stuffmomnevertoldyou:

On Monday, Japan and South Korea reached an official agreement that they say will close their years-long dispute over Japan’s guilt and responsibility for enslaving Koreans as “comfort women.” The terms of the agreement are still forthcoming, but it appears that Japan will officially admit wrongdoing and offer an $8 million compensation fund for victims, and in return South Korea will promise to stop raising the issue.

But this is about much more than just the comfort women issue. It’s about litigating what kind of country Japan is allowed to be, both in the history books and in the world today. It’s about shaping the 21st century order in Asia. And the story of why this is happening at all — and why only now, nearly a century later — goes back to some grave and long-lasting American mistakes in its wartime occupation of Japan.

“Comfort women”: Japan’s 70-year sex slavery controversy, explained