The South Korean government is working toward establishing a research institute with a history museum archiving and exhibiting materials concerning females forced to work in Japanese military brothels during the war, a South Korean newspaper reported online Wednesday.
The Kukmin Ilbo quoted officials of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as saying they are planning to secure budgetary appropriations in the current parliamentary session and start groundwork next year for the establishment of the facility.
The ministry is in charge of providing care to those women, euphemistically called "comfort women," and holding commemorative events for them.
The South Korean government has indicated that it will start work on listing documents on the comfort women issue in UNESCO's Memory of the World program and its national register of records. The plan for a history museum and research institute could be tied in with these developments.