Japan's Ambassador Leaves S.Korea After 'Comfort Women' Statue Erection

Japan's Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine and Consul General Yasuhiro Morimoto returned temporarily to Tokyo on Monday following Seoul's refusal to remove a monument dedicated to the so-called WWII comfort women, erected in front of the Japanese General Consulate in the city of Busan in late December.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — On Friday, Japan recalled its ambassador and consul general from South Korea for consultations and halted currency swap talks.

"Comfort women" is a term used to describe Korean women forced to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military during World War II.

In December, 2015, a South Korean non-profit foundation was set up as a result of an agreement between Seoul and Tokyo, under which the Japanese government poured 1 billion yen ($9.61 million) into the South Korean foundation to care for the surviving comfort women and their families.