A matter that is a serious concern not only for East Asian countries but for ...

A matter that is a serious concern not only for East Asian countries but for the entire international community itself is the so-called comfort women issue. In the United Nations, the issue has been discussed in the context of women's rights, the exploitation of women in conflicts, war crimes and the prevention of torture, among others. Indeed, Sunday, 26 January was a very sad day for the Korean people. A woman passed away who had been taken by force by the Japanese Imperial Army to suffer as an enforced sex slave. That leaves the total number of surviving comfort women at 55. The comfort women issue, which is at the core of the pending problems between Korea and Japan, is also an important universal women's rights issue.