慰安婦問題 日韓で歴史的な合意を

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 26
EDITORIAL: Let 2015 be the year 'comfort women' issue is resolved
（社説）慰安婦問題　日韓で歴史的な合意を

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will visit South Korea on Dec. 28 to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, in a diplomatic effort to reach an agreement on the wartime “comfort women” issue that has been a festering sore in relations between Japan and its neighbor.
　慰安婦問題の合意をめざし、岸田外相があさって韓国を訪れ、尹炳世（ユンビョンセ）外相と会談する。

How to provide relief to women who were forced to provide sex to wartime Japanese soldiers is a human rights issue the governments of both countries need to tackle together, regardless of differences in their political positions on this sticky issue.
　戦時中、日本軍の将兵たちの性の相手を強いられた女性たちをいかに救済するか。政治的な立場を超えて、両政府がともに対処すべき人権問題である。

Twenty-four years have passed since a former comfort woman in South Korea came forward to talk about her experience for the first time.
　元慰安婦の１人が初めて韓国で名乗り出て、２４年の歳月が流れた。

This year alone, many former comfort women died with bitter resentment in their hearts. The number of former comfort women recognized by the South Korean government who are still alive is now less than 50, and their average age is nearly 90.
今年だけでも多くの元慰安婦が遺恨を胸に抱いたまま、亡くなった。韓国政府が把握する存命中の元慰安婦は５０人を切り、平均年齢は９０歳近い。

Time is growing short for both governments to resolve this long-running issue. This is clearly the time for Tokyo and Seoul to take action to remove this painful thorn in their relationship.
　両政府に残された時間はわずかしかない。両国関係にとっても長く刺さってきたトゲを自らの手で抜くべき時だ。

Any agreement on the issue reached between the two governments will stir up discontent and anger among people in both countries. There are narrow-minded opinions on both sides that use this issue to stir nationalistic impulses.
　政府間で合意がなされても、日韓とも国内から不満や反発は出るだろう。一部には、この問題をナショナリズムに絡めて論じる狭量な声もある。

The political leaders of Japan and South Korea have a duty to overcome such friction and speak about the importance of building healthy relations between their countries through efforts based on a broad, long-term perspective. They must not let this crucial opportunity slip through their fingers.
　しかし、そうした摩擦を乗り越え、大局的な見地から、健全な隣国関係を築く重みを説くことが政治の責務であろう。この機を逃してはならない。

Japan and South Korea established a formal diplomatic relationship in 1965, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the normal ties between the two nations.
　日韓は１９６５年に国交正常化し、ことしで５０年を迎えた。

Half a century ago, the number of Japanese and South Koreans who visited the other country was about 10,000 annually. The figure has since grown to more than 5 million due to steady expansion of exchanges between the two nations.
　半世紀前、両国を往来する人は１万人にすぎなかったが、最近では５００万人を超えるなど交流は活発化している。

Nowadays, Japan and South Korea are bound together by inseparable and cooperative economic and cultural ties.
いまや経済や文化の協力関係は切っても切れない間柄である。

However, the comfort women issue has been a major obstacle to further development of the bilateral relations.
　その一方で、慰安婦問題は、関係の深化を阻む壁となってきた。

Tokyo and Seoul have been at odds over the question of whether a 1965 bilateral agreement on war reparations and economic cooperation legally solved the comfort women issue, as it did on issues concerning Japanese compensation for its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945. Bilateral talks over this question have gone nowhere.
両政府は、５０年前に交わした請求権・経済協力協定で、慰安婦問題も法的に解決したかどうかの見解で対立し、話し合いは平行線をたどってきた。

If an agreement is to be reached in the meeting between the foreign ministers, it would be a product of major mutual, not unilateral, concessions.
　今回の会談で合意ができれば、それはどちらか一方ではなく、双方が大きく歩み寄った中身になるはずだ。

Such a deal would be an important symbol of the two governments’ commitment to overcome the legacies of the unfortunate past of the two countries and start building a new future for bilateral ties.
不幸な過去の歴史から未来に向けて歩を進めようとする両政府の意思を確認する一里塚となろう。

The real negotiations over the comfort women issue have been taking place behind the scenes through an unofficial diplomatic channel, rather than official director-general level talks.
　慰安婦問題をめぐる交渉は、表向きの外交当局の局長級協議ではなく、水面下での非公式接触で進められてきた。

The negotiations have made significant headway since the first one-on-one summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Nov. 2.
それがここで急加速したのは、先月の初の日韓首脳会談が実現した直後からだ。

The Abe and Park administrations have been under strong diplomatic pressure from the United States, the principal ally for both countries, to take steps toward settling the issue.
　日韓双方の政権とも、最大の同盟国である米国から、和解へ向けて強く背中を押されてきた事情がある。

In addition, the scheduled general election in South Korea next spring has provided a strong political incentive for both governments to push the negotiations forward quickly.
それに加え、来春にある韓国の総選挙を意識して交渉を急いだ面もある。

The Japanese and South Korean governments share the need to manage their diplomatic agendas while feeling the pulse of the public.
　国内世論を探りつつ、外交のかじ取りをせねばならない事情は日韓とも同じだ。

This is a situation that will test the political leadership of both administrations.
ここは両政権の指導力の真価が問われる局面である。

We strongly hope that the political leaders of the two countries will work out a historic agreement on the issue suitable for this milestone year by duly fulfilling their responsibility.
　国交５０年の節目の年にふさわしい歴史的な合意を政治の責任でまとめてほしい。