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71-599: A similar statement was offered before on July 6, 1992, by Kono's predecessor Koichi Kato saying that the "Government had been involved in the establishment of comfort stations, the control of those who recruited comfort women, the construction and reinforcement of comfort facilities, the management and surveillance of comfort stations, [...]" and that the government wanted to "express its sincere apology and remorse to all those who have suffered indescribable hardship as so-called 'wartime comfort women.'" Kono's subsequent call for historical research and education aimed at remembering

142-535: A "Kato Consumption Tax" to companies wanting access to Kato while seeking public contracts. Sato had also failed to declare ¥100 million in taxes. While Kato denied any knowledge of the affair, few believed that such widespread corruption could have occurred in his office without his approval. It was later revealed that he had been using funds earmarked for political use to pay the rent on his Tokyo apartment. Faced with this evidence, he soon acquiesced to demands for his resignation. In November 2003, Kato made his return to

213-696: A further 7.2% on fears that the IMF would demand tough reforms. Other prominent chaebols were affected: Samsung Motors ' $ 5 billion venture was dissolved due to the crisis, and eventually Daewoo Motors was sold to the American company General Motors (GM). On 22 November 1997, Kim in a televised address to the nation, apologised and called for the nation to tighten its belts. He blamed companies for borrowing too much, workers for demanding too much pay and conceded that his government did not implement strong reforms on its own due to pressure from special interest groups. As

284-402: A nine-term lawmaker, working as a leader with Kim Dae-jung and the democratic camp. His nickname is Geosan (巨山) and his hometown is Gimnyeong (金寧). Elected as president in the 1992 presidential election , Kim became the first civilian to hold the office in over 30 years. He was inaugurated on 25 February 1993, and served a single five-year term, presiding over a massive anti-corruption campaign,

355-771: A position as a Distinguished Professor at Waseda University where he had previously (1994) received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. After his presidency, Kim traveled the world promoting democracy, and speaking at events such as Towards a Global Forum on New Democracies in Taiwan in January 2007. After retiring, President Kim Young-sam spent his later years at his private residence in Sangdo-dong. Kim died in Seoul National University Hospital on 22 November 2015, from heart failure at

426-556: A result of the crisis. Kim could not run for re-election in 1997, as the constitution limits the president to a single five-year term. His term ended on 24 February 1998, and he was succeeded by his political rival Kim Dae-jung who defeated the ruling conservative party in the 1997 South Korean presidential election . This marked the first peaceful transition of power to an opposition party in South Korea's history. From April 2002 to 2007, he dedicated himself to research, taking up

497-507: A result, Kim became the most unpopular president in history with an approval rating of 6%, until Park Geun-hye broke this record with a 5% rating in 2016 before her impeachment. This is until she reached a record low of 1 to 3%. On 3 December 1997, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to provide US$ 58.4 billion as a bailout package. In return, Korea was required to take restructuring measures. In addition,

568-439: A war. Kim took an upfront and straightforward attitude in his diplomacy toward Japan, with his quote “We will teach them to have manners once and for all,” referring to Japanese politicians who defended Japan’s wartime atrocities from annexation to the end of World War II. Kim's government undersaw the highly public demolition of the colonial-era General Government Building in 1996. Kim spent his final year in office, with

639-473: A war. A US aircraft carrier and a cruiser had been deployed near South Korea’s east coast in preparation for a possible airstrike and the United States planned to evacuate Americans, including US troops and their families, Kim said in a memoir. He understood that South Korean cities would be bombarded first by North Korea in the event of a strike and thought it necessary to stop any move that could start

710-659: Is a misunderstanding that the Kono Statement covers only Korean Peninsula, it covers all the comfort women of the Imperial Japanese military. The Kono Statement has been the target of criticism by some conservatives in Japan. It is still debated whether the statement acknowledged that coercion had been used in the recruitment and retention of the women by the Japanese Imperial Army directly, as

