Dark clouds hang over the fate of the Japan-South Korea agreement to settle the "comfort women" issue that has long strained bilateral ties. Amid the ongoing paralysis of the administration of President Park Geun-hye, who has been suspended from power following the South Korean Parliament's vote of impeachment, a citizens' group erected a statue symbolizing the Korean women who were forced into front-line brothels that served the Japanese military before and during World War II, right in front of the Japanese consulate general in Busan in late December. In protest, the Abe administration has temporarily called home Japan's ambassador to Seoul and consul general in Busan. It is important for both Tokyo and Seoul to take careful steps to prevent an escalation of diplomatic tensions and keep the agreement alive.
The foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea announced in December 2015 a "final and irreversible" agreement to resolve the comfort women dispute. In the agreement, Tokyo acknowledged the involvement of the Japanese military in running the wartime military brothels and recognized that the issue deeply damaged the honor and dignity of many women — for which the Japanese foreign minister said the Japanese government felt strong responsibility. It also agreed to finance a ¥1 billion fund to be set up by the South Korean government to support surviving women. South Korea declared that its government will "make an effort" to remove a statue symbolizing the comfort women erected by a citizens' group in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.
After the statue in Busan was erected and the South Korean government took no action to remove the Seoul statue in the year that passed after the agreement was reached, the Abe administration resorted to a diplomatic protest by calling home the ambassador and the consul general. Japan is calling for removal of the two statues on the grounds that they damage the dignity of its diplomatic establishments. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, appearing on a television program last week, said South Korea must show its sincerity toward honoring the agreement by removing the statues, suggesting that Seoul's duty to do so under the accord will not change even if Park — who oversaw the deal — is suspended from power or when a new government is established in Seoul.