Taiwan Demands Japan's Apology For Sex Slavery In Wake Of Korea Deal

Some 250 protesters gathered next to a statue outside Japan's Embassy which symbolises Korean women forced into Japanese army brothels during World War II.

"We will continue to fight to make Japan take formal legal responsibility and apologise so that victims who have already perished will have justice", Ms Lee added. "We wanted to honor their endurance and bravery - especially under a Confucianist society - because many women wanted to kill themselves from the shame".

Taiwan called on Japan today to apologise and compensate the island's wartime sex slaves after Tokyo and Seoul reached an agreement on the emotive issue. "I feel a big headache and a great pain in my heart as this issue remain unresolved", she said.

The statement urged South Koreans to work toward the improvement of bilateral ties after years of deadlock, asking for "understanding" by them and by the victims with regard to the broader view, to "rally support for the future of the country".

Yun said that while faithfully implementing the agreement, the government will build up mutual trust and improve relations with Japan to help promote stability in Northeast Asia.

The group held its weekly rally outside the Japanese embassy on Wednesday, joined by two of the surviving comfort women.

Chinese bitterness over Japan's World War II aggression has grown since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - seen by critics as a revisionist who wants to play down his country's wartime past - returned to power in late 2012.

As many as 200,000 women, mostly from South Korea, were enslaved in Japan during WWII, which lasted from 1939 to 1945.

The South Korean government has defended the agreement against domestic criticism that Japan did not go far enough in taking responsibility for sexual slavery.

The foundation's director Kang Shu-hua voiced concern about the aging comfort women, saying Japan also owes an apology and compensation to such women in China, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Hundreds of people, including students and activists as well as two survivors of Japan's brutal sexual enslavement, rallied in front of Japan's embassy in Seoul on Wednesday. Out of 58 known Taiwanese survivors who had come forward, 54 have died, said the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, which has been assisting the women.

That was denied, however, by an unnamed South Korean official quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

South Korean officials also encountered anger and outrage from some "comfort women" they met with Tuesday to explain and defend the agreement.

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