781-557: Is somewhat less hawkish than Ozawa, advocating a more cautious international role for Japan). Kato was involved in several scandals in Japanese politics during his political career. He was implicated in the Recruit scandal in the late 1980s, tarnishing his reputation for several years. In 2002, he was the centre of a major scandal involving tax evasion , bribery and misuse of political funds. His secretary Saburo Sato had been charging

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852-670: The Carter Administration , concerned over increasing human right violations, issued a strong warning not to persecute members of the opposition party. Kim was expelled from the National Assembly in October 1979, and the United States recalled its ambassador back to Washington, D.C. , and all 66 lawmakers of the New Democratic Party resigned from the National Assembly. When it became known that

923-573: The Democratic Liberal Party . Kim's decision angered many democratic activists who considered him a traitor but he maintained his political base in Busan and Gyeongsang . Kim chose to merge with Roh's ruling party in order to become Roh's successor in 1992, which he became the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party. As the candidate of the governing party, he defeated Kim Dae-jung and businessman Chung Ju-yung ,

994-779: The Foreign Ministry in 1963, which led to stints at the Japanese embassies in Taipei and Washington, D.C. In 1967 he completed a Master's degree at Harvard University . After continuing his foreign service career in Hong Kong he returned to Japan as an aide in the China Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry. His experience in foreign affairs resulted in fluent English and Chinese , and he remained deeply interested in relations with China. Kato

1065-634: The International Monetary Fund (IMF). This caused him to have one of the lowest approval ratings of any incumbent president in the history of South Korea at 6%, from a historical high of 97%, until Park Geun-hye surpassed Kim at 1–3% during the political scandal in 2016 . After his death, however, he has seen a moderately positive reevaluation. Kim was born on 14 January 1929 in Geoje , Geojedo , Keishōnan-dō , Korea, Empire of Japan (now in South Gyeongsang Province , South Korea). He

1136-491: The National Assembly of South Korea , as a member of the party led by Syngman Rhee , the first president of South Korea. At the time of his election, Kim was the youngest member of the national assembly. A few months after his electoral victory, Kim left his party and joined the opposition when Rhee attempted to amend the constitution of South Korea . Kim then became a leading critic, along with Kim Dae-jung , of

1207-595: The National Diet that no written records verifying the accounts of the 16 women who were interviewed during the course of the investigation could be discovered. One article published in The New York Times asserts that "There is little evidence that the Japanese military abducted or was directly involved in entrapping women in Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for decades when the war began, although

1278-557: The request of the military authorities of the day." Japan proposed the wording "The Government of Japan would like to take this opportunity once again to extend its sincere apologies ...". South Korea requested the addition of "remorse" to the wording of this expression of "apology", to which Japan agreed. The resulting sentence became "The Government of Japan would like to take this opportunity once again to extend its sincere apologies and remorse ...". President of South Korea Kim Young-sam expressed no plan to demand compensation from

1349-627: The 1980s and early 1990s. From 1984 to 1986, he was Director General of the Japan Defense Agency . In 1992, he was elected Secretary-General of the LDP, a time when the traditional dominance of the party was being challenged. Always seen as something of a maverick, Kato formed a relationship with two other young LDP reformers, Taku Yamasaki and Junichiro Koizumi , during the Kaifu administration. The three together became known as "YKK" after

1420-661: The Diet as an independent , having retreated from politics long enough for the scandal to die down, and rejoined the LDP as a high-ranking member. On 15 August 2006, Kato's adjoining house and office in Tsuruoka burned to the ground on the 61st anniversary of the surrender of Japan in World War II . The attack was confirmed as arson and the lead suspect was expected to be charged some time in September 2006 [1] . Reportedly

1491-575: The Drafting of the Kono Statement to the Asian Women’s Fund was submitted to the Diet on June 20, 2014. In response to the review, Kono immediately issued a statement verifying the report's findings, saying that there was nothing for him to "add or subtract" and that everything in the report was correct. On February 20, 2014, Nobuo Ishihara, former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary at the issuance of

