英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Diplomatic consideration outweighed historical facts in Kono statement
河野談話検証　外交的配慮が事実に優先した

Once again a flaw in the 1993 statement issued by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on so-called comfort women has come to the fore.
　いわゆる従軍慰安婦に関する河野官房長官談話の綻びが、改めて浮き彫りになった。

A team of experts set up by the government has compiled a report examining the process of drafting the Kono statement, which was issued in August 1993 and expressed apologies and remorse to former comfort women.
　有識者による政府の検討会が、元慰安婦への「おわびと反省」を表明した１９９３年８月の河野談話の作成過程を検証した報告書をまとめた。

South Korea demanded changes in certain expressions in the initial draft, saying The documents must be evaluated favorably by the South Korean people. The report shed light on the close coordination about the statement’s wording between the Japanese and South Korean governments.
　韓国側が「韓国国民から評価を受け得るものでなければならない」と談話の修正を求めるなど、日韓両政府が緊密に表現を調整した実態が明らかになった。

Regarding whether coerciveness was involved in the recruitment of comfort women, a focal point of this issue, the 1993 statement said, “They were recruited generally against their own will, through coaxing, coercion, etc.”
　焦点の慰安婦募集の強制性について、談話は「甘言、強圧による等、総じて本人たちの意思に反して行われた」としている。

In explaining why the statement used such expressions, the report clearly said, “...the question of how ‘coerciveness’ of the recruitment of the comfort women would be expressed and worded in the statement constituted the main issue of contention in the communication” with the South Korean side and “Coordination took place until the last moment.”
　こうした表現になった経緯に関し、報告書は「どのような表現・文言で織り込むかが韓国側とのやりとりの核心」で、「最後まで調整が実施された」と明記した。

As for the Japanese military’s involvement in the establishment of comfort stations, the South Korean side insisted on using the expression “instruction,” which was rejected by Japan, the report said. Both sides eventually settled on the word “request” instead.
　慰安所の設置に関する日本軍の関与については、日本軍の「指示」との表現を盛り込むよう韓国側が求めたが、日本側は拒否し、「要請」との表現に落ち着いた。

At the request of the South Korean government, the Japanese government interviewed 16 former comfort women, but the statement was drafted within the Japanese government before all the interviews were concluded.
　韓国側の求めで、日本政府は元慰安婦１６人の聞き取り調査を行ったが、調査終了前に政府内で原案が作成されていたという。

Problem-plagued statement

It is clear that the government gave priority to making political compromises and paying diplomatic consideration over historical facts. It is a problem-plagued statement made jointly by Japan and South Korea.
　事実関係よりも政治的妥協と外交的配慮を優先したのは明らかだ。極めて問題の多い“日韓合作”の談話と言えよう。

Until this time, the Japanese government had avoided in-depth discussions to ascertain the facts regarding the issue of comfort women and the Kono statement.
　日本政府は従来、慰安婦問題や河野談話の事実関係について、突っ込んだ議論を避けてきた。

Examining in detail the process of drafting the statement and releasing the results are meaningful in resolving misunderstanding in the international community about the issue of comfort women.
　今回、談話の作成過程を詳しく検証し、公表したことは、慰安婦問題をめぐる国際社会の誤解を解くうえで一定の意味がある。

According to the report, the statement did not say the authorities were “forcefully taking away” women, as the Japanese government was not able to confirm it based on its investigations.
　日本側は、調査では官憲による強制連行は確認できなかったとして、談話には「強制連行」という言葉は使わなかった。

But at a press conference during which the statement was released, Kono responded to a question about whether women were forcefully taken away by saying, “We accept that to be the case.” Kono committed a serious transgression by further spreading wrong conceptions about the issue.
　だが、河野氏は談話発表時の記者会見で、強制連行の有無についての質問に、「そういう事実があった」と答えた。誤った認識をさらに広げた河野氏の罪は重い。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made it clear that the government will not review the statement, a decision he probably made from the broader political perspective of seeking an improvement in relations between Japan and South Korea. Seoul, however, refuted Japan’s verification of the statement, saying the move could “impair the credibility of the statement.”
　安倍首相は、河野談話を見直さない方針を明言している。日韓関係の改善を模索するための大局的な政治判断だろう。だが、韓国政府は、検証について「談話の信頼性を損ねる」と反発している。

Since the Kono statement, there has been widespread misunderstanding in the world that Japan forcibly took away comfort women.
　河野談話が起点となり、日本が慰安婦を強制連行したかのような誤解が世界中に広がっている。

In the U.S. city of Glendale, Calif., Korean-Americans with strong ties with South Korea engaged in anti-Japanese activity by setting up a statue of a comfort woman.
米国では昨年、グレンデール市に慰安婦像が設置され、韓国系米国人による反日運動が展開された。

The government has not launched effective counterarguments because of the Kono statement.
　河野談話があるために、政府は有効な反論を行えずにいる。

We believe it will eventually be unavoidable to change the statement.
　談話の見直しは、いずれ避けられないのではないか。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 21, 2014)