Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says, Tokyo is not legally responsible for compensating so-called Korean "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military before and during World War II. The remarks are in response to Seoul's claims that Tokyo still bears legal liability for its colonial and wartime atrocities.

Decades-old archives were declassified on Friday in Seoul detailing closed-door meetings between Korea and Japan prior to the 1965 normalization treaty. Based on the files, the government here concluded that the negotiations resolved only financial claims and credit affairs, and that Tokyo remains obligated to take legal responsibility for its "inhumane crimes."

However, the Japanese Premier has maintained his country's stance that prewar and wartime issues were "fully and ultimately" resolved with the signing of the 1965 treaty. Korea contends that the pact fails to compensate "comfort women," Korean A-bomb victims and Koreans forcefully displaced to Russia's Sakhalin island to work for Japanese companies during the colonial period.

Some 35,000 pages of diplomatic documents contain meeting minutes, memos and other files exchanged between the two countries for 14 years prior to the 1965 normalization accord. They verify that Korea received an US$800-million package of grants and loans from Japan in return for Seoul's abandonment to press for further reparations.

The government vows to beef up diplomatic pressure on Japan for its past atrocities, and raise the issue with the UN Human Rights Commission.

Arirang News