In an apparent reversal, Japan plans to provide the ¥1 billion deposit to South Korea required under the landmark "comfort women" pact without waiting for a controversial statue to be removed from near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, according to sources.
The only question is when.
At the time of the Dec. 28 agreement, neither government said that removal of the statue of a girl symbolizing the Korean women forced into Japan's military brothels during the war was a condition for Tokyo's contribution to a fund South Korea will establish for the victims.