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1562-643: The Government of Japan, instead, South Korea will undertake compensation using the budget of the government of South Korea and accepted the Kono Statement. Koichi Kato (politician, born 1939) Koichi Kato ( 加藤 紘一 , Katō Kōichi , 17 June 1939 – 9 September 2016) was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party who held a seat in the House of Representatives in the National Diet for 13 terms between 1972 and 2012. Kato

1633-462: The Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun , "Prostitution agents were prevalent due to the poverty and patriarchal family system. For that reason, even if the military was not directly involved, it is said it was possible to gather many women through such methods as work-related scams and human trafficking." Members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had been discussing the possibility of

1704-433: The Kono Statement, testified: As a result, a study clarifying the process leading to the drafting of the Kono Statement and understanding what actually occurred at that time is to be conducted. "Coerciveness" is the primary focus of the negotiation. Korea insisted to include "coerciveness" at the time of recruitment so that "Korean people can accept the statement" although Japan did not find such evidence. The intention of

1775-505: The Korean government started financial sector reform program. Under the program, 787 insolvent financial institutions were closed or merged by June 2003. The South Korean won , meanwhile, weakened to more than 1,700 per U.S. dollar from around 800, but later managed to recover. However, like the chaebol, South Korea's government under Kim did not escape unscathed. Its national debt -to-GDP ratio more than doubled (approximately 13% to 30%) as

1846-505: The LDP Secretary-General at this time, Hiromu Nonaka , was a strong supporter of Mori. Nonaka launched a harsh round of party discipline, threatening to expel any LDP members that voted against Mori, and his threats had the desired effect: Kato's support dried up even within his own faction. Kato and his remaining supporters abstained from the no-confidence vote as a face-saving measure, knowing that he could not win. However,

1917-503: The LDP. All three leaders made repeated tilts at the party leadership in the 1990s, but were unsuccessful. In 1998, Kato assumed leadership of the Kochikai faction, taking over from Miyazawa. In May 2000, upon the sudden illness and death of Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi , Kato did not make a challenge for leadership of the LDP, believing that internal strife would not be healthy for a party in mourning. By November, however, displeased with

1988-539: The New Economy" for immediate economic reform, intended to decrease inflation and eliminate corporate corruption. Another Five-Year Plan was also implemented, to encourage foreign investment as part of Kim's internationalization and economic liberalism strategy. By 1996, per capita GNP exceeded US$ 10,000. In 1994, when American president Bill Clinton considered attacking Nyongbyon , the centre of North Korea's nuclear program , Kim advised him to back down, fearing

2059-571: The South Korean government was planning to accept the resignations selectively, uprisings broke out in Kim's hometown of Busan . It was the biggest demonstration since the Syngman Rhee presidency, and spread to nearby Masan and other cities, with students and citizens calling for an end to the dictatorship. The Bu-Ma Democratic Protests caused a crisis, and amidst this chaos Park Chung-hee

2130-525: The aftermath of the 1997 IMF crisis, Kim suffered from low approval ratings for many years. However, following his death, public interest in his achievements during the democratization movement as well as his presidency grew, and he began to be reevaluated in the media. In a contemporary public survey of past presidents from Gallup Korea , the percentage of those responding that Kim "did many good things" jumped from 16% in 2015 to 40% in 2023, and those saying that he "did many wrong things" fell from 42% to 30% over

2201-514: The age of 87. He was survived by his children, two sons and three daughters, as well as his five younger sisters. On 26 November 2015, a televised state funeral was held for Kim at the National Assembly lawn, during which Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn delivered the opening remarks. Later that day, Kim was buried in the Seoul National Cemetery near former presidents Syngman Rhee , Park Chung Hee and Kim Dae-jung . In

