| Advertisement |
Sept. 14 (UPI) -- North Korea is condemning Japan again for the colonial past, only weeks after stating Tokyo is "drowning in raging waves of history," and that Japanese atonement must come before moving to a new future in bilateral relations. Jo Hui Sung, a senior researcher at North Korea's "Japan research institute" addressed the issue of Korean "comfort women" forced to serve in wartime brothels, in an article published on DPRK Today on Friday.
Advertisement
In a sign North Korea is not letting go of the past, and using historical disputes to negotiate with Japan, Jo equated the recruitment of the women to a form of genocide -- part of the larger plan of what was known as the Japanese Empire.
The Japanese military did not recruit Japanese women and instead kidnapped far more Korean women for reasons of ethnic cleansing, Jo said.
"Why did the Japanese not send Japanese virgins to the battlefield as 'comfort women'?" the article read. "It is unlikely it was because the Japanese army cared about the human rights of Japanese virgins. It is because the Japanese ruling class were afraid their reproductive organs would be ruined."
By contrast, the Japanese military was open to the idea of abducting or tricking Korean women, as young as 12 years of age, to join the brothel system, according to Jo.
"Their aim was to end the bloodline of the entire Korean people through Japanese military sex slavery," Jo wrote. "It is a crime against humanity on a massive scale."
Japan seeks to negotiate with North Korea on a wide range of issues, including the abduction of its nationals.
Pyongyang's chemical weapons are also of concern, however.
The Diplomat recently reported Japan seeks verification on North Korea's arsenal of chemical weapons.
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera traveled to the Netherlands this week to meet with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, according to the report.
Japan wants verification of North Korea's abandonment of weapons of mass destruction, Onodera said.
