The South Korean government is busy these days due to public opinion against the agreement on the comfort women in the Japanese military.

The president and the prime minister have sought the people's understanding and foreign ministry officials have met with the comfort women victims to persuade them to accept the agreement.

However, not only did the government rush the agreement, but they sought the victims only after they had signed the agreement with Japan triggering criticism that they got the order mixed up in handling the issue. This is all fueling the spread of opposition to the agreement. For now, the aftermath of the agreement seems more than the government can handle.

Cheong Wa Dae led efforts in guiding public opinion. On December 28, shortly after South Korea and Japan reached an agreement on the comfort women issue, President Park Geun-hye released a message to the nation and called for the people to accept the agreement from a broad perspective. Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Jeong Yeon-guk met with reporters on December 29 and said, "We reached the agreement based on the firm principle that this issue should be resolved so as to restore the honor and heal the wounds of the comfort women victims" in response to criticism that the agreement was rushed.

The prime minister also stepped up to resolve the situation. In a cabinet meeting this day, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn stressed in his introductory statement, "The government stands by a firm principle that we must recover the honor and dignity and heal the psychological wounds of the comfort women victims." At the same time, he said, "I hope the Japanese government will faithfully implement the measures stipulated in the bilateral agreement so that the wounds of the comfort women victims can in the least bit be healed."

The foreign ministry's first and second deputy ministers visited the comfort women victims this afternoon. The previous day, the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery had released a statement and said, "This is a diplomatic collusion that thoroughly betrayed the wishes of the victims and the people." As the opposition continued to snowball, the public officials came to deal with the situation. But they were met with a chilly response.

When First Vice Minister Lim Sung-nam entered the Korean Council's shelter in Mapo-gu, Seoul at around 2 p.m., Yi Yong-su, an elderly comfort women victim said, "Are you here to kill us again?" She continued to raise her voice and said, "You should have first met the victims before the negotiation and told us that you were going to negotiate with Japan. Which country's foreign ministry are you?" Kim Bok-dong, another elderly comfort women victim criticized, "We're not trying to get money. We want the country to legally apologize for its wrongdoing."

Lim apologized to the elderly women, "We could not inform you in advance because things proceeded quickly over the holiday. We are sorry." He also explained, "We did our best according to the directions of the president who thought it would be best to reach what conclusion we could before more (victims) passed away." However, Yi said, "We will not stop, but will continue the Wednesday demonstrations to resolve the comfort women issue."

Second Vice Minister Cho Tae-Yul visited a shelter in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. There, Kim Gun-ja, an elderly comfort women victim raised her voice and said, "We are the victims, but the government rashly presented an agreement. We cannot recognize the agreement." Yi Yok-seon, another elderly victim reproached, "You make an agreement without us old women knowing, and then come to humor us. This is the same as our government selling us old ladies."