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2272-579: The arrest of his two predecessors, and an internationalization policy called Segyehwa . At the final years of his presidency, Kim had been widely blamed for the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge and the Sampoong Department Store and the downturn and recession of the South Korean economy during the 1997 Asian financial crisis , which forced South Korea to accept tens of billions of dollars in unpopular conditional loans from

2343-417: The boss of the chaebol group Hyundai in the 1992 presidential election . He was the first civilian elected to a full term since 1960. The Kim Young-sam administration attempted to reform the government and the economy. One of the first acts of his government was to start an anti-corruption campaign, which began at the very top, as Kim promised not to use political slush funds . The anti-corruption campaign

2414-621: The clique had continued to be deeply engaged in policymaking. Thus, Hanahoe was disbanded and the depoliticization of the military began under Kim. Kim also granted amnesty to 41,000 political prisoners in March 1993 just after taking office, and removed the criminal convictions of pro-democracy protesters who had been arrested during the Gwangju massacre in the aftermath of the Coup d'état of December Twelfth . However, Kim's anti-corruption message

2485-487: The damage had been done with Kato and Yamasaki left to bear the full brunt of public humiliation. The aftermath of Kato's rebellion was disastrous as a large segment of his faction split off, weakening his influence in the Diet. Public opinion that had initially supported ousting Mori now blamed Kato for his failure. The opposition parties were frustrated with his unwillingness to break from the LDP. Both Kato and Yamasaki had been considered candidates for Prime Minister, but with

2556-572: The dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan . When the first democratic presidential election was held in 1987 after Chun's retirement, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung ran against each other, splitting the opposition vote and enabling ex-general Roh Tae-woo , Chun's hand-picked successor, to win the election. This was also despite support from the first female presidential candidate, Hong Sook-ja , who resigned her candidacy in order to support Kim. On January 22, 1990, he merged his Democratic Reunification Party with Roh's ruling Democratic Justice Party to form

2627-512: The end of his term on advice of president-elect Kim Dae-jung . Kim did not stop there, his administration pursued chaebol bosses who paid these bribes to Chun and Roh, most prominently Lee Kun-hee of Samsung and Kim Woo-choong of Daewoo were prosecuted, although Lee's sentence was suspended and Kim did not serve his sentence. Kim also purged politically minded generals of the Hanahoe clique to which Chun and Roh belonged; until that point,

2698-443: The era before his presidency and empowered by lax policies from the prior governments. In addition to curbing corrupt practices of the chaebols, Kim encouraged them to become leaner and more competitive to succeed in the global economy, in contrast to the state-directed economic growth model of the preceding decades. Chaebols were criticized at that time for inefficiency and a lack of specialization. Kim released his "100-Day Plan for

2769-503: The forefront of Japanese politics, providing validation for Kato and his views. Kato had a sometimes difficult relationship with fellow LDP reformer Ichirō Ozawa , a strong advocate for reform within the mainstream Tanaka/Takeshita faction. In 1993, Ozawa chose to split from the party and form the Japan Renewal Party , rather than continue within the LDP. This was seen as a serious betrayal by many, including Kato. When Kato

2840-435: The government, led by Abe , looking into revising the statement when Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced that a team had been formed to reexamine the "background" of the report at House of Representatives Budget Committee on February 20, 2014. The review was criticized by the South Korean government. Abe announced in March that his government would not revise the statement. Yonhap News reported that this decision

2911-414: The hearings was to show the sincere attitude of the Government of Japan by holding the hearings of the comfort women rather than a clarification of the facts, Hence the results of hearing were not compared to post-facto corroborating investigations or other testimonies. The original draft of the Kono Statement that was released immediately after the hearings had already been prepared prior to the completion of

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2982-431: The hearings. Japan and South Korea negotiated the detailed wording of the Kono Statement. Japan proposed the wording "The Government study has revealed that in many cases they were recruited against their own will,...". South Korea requested the removal of the phrase "in many cases". However Japan refused as it was difficult for it to accept that the women were recruited against their will in every case. Japan proposed

