Japanese envoys to return to S. Korea

Tokyo/Seoul, April 3 (IANS) The Japanese government on Monday said it is sending its envoys back to South Korea after they were recalled over a controversial statue installed in Busan city, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The Japanese government in January recalled its Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine and Consul General Yasuhiro Morimoto in protest over the statue symbolising comfort women -- women who were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II -- that civic groups erected in front of its consulate.

"We are aware that the Japanese government has decided to send Ambassador Nagamine here tomorrow (Tuesday)," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said.

"We hope that his return to work will serve as a chance for both countries to better and more closely communicate with each other," Yonhap News Agency quoted the official as saying.

Japan claimed that the statue, along with another one standing in front of its embassy in Seoul, runs counter to a landmark deal reached between the two countries in 2015 to resolve the long-running rift over Japan's atrocity of forcing Korean women into front-line brothels during World War II.

Under the deal, Japan apologised and agreed to provide 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) for the creation of a foundation aimed at helping the victims.

The agreement also says the countries will settle the issue of comfort women finally and irreversibly.

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