Taiwan urges Japan to apologize and compensate for its comfort women

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged the Japanese government to make an apology and compensate for its comfort women, a day after a landmark agreement was reached by Tokyo and Seoul. Taiwan, which was a Japanese colony from 1895-1945, said on Tuesday that it was also calling for Japan to apologize and compensate for Taiwan's own "comfort women". "We hope for concrete progress for the matter in the near future ... Japan understands our demands and is willing to consider". "We think there will be progress on the matter but we can't predict the results," Foreign Minister David Lin said at a news conference in Taipei. The issue of comfort women and a Japanese apology remains politically charged in Taiwan, with regular protests. Tokyo and Seoul reached an agreement on the issue. Japan offered a "heartfelt apology" and 8.3 million USD payment to the South Koreans, euphemistically known as "comfort women", who were forced into Japanese military brothels during World War II. The agreement announced Monday was hailed by the Japanese Prime Minister as a "new era" for relations between the two countries.

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