3053-460: The initials of their last names. Originally the trio had agreed to sway their factions towards the new generation of LDP leaders, and marginalize the old guard within the Diet. With the election of Miyazawa (then leader of Kato's own faction) in 1991, YKK gained greater prestige and power within the party. From the Miyazawa era onwards, YKK represented the power base of the anti-mainstream faction in

3124-624: The international financial community. Hanbo was the first to declare bankruptcy in January 1997, sparking a domino effect. Kim's government was seen as indecisive in the face of crisis as the financial tsunami began. The next big chaebol to go, was in July 1997 when South Korea's third-largest car maker, Kia Motors , asked for emergency loans. The Kim government refused to bail them out on Kia's terms, and nationalized it in October 1997. The domino effect of collapsing large South Korean companies drove interest rates up and international investors away. In

3195-566: The issue became the basis for addressing the subject of forced prostitution in school history textbooks. It also led to the creation of the Asian Women's Fund , which provided aid and support to women who had been forced into prostitution during the war. On June 9, 2015, Kono stated at a press conference that there was undeniable evidence that comfort women were forcibly taken, citing Dutch women in Indonesia. He explained that although there

3266-458: The loss of prestige resulting from the Mori affair, they had lost their chance. With Nonaka's resignation shortly after Kato's rebellion, the path was clear for someone to replace Mori. Junichiro Koizumi, the only member of YKK undamaged by the events of November 2001, finally gained control of the LDP. While Kato and Yamasaki had failed, the reformist, anti-mainstream ideals of YKK had finally moved to

3337-495: The military governments of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan . In 1969, Kim fiercely opposed the constitutional revision to allow President Park to serve for three consecutive terms. Kim later opposed President Park's power grab with the authoritarian Yushin Constitution of 1972. In 1971, Kim made his first attempt to run for president against Park as candidate for the opposition New Democratic Party , but Kim Dae-jung

3408-757: The nation saddled and plagued by an economic crisis. By 1996 and 1997, the banking sector was burdened with non-performing loans as its large chaebols were funding aggressive expansions. During that time, there was a haste by chaebols to compete and expand on the world stage, and Kim's 1993 financial reforms which allowed for the growth of merchant banks and short term loans fuelled increased borrowing by these companies. Many businesses ultimately failed to ensure returns and profitability. The chaebols continued to absorb more and more capital investment. Eventually, excess debt led to major failures and takeovers. The Hanbo scandal which involved Kim's son in early 1997 exposed South Korea's economic weaknesses and corruption problems to

3479-609: The new constitution. In August 1979, Kim allowed around 200 female workers at the Y.H. Trading Company to use the headquarters of New Democratic Party as a place for their sit-in demonstration and pledged to protect them. One thousand policemen raided the party headquarters and arrested the workers. One female worker died in the process and many lawmakers trying to protect them were severely beaten, some requiring hospitalization. The YH Incident garnered widespread criticism and led to Kim's condemnation, with an assertion that Park's dictatorship would soon collapse. After this incident, Park

3550-700: The portraits have been inherited by the People Power Party in 2023. Kim was a member of the Chunghyun Presbyterian Church and was fluent in Japanese in addition to his native language, Korean . He was married to Son Myung-soon . He had six children: Kim Hye-young (daughter, born 1952), Kim Hye-jeong (daughter, born 1954), Kim Eun-chul (son, born 1956), Kim Hyun-chul (son, born 1959), Kim Sang-man (extramarital son, born 1959), and Kim Hye-sook (daughter, born 1961). When he

3621-432: The recruitment was believed to be mainly conducted by private recruiting agents (both Korean and Japanese). Former prime minister Shinzō Abe , during his first term as prime minister in 2007, stated that he did not believe women were coerced by the Japanese army into working at military brothels. Nobuo Ishihara, deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary at the time of the drafting of the Kono Statement, has stated in unsworn testimony to

