Why did Pres. Park push for early settlement of Japanese comfort women issue?

Why did Pres. Park push for early settlement of Japanese comfort women issue?. December. 31, 2015 13:01. woohaha@donga.com.

Why did President Park Geun-hye push strongly for early settlement of Japanese comfort women issue even as it has placed heavy pressures on her shoulders?

President Park has shown particular attention on the comfort woman issue since 2012 when she was running for president. She had emphasized that the issue has to be resolved while victims were still alive. "The victims are all in their mid 80s and over, and I feel the urgency to untangle their resentment while they`re still alive," she told foreign reporters in November 2012. "We cannot wait forever to reconcile with history." President Park said at the latest talks, "There is no meaning if this isn`t resolved while they`re alive."

Shorty after the inauguration as president in 2013, President Park examined ways to meet directly the victims and console them. But she gave up the idea because it would place too much burden on elderly people having to gather at one place. Instead, she ordered then Gender Equality and Family Minister Cho Yoon-sun to go and meet them face-to-face. When the comfort woman issue was widely recognized internationally through the Angouleme International Comics Festival in France last year, she praised it very highly saying "The event was an opportunity to console them with all heart."

"President Park has a firm belief that the comfort woman issue is about damage to human rights of women," a former official of the presidential office said Wednesday, "As a female president, she must have emphasized with them more desperately."

The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae is considering ways to meet the elderly victims and explain them about the inevitability of talks, but decision has yet to be made. Cheong Wa Dae is concerned of the possibility that the victims could voice criticism to the president, which could wrongly convey an image internationally of "failed talks." An official at the office said, "It appears that the victims first need time to calm down their feeling." This means President Park wants to meet them some time later.

The opposition parties raised their voices of criticism. "The latest agreement is equal to giving up people`s rights," said Moon Jae-in, head of the Minjoo Party of Korea (formerly the New Politics Alliance for Democracy), at the party`s supreme council meeting. "It is invalid since it lacks approval of the National Assembly." Party floor leader Lee Jong-gul also said, "We will submit motion to dismiss Foreign Affairs Minister Yoon Byung-se and will request for President Park`s apology."