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Regarding the Comfort Women Issue ~ from the Drafting of the Kono Statement to the Asian Women’S Fund ~

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Regarding the Comfort Women Issue ~ from the Drafting of the Kono Statement to the Asian Women’S Fund ~ (Provisional Translation) Details of Exchanges Between Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Regarding the Comfort Women Issue ~ From the Drafting of the Kono Statement to the Asian Women’s Fund ~ June 20, 2014 Study Team on the Details Leading to the Drafting of the Kono Statement etc. Keiichi Tadaki, lawyer (former Prosecutor-General) (Chair) Hiroko Akizuki, Professor, Faculty of International Relations, Asia University Makiko Arima, journalist, former Director of the Asian Women’s Fund Mariko Kawano, Professor, Faculty of Law, Waseda University Ikuhiko Hata, modern historian Secretariat (Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) The Study Team on the Drafting Process of the Kono Statement etc. -- Study Conducted at the Study Meetings -- 1. Background to the Study (1) At the House of Representatives Budget Committee hearing held on February 20, 2014, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobuo Ishihara testified with regards to the Kono Statement that (i) no post factum corroborating investigation was conducted on the result of the hearings of former comfort women that is said to have served as the basis of the Kono Statement; (ii) there is a possibility that in the drafting process of the Kono Statement, the language was compared and coordinated with the Republic of Korea (ROK) side; and (iii) as a result of announcing the Kono Statement, problems of the past between Japan and the ROK were once settled, but have recently been brought up again by the ROK government, and it is extremely regrettable that the good intentions of the Government of Japan at that time are not being recognized. (2) Following the testimony, in response to a question in the Diet, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga answered that the process leading to the drafting of the Kono Statement and understanding what actually occurred at that time should be clarified in an appropriate manner. (3) Based on this background, the team undertook a study regarding the sequence of processes, centering on the exchanges with the ROK during the process leading to the drafting of the Kono Statement and extending to the Asian Women’s Fund, which was a follow-up measure subsequent to the Statement. Accordingly, the Study Team did not undertake inquiries and studies aimed at grasping the historical facts of the comfort women issue itself. 2. Schedule of Meetings Held Friday, April 25, 2014 Preparatory meeting Wednesday, May 14 First meeting Friday, May 30 Second meeting Friday, June 6 Third meeting Tuesday, June 10 Fourth meeting 1 3. The Study Team’s Members In order to ensure complete confidentiality, the members of the Study Team perused relevant documents after they were sworn in as part-time government officials. Keiichi Tadaki, lawyer (former Prosecutor-General) (Chair) Hiroko Akizuki, Professor, Faculty of International Relations, Asia University Makiko Arima, journalist, former Director of the Asian Women’s Fund Mariko Kawano, Professor, Faculty of Law, Waseda University Ikuhiko Hata, modern historian 4. Period Covered by the Study The study covered the period from the early half of the 1990s, when the comfort women issue emerged as an outstanding issue between Japan and the ROK, up to the completion of the Asian Women’s Fund’s projects in the ROK. 5. Study Method (1) The study covered a series of documents concerning the comfort women issue held by the Office of the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary, which took over the duties of the Cabinet Councilors’ Office on External Affairs. At that time, the Cabinet Councilors’ Office on External Affairs was carrying out the government inquiry that led up to the Kono Statement and the administrative duties leading to the announcement of the Kono Statement together with a series of documents on the comfort women issue that mainly includes exchanges between Japan and the ROK and a series of documents on the Asian Women’s Fund as a follow-up measure, which are held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2) On the condition of complete confidentiality, testimonies from hearings of the former comfort women, former military personnel and other relevant parties were also made available to members of the Study Team for their perusal. Additionally, during the process of the study, in order to supplement the documents-based study, the Cabinet Secretariat carried out hearings of government personnel who were in charge of the hearings of the former comfort women at that time. (3) In undertaking the study, based on the abovementioned documents, testimonies and outcomes of hearings that the Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made available to the Study Team for studying, the Team grasped the facts and objectively confirmed the series of processes. 