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3692-477: The same time period. This narrowly placed him among the few past presidents whose positive ratings exceeded negative ratings (the others being Park Chung-hee , Kim Dae-jung , and Roh Moo-hyun ). Kim also differed from the more ideologically polarized ratings of other presidents by showing a remarkably similar evaluation between supporters of the two major parties, as well as between self-described conservatives, moderates, and progressives. Similarly, in contrast to

3763-456: The slow pace of reform and poor public image of the Mori administration, Kato made his move. After consulting with the opposition parties, Kato realized that with support of his and Yamasaki's factions, a vote of no-confidence against Mori would pass in the Diet. Initial public reaction to Kato's announcement of this vote was good, with Mori's approval ratings diving to 30%. Unfortunately for Kato,

3834-895: The suspect was affiliated with a far-right organization and set fire to Kato's house for making remarks critical of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visiting the Yasukuni Shrine . Kato retired from political office after losing his seat for Yamagata 3rd district at the December 2012 general election to Juichi Abe, an independent and mayor of Sakata . Kato died from pneumonia at a hospital in Tokyo on 9 September 2016. Kim Young-sam Defunct Kim Young-sam ( Korean :  김영삼 ; Hanja :  金泳三 ; Korean pronunciation: [ki.mjʌŋ.sam] or [kim] [jʌŋ.sam] ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS ,

3905-553: The wake of the Asian market downturn, Moody's lowered the credit rating of South Korea from A1 to A3, on 28 November 1997, and downgraded again to B2 on 11 December. That contributed to a further decline in South Korean shares since stock markets were already bearish in November. The Seoul stock exchange fell by 4% on 7 November 1997. On 8 November, it plunged by 7%, its biggest one-day drop to that date. And on 24 November, stocks fell

3976-449: The women and activists who support them say the women were often deceived and forced to work against their will." However, the same article also states that, "Many were deceived with offers of jobs in factories and hospitals and then forced to provide sex for imperial soldiers in the comfort stations. In Southeast Asia, there is evidence that Japanese soldiers simply kidnapped women to work in the brothels." According to an article published by

4047-447: The wording "Comfort stations were operated in response to the intention of the military authorities of the day." South Korea requested this expression be changed to "instruction". However, the Japan could not accept this as it could not confirm that the military "instructed" the establishment of the comfort stations and proposed instead the expression of “request”. The resulting sentence became "Comfort stations were operated in response to

4118-427: The years following his presidency, when Kim was seen as something of an embarrassment for many on the right , he is now seen as a figure that expands the democratic credentials of the mainstream conservative parties. In November 2017, then- Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo hung a portrait of Kim in the party headquarters alongside the two traditional conservative icons of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee, and

4189-441: Was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the 7th (14th election) president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 years as one of the leaders of the South Korean opposition, and one of the most powerful rivals to the authoritarian regimes of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan . He was elected to the National Assembly at the age of 25, the youngest person in Korean history, and served as

4260-820: Was also part of an attempt to reform the chaebols , the large South Korean conglomerates which dominated the economy. Kim's government required government and military officials to publish their financial records and introduced the “real-name” financial transaction system across the country, which made it difficult to open bank accounts under false names, precipitating the resignation of several high-ranking officers and cabinet members. This also made it difficult for chaebols to seek government favours by remitting money to politicians and officials under false and anonymous names, drastically curbing such practices. He had his two predecessors as president, Chun and Roh, arrested and indicted on charges of corruption and treason for their role in military coups, although they would be pardoned near

4331-411: Was assassinated on 26 October 1979 by KCIA Director Kim Jae-gyu . The government's oppressive stance towards the opposition continued under Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power with a military coup on 12 December 1979. Kim Young-Sam was expelled from the National Assembly for his democratic activities and banned from politics from 1980 to 1985. In May 1983, he undertook a 21-day hunger strike protesting

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4402-635: Was born into a rich fishing family. He was the eldest of one son and five daughters in his family. During the Korean War , Kim joined ROK Army as a student soldier , then he served in the ROK Army as an officer of the Department of troop information and education. In 1952, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Seoul National University . In 1954, Kim was elected to

