The Politics of Apology : Comfort Women within the Context of Regional Complexities

This paper focuses on the underlying reasons why there has not been a formal apology by the Japanese government to South Korean comfort women, who served as sex slaves to Japanese soldiers during WWII. The paper notes that, to date, the trials that have been filed against the Japanese government have all been dismissed. The paper states that Japan has had a long-standing history of government-licensed prostitution and therefore, may view the concept of Korean comfort women as similar to licensed prostitution rather than as sex slaves. The paper provides social data to further suggest that there is a similar perception in the general public of Japan; that comfort women were simply working in the sex industry. Lastly, the paper suggests other factors for the lack of a formal apology, such as taking note of other countries that have also refused to apologize for their wrongdoings, and thus seeing no benefit or incentive to do so.