Korean Side: Japanese and Statue

korean side: The statue is one of a number in South Korea representing those forced to provide sex for Imperial Japanese troops before and during World War II. Japan euphemistically refers to them as the ianfu, or comfort women, according to The Japan Times. According to media reports, the one in Busan was erected by protesters on the anniversary of the December 2015 bilateral agreement, the text of which only mentions the more famous statue outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. The South Korean side should show its sincerity, the prime minister said on a TV program aired Sunday, referring to the golden statue of a seated young girl installed late last month outside the Japanese Consulate in Busan. Abe said on an NHK program recorded Friday that South Korea should carry out the agreement whether its leadership changes or not, as this is a matter of credibility. He will return to Japan for about a week, which is shorter than the 12-day recall of former Ambassador Masatoshi Muto in 2012, when Tokyo protested then-President Lee Myung-bak's visit to a pair of disputed rocks in the Sea of Japan, a source close to bilateral relations said. Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine will return home temporarily Monday in protest of the Busan statue, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Sunday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.