The background of drafting KOUNO's Discourse
This is an article from the Mainichi Shinbun, February 24, 2014, about KONO's Discourse and Ishihara's testimony in the Diet.
In the first place, the problem of KOUNO's Discourse was caused by collusion between Japanese and S.Korean government, on which the both countries have built a relationship since restoring diplomatic ties afterwar.
The article seems to give a good explanation for the process of drafting KOUNO's Discourse in question.
"Do not rush into another Japan-S. Korea agreementActs of goodwill can sometimes backfire. "
Good intentions can be distorted, resulting in a failure to strike a sympathetic chord. The situation surrounding the 1993 Kono Statement of apology on the issue of wartime "comfort women" is one such example.
Testimony given to the Diet last week by former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobuo Ishihara, who was involved in drafting the statement, has become a hot topic among lawmakers.
Asked at a Lower House Budget Committee session on Feb. 20 what he thought of the Kono Statement now, Ishihara said, "Looking at the recent state of affairs in which the South Korean government is once again poised to seek compensation for 'comfort women' from Japan, I regret that the goodwill of the then Japanese government has not been harnessed."
Ishihara, in other words, laments the fact that, despite the Japanese government admitting its responsibility and apologizing out of respect for the claims made by the South Korean parties involved in an effort to move the bilateral relationship forward, the situation has not unfolded in a future-oriented manner.
Ishihara's remarks were made in response to questions posed from Japan Restoration Party (JRP) legislator Hiroshi Yamada, who last year pressed the government about survey results showing that children of Japanese descent in Glendale, California, had become targets of verbal abuse since a statue honoring Korean "comfort women" was erected there.
The Kono Statement apology, drafted with good intentions, was misconstrued by the international community as proof of a wartime sex slave system. This has led to the adoption of resolutions condemning the Japanese government by various countries.
Yamada is advocating for the public release of the testimonies given by 16 former Korean "comfort women" -- which were the sole basis of the 1993 apology -- as well as a comprehensive review of the testimonies and the statement itself.
In drafting the Kono Statement, the then Japanese and South Korean governments worked closely to finalize the wording of the document. While Japan proposed that it say the recruitment of the comfort women was conducted mainly by private recruiters who acted in response to "the wishes of the military," the South Korean government requested the use of the expression "orders from the military."
Arguing that there was no evidence that the Japanese military ordered such recruitment, the Japanese government then volunteered an expression along the lines of "suggestions from the military," but South Korea overrode Japanese objections with the words "request by the military." Yamada cited an investigative report on the drafting process by the Sankei Shimbun newspaper that pointed to testimony by those who were involved.
The JRP had requested the attendance of former chief Cabinet secretary and former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yohei Kono, who was responsible for the statement, at the hearing. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), however, dismissed the request, stating that there was no precedent for a former house speaker being summoned to testify in the Diet.
Ishihara was called on to speak to the Diet in Kono's stead by a senior official in the prime minister's office on Feb. 19, the day before the hearing. The opposition JRP's focus was on questioning those responsible for drafting the statement. Seeking the smooth passage of the budget and a harmonious relationship between the ruling and opposition parties, the government and ruling party convinced Ishihara to testify.
A former vice minister of home affairs (now internal affairs), Ishihara served as deputy chief Cabinet secretary under seven administrations, starting with the administration of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita and ending with that of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. He spoke matter-of-factly and with an air of dignity when recalling the facts surrounding the drafting of the statement, and expressed emotion -- "regret" -- only when asked how he felt.
Asked several days later if the question had triggered emotion, Ishihara said, "Well, it was my frank take on the situation. In the past, there was a more trusting relationship (between Japan and South Korea)."
In the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea and related agreements, the two countries confirmed a final settlement on South Korea's right to make compensation claims to Japan. South Korea, however, remains dissatisfied. Between 1995 and 2002, following the release of the Kono Statement, a private organization established by the Japanese government and called the Asian Women's Fund distributed compensation to former "comfort women" of many nationalities. South Korea's demand for further compensation to former "comfort women" has since escalated.
The information that formed the basis for the Kono Statement has been kept confidential because they are testimonies given by those forced into prostitution. The Japanese government has shown a cautious stance toward the disclosure of the testimonies and a review of the statement, and has not committed to calls for both.
So what now? Do we wait patiently or review the apology? Public opinion is split, but there is no need to rush into a bilateral agreement. We should not make any ill-planned compromises based on renewed goodwill that will only exacerbate the confusion. Yet silence is not always golden, either. What we should be doing is carefully formulating the messages that we want to send out to the world. (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)
February 24, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
