Japan's Asia Peace National Fund for Women, a "private" reparation fund set up by the government, was poised Tuesday to sanction a comprehensive compensation deal for 200 "comfort women" who provided sexual services for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
The move follows Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's announcement earlier this week that he would apologize to the "comfort women."He acted in spite of pressure from some in his own Liberal Democratic Party and right-wing extremists who insist the women were volunteers.
Hashimoto's decision in effect cleared the way for the fund to press ahead with its compensation package, which had already been delayed because of his foot-dragging.
Last month, the fund postponed a formal announcement of compensation because of Hashimoto's equivocation, which has caused ill feeling among former "comfort women" and among the Japanese promoters of the fund.
Mutsuko Miki, widow of former Prime Minister Takeo Miki and a leading campaigner for the "comfort women," resigned from her post as a fund-raiser for the fund last month after Hashimoto refused then to write letters of apology on Japan's behalf.
"I was very disappointed by Hashimoto's refusal to apologize and decided I could not work with him," said Mrs. Miki, regarded as the conscience of the LDP, the largest ruling coalition member.
The fund is likely to agree on a payment of about $18,500 each to the 200 women in South Korea and other parts of Asia, though at talks late Tuesday there was some division about the exact figure.
Compensation by the fund, which was set up by the government last summer, is already behind schedule. It was supposed to start payments by the end of last year, but the lack of funds - it has managed to collect only $3.1 million - and haggling over how much should be paid to each claimant have delayed reparation.
Although the Japanese government in 1991 admitted official involvement in conscription of Korean, Dutch and Filipino women, it has maintained that its obligations were settled by the signing of peace treaties after the war.
Mrs. Miki believes international treaties and apologies are separate issues.
She also claims the government's denunciation of a recent report on "comfort women" by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, which called for direct government compensation, also had spurred her resignation.
Ironically, the departure of Mrs. Miki seems to have helped rekindle the debate and a push for a solution.
Despite this week's developments, the controversy is unlikely to go away. Members of the LDP oppose compensation because of the lack of official records on recruitment of "comfort women." Even historians' estimates vary, ranging from 80,000 to 200,000.
Tadashi Itagaki, an LDP member, is reported to have said at a recent party meeting that wartime sex slavery was fabricated. Right-wing extremists also have campaigned against compensating former "comfort women."
Moreover, opposition over the fund has come from support groups of former "comfort women" demanding formal government compensation together with an official apology.
Some supporters allege that Bunbei Hara, the former upper house speaker who heads the compensation fund, had been responsible for destroying official papers, including those concerning the "comfort women" issue during his days as a bureaucrat in the Home Affairs Ministry during World War II - a claim which Hara denies.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)