4473-531: Was damaged after his son was arrested for bribery and tax evasion related to the Hanbo scandal . Kim was critical of the influence of chaebols on Korean society in the early 1990s, but was a firm believer in deregulation that heavily empowered "small[-] and medium-sized firms." During his administration, Kim viewed chaebols that monopolized importing certain resources or products and/or predominated certain markets they were "large enterprises" in as outdated parts of

4544-601: Was determined to remove Kim from the political scene, like the imprisoned Kim Dae-jung , and instructed the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) to engineer such a move. In September 1979, a court order suspended Kim's presidency of the New Democratic Party. When Kim called on the United States to stop supporting Park's dictatorship in an interview with the New York Times , Park wanted to have Kim imprisoned while

4615-616: Was elected to several districts in Yamagata Prefecture and served as the Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency from 1984 to 1986 and Chief Cabinet Secretary from 1991 to 1992. Kato was a leading member of the Kōchikai faction of the LDP aligned with Prime Ministers Masayoshi Ōhira , Zenkō Suzuki , and Kiichi Miyazawa . Kato lost his seat at the December 2012 general election , and his daughter Ayuko Kato

4686-655: Was elected to the seat at the 2014 general election . Kato was born on 17 June 1939 in Higashi Ward , Nagoya , and raised in Tsuruoka , Yamagata Prefecture . His father, Seizo Kato  [ ja ] , was a politician who served as mayor of Tsuruoka from 1946 before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1952, serving for five terms until 1965. After graduating from the University of Tokyo , Kato joined

4757-680: Was first elected to the National Diet in 1972 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), representing his native Yamagata and represented that area continuously until 2012, except for a 19-month period following his resignation due to a scandal in April 2002. Kato was aligned with the Kōchikai (then called Ōhira) faction of the LDP, which produced three Japanese Prime Ministers; Masayoshi Ōhira , Zenkō Suzuki , and Kiichi Miyazawa . The power of this faction provided Kato ample opportunity for promotion, and he served in several Cabinet Positions through

4828-436: Was in a similar position in 2000, he chose party loyalty, despite his chances of considerable influence in the opposition had he crossed over. When the LDP was considering a merger with Ozawa's Liberal Party in the late 90s, Kato was strongly opposed to bringing Ozawa back to the LDP fold. Kato and Ozawa are often portrayed as archenemies , despite their very similar views on economic and political reform (in foreign policy Kato

4899-582: Was in office, his public speeches were the subject of much scrutiny and his pronunciation of Gyeongsang dialect elicited both criticism and amusement. He once mistakenly pronounced '경제 (Gyeongje, 經濟: meaning 'economy')' as '갱제 (Gaengje: a Gyeongsang pronunciation of the older generation for '경제')' and '외무부 장관 (oemubu-janggwan, 外務部長官: meaning 'foreign minister')' as '애무부 장관 (aemubu-janggwan, 愛撫部長官: meaning ' making out minister')'. A humorous anecdote arose from another of his public speeches where audiences were said to have been surprised to hear that he would make Jeju

4970-607: Was likely influenced by pressure from the Obama administration in the United States, which was then trying to cool diplomatic tensions between Japan, China and Korea. A five-member study team chaired by a former Prosecutor-General Keiichi Tadaki including Ikuhiko Hata reviewed the Kono Statement. A report titled Details of Exchanges Between Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) regarding the Comfort Women Issue - From

5041-638: Was selected as the candidate. In 1974, he was elected as the president of the New Democratic Party . While he temporarily lost his power within the national assembly in 1976, Kim made a political comeback during the final year of Park Chung-hee's rule. Kim took a hardline policy of never compromising or cooperating with Park's Democratic Republican Party until the Yushin Constitution was repealed and boldly criticized Park's dictatorship, which could be punished with imprisonment under

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