Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that she finds the term “comfort women” to be offensive when used to describe women who, through force or deceit, had been pressed into service as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
She has apparently demanded that all official documents referring to such women be changed from “comfort women” to “enforced sex slaves”, according to the Nelson Report, a journal widely read among Washington’s political establishment.
Clinton has taken an interest in the issue and considers the treatment of the women to be a serious human rights violation, according to the report.
Clinton had also recently objected to use of “comfort women” while being briefed by a State Department official, according to a diplomatic source in Seoul.
Clinton’s directive wasn’t officially confirmed by the State Department Monday but an official did say the treatment of the women was “deplorable.”
Clinton’s decision shocked Japanese officials who feel she is taking the side of Korea and the other nations from which the victims were pressed into service, according to the report.
Japanese officials are verifying whether Clinton really did give the order to change the terminology in official documents, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters on Tuesday.
“If that is confirmed, I will tell her that it is an incorrect expression and explain to her the steps that we have taken, including an apology by the prime minister and the creation of a fund to support women in Asia in order to help comfort women,” he said.
Former Korean sex slaves have made numerous efforts unsuccessfully over the years in Japanese courts to force the Japanese government to acknowledge the injustice and to obtain direct monetary compensation. Japan has consistently rejected such claims for direct government compensation. Instead, it has chosen to solicit non-governmental “donations” to create funds to be paid to former sex slaves. Most victims have refused to participate in what they see as an effort to evade direct moral and legal responsibilty.