2 6. Study Results by the Study Team Under the instruction of the Study Team, based on relevant documents designated for their study, the administrative authorities of the government compiled a report of facts as attached. The Study Team concluded that the content of the report was valid, insofar as the documents that were made available during the study process. June 20, 2014 Study Team on the Details Leading to the Drafting of the Kono Statement etc. Keiichi Tadaki, lawyer (former Prosecutor-General) (Chair) Hiroko Akizuki, Professor, Faculty of International Relations, Asia University Makiko Arima, journalist, former Director of the Asian Women’s Fund Mariko Kawano, Professor, Faculty of Law, Waseda University Ikuhiko Hata, modern historian 3 Table of Contents I．Details of the Drafting of the Kono Statement 1 Exchanges Between Japan and the ROK up to Prime Minister Miyazawa’s Visit to the ROK (up to January 1992)…………………………………………………………….1 2 Exchanges between Japan and the ROK during the Period between Prime Minister Miyazawa’s Visit to the ROK up to the Announcement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato (the Announcement of the Findings of the Inquiry) (From January 1992 to July 1992)………………………………………………………………………………..…2 3 Exchanges Between Japan and the ROK During the Period Between Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato’s Announcement and Prior to the Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono (July 1992 to August 1993)…………………………………………..4 4 Details of the Hearings of the Former Comfort Women……………………………....9 5 Communication on the Wording of the Kono Statement…………………………….13 II. Details of the activities of the “National Fund for Asian Peace and Women” in the ROK 1 Up to the Establishment of the Fund (1993 to 1994)………………………………...20 2 The Initial Period after the Establishment of the Fund (1995 to 1996)……………...23 3 Implementing Projects for Seven Former Comfort Women (January 1997)………...24 4 The Temporary Suspension of the Fund (February 1997 to January 1998)……...…..26 5 The Fund Places Advertisements in Newspapers (January 1998)…………..…..…...27 6 The Temporary Suspension of Payments of Atonement Money through the Fund (February 1998 to February 1999)………………………………………………..……...27 7 Conversion to Medical and Welfare Projects by the Korean Red Cross (March 1999-July 1999)…………………………….…………………………………….……...28 8 The Suspension of the Fund with Difficulties of Converting the Project (July 1999 to May 2002)……………………………………………………………………...………...28 9 The Results of the Fund’s Activities in the ROK……………………...……………..29 Details of Exchanges Between Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Regarding the Comfort Women Issue -- From the Drafting of the Kono Statement to the Asian Women’s Fund -- June 20, 2014 I. Details of the Drafting of the Kono Statement 1. Exchanges Between Japan and the ROK up to Prime Minister Miyazawa’s Visit to the ROK (up to January 1992) (1) After the first former comfort woman came forward in the ROK on August 14, 1991, three former comfort women from the ROK filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court on December 6 of the same year. Japanese Prime Minister Miyazawa was scheduled to visit the ROK in January 1992, but amid growing interest in the comfort women issue and mounting anti-Japanese criticism in the ROK, diplomatic authorities in Japan and the ROK became concerned that the issue would surface as an outstanding issue during the Prime Minister’s visit to the ROK. On a number of occasions from December 1991, the ROK side conveyed its view that it would be desirable for the Japanese side to take some kind of action in advance so that the comfort women issue would not surface as an outstanding issue when Prime Minister Miyazawa visits the ROK. At the same time, the ROK sought a response to the issue prior to the Prime Minister’s visit and requested that Japan take steps to ensure the issue did not create friction between the two countries, such as by having the Japanese side address the idea of expressing some kind of position perhaps in the form of a Cabinet Secretary statement, and demonstrating a stance of remorse, prior to the Prime Minister’s ROK visit. As of December 1991, the Japanese side was already confidentially considering within their government that, “It would be appropriate if the Prime Minister could effectively accept the involvement of the Japanese military, and make an expression of remorse and regret,” but also that, “There is a possibility that public opinion in the ROK will not be appeased simply with a verbal apology alone.” One option that was being cited was to make a symbolic gesture in the form of erecting a memorial for the comfort women. 1 (2) In December 1991, under the coordination of the Cabinet Councilors’ Office on External Affairs, the Japanese side launched a study involving all potentially relevant ministries and agencies. On January 7, 1992, it was reported that documents had been discovered at the National Institute for Defense Studies indicating the involvement of the military. Subsequently, as a result of a January 11, 1992 report on these documents by the Asahi Shimbun, anti-Japanese criticism inside the ROK heated up.
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