Korea, Japan Reach Comfort Women Deal

Japan and South Korea announced Monday the two nations have reached a landmark deal in their longstanding dispute over Korean women who were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Japan extended an apology and plans to compensate now-elderly victims with 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) from a fund administered by the South Korean government. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in Seoul that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered a heartfelt apology. Following Kishida’s meeting with his counterpart, Yun Byung-se, South Korea said it would consider the dispute resolved “finally and irreversibly” as long as Japan fulfills its pledge. As many as 200,000 women were estimated to have been forced into working at Japanese brothels during the war.