Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010083
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TOKYO LENGTH: Medium
In South Korea, about 20 elderly protesters, including six women who said they were forced into prostitution, pelted the Japanese Embassy with eggs and demanded Japan compensate its victims directly.
Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said the money would be spent over the next 10 years to finance regional projects such as women's centers, cultural exchanges and research on Japan's role during the war.
``It is imperative for us Japanese to look squarely to our history with the peoples of neighboring Asia,'' Murayama said.
The plan doesn't provide for any direct payments to individual war victims, either forced laborers or women coerced to serve in front-line brothels run by the Imperial Army.
In the Philippines, Romeo Capulong, a lawyer for at least 40 Filipino women forced to work as prostitutes, said the women would go ahead with lawsuits filed in Tokyo demanding individual compensation and apologies from the Japanese government.
Japanese groups working on behalf of Asian victims also called the plan inadequate.
``To me, it's just a government effort to save face,'' said Mizuho Fukushima, a lawyer for a group of South Korean women suing for compensation.
Japan insists that compensation issues were settled in postwar treaties. It has long resisted making any direct reparations, fearing that would open the door to endless legal battles and huge payments.
Government spokesman Kozo Igarashi acknowledged the dissatisfaction with the package.
``Though there may be criticisms of our plan, I hope that people will give us a little more time to demonstrate our efforts,'' he told reporters.
Some government officials are discussing creation of a private fund to make payments to individual victims, supported by contributions from companies that used slave labor during the war. By using money from private sources, the government could avoid setting a legal precedent by paying compensation.
The spending of $1 billion over 10 years would be a small fraction of overall Japanese assistance to Asia. In 1992 alone, Japan spent $5.5 billion in aid to the region.
The government has studied the compensation issue since last summer, when it first admitted that as many as 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, had been forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers.
by CNB