英字版ならではと言えるのは、例えば慰安婦の殆どが朝鮮人（mostly Koreans）といった書き方で、こうした書き方は韓国語のニュースでもあまりしていないはずである。こういうハッタリが効くのは読者が事情に疎い外国人だからだ（コリア・ヘラルド、聯合ニュースも英字版では「主に朝鮮人」と書いている）。
慰安婦問題とは何か。・・・コリア・タイムズを読む限り、「日本（政府）による、朝鮮人を主体とした女性の性奴隷化（政策）Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women」である。軍が慰安所を管理していたのは事実だから謝ろう、というような話ではないのである。慰安婦問題が解決しないのは（主として）日本政府が協力しないからだとコリア・タイムズは言っているが、日本政府が中途半端に妥協する度に話が拗れているのが実際である。何人もの韓国の大統領がこれまで日本政府に謝るように迫った（several presidents have repeatedly demanded）？だから、宮沢首相がよく事実を確認しないまま謝ったのではなかったか（ここでも妥協は何のプラスにもならなかった）。日韓基本条約については、日本による加害行為（wrongdoing）に対する賠償の取り決めだったと言いたいらしい。
さて、個人的に一番気になるのは、最後の部分である。Feeling pressured by escalating international criticism, Japan recently moved to coddle victims here with handsome compensation from a state fund・・・これは、前原誠司らが言っていた「新たな基金創設」の話である。朝日新聞もこれに便乗して「問題を打開する糸口は、ここにあるのではないか」などと入社式のスピーチのような演説をぶっている。河野談話にも言えることだが、こうした武士の情け（相手の顔も立ててやらねば）が、日韓両国に結局はプラスにならないという現実を、論客ではあるが外交ベタな前原も学ぶべきだ。外交上は解決したが、堅いことを言わずに少しサービスしてやってもいいではないか、という彼らの甘い考えとは裏腹に、相手側からはこんな風に言われている始末。
Feeling pressured by escalating international criticism, Japan recently moved to coddle victims here with handsome compensation from a state fund, a move to resolve the dispute while avoiding a first-hand apology.
増大する国際社会から批判にプレッシャーを感じ、日本政府は最近になって国家基金から相当の賠償を支払うことで韓国の被害者をなだめようとしている、直接の謝罪を避けて問題を解決しようという動きである。
前原の言うように「さまざまな知恵を使い・・・問題を乗り越えて」行くどころか、せっかくの厚意もしっかり悪用（曲解）されているではないか。キッパリと断る勇気を持つ事こそが解決への最短コースなのである（新基金については山口外務副大臣も口にしている）。河野談話の失敗から学べないのだろうか？
外交通でも、外交下手？
Seoul to take 'comfort women' issue to int’l trial
By Park Si-soo
Ambassador Choi Suk-inn has been tasked with resolving a dispute involving Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, which has remained unsettled since the end of World War II.
The issue has often frayed diplomatic ties with Tokyo, yet the government has come nowhere near to a fundamental solution, largely due to Japan’s refusal to cooperate.
In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Choi said he is “braced for all situations that could arise” and will “never compromise with Japan.”
The senior diplomat chairs a task force established in September to deal with the tricky issue under the umbrella of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT).
“Our ultimate goal is making Japan acknowledge its legal liability for the wartime atrocity and compensate victims accordingly,” he said. “We will never accept any proposal from Japan to settle the problem unless it makes a formal apology and provides compensation.”
Choi said if Tokyo keeps up with its current stance, the government will forward the case for international arbitration.
“This is a step we have never taken ever before,” he said. “If deemed necessary, however, the government is willing to take it.” He refused to elaborate on the administration’s strategy on arbitration, citing the sensitive nature of the issue.
This fresh path toward resolution comes after Japan refused to accept MOFAT’s proposal to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss the matter. The foreign ministry made the first proposal in September and sent a second one in mid-November.
“What matters is when and how we take the case to international arbitration,” he said. “Nothing has been decided on yet.”
So far, several presidents have repeatedly demanded that Tokyo apologize for the sexual enslavement of Korean women for frontline Japanese soldiers, euphemistically called “comfort women,” and offer due compensation to the victims. The United States and the United Nations have joined the diplomatic maneuver, defining sexual slavery as a “war crime.”
Hundreds of people, including five victims, staged a landmark 1,000th weekly rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Dec. 14, making their long-running outcry heard worldwide.
In the latest effort, President Lee Myung-bak urged Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in an unusually strong tone to resolve the issue during a summit on Dec. 18, calling it a “stumbling block” in relations between the two countries.
But all of these moves have fallen short of convincing Japan.
The neighboring country keeps insisting that its legal liability for the wrongdoing was cleared by a Seoul-Tokyo treaty signed in 1965 to normalize diplomatic ties. Korea was Japan’s colony from 1910-1945.
Feeling pressured by escalating international criticism, Japan recently moved to coddle victims here with handsome compensation from a state fund, a move to resolve the dispute while avoiding a first-hand apology.
Choi said this was unacceptable.
“This is not a matter of money,” he underscored. “It’s a matter of pride for our country and the victims. I will never step back in negotiations with Japan.”
Seoul has been taking such actions since its Constitutional Court ruled in August that it was unconstitutional for the government to make no specific effort to settle the matter with Tokyo.
Historians say that tens of thousands of Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forced into sexual servitude at frontline Japanese brothels during World War II. A total of 234 women were registered with the government as former comfort women — of them only 63, mostly in their 80s and 90s, are still alive.
Korea Times 2012.1.4
