安倍晋三将出席平昌冬奥会

Shinzo Abe will attend the Winter Olympics next month despite a diplomatic dispute with hosts South Korea over Japan’s wartime use of sex slaves.

安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)将出席下月举行的冬季奥运会，尽管与东道主韩国在日本战时使用“性奴隶”的问题上发生了外交纠纷。

The Japanese prime minister said yesterday that he wanted to hold a summit with Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, and support a fellow Asian host ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

日本首相昨日表示，他希望与韩国总统文在寅(Moon Jae-in)举行峰会，并在2020年东京奥运会之前支持另一个亚洲的奥运会东道主。

Mr Abe’s decision suggests he will not break off relations over Seoul’s call for further recompense and apology to “comfort women” forced to work in military brothels during the second world war. Japan rejects those calls because the two countries signed a “final and irreversible” settlement of the issue in 2015.

安倍晋三的决定似乎表明，他不会因为首尔在“慰安妇”问题上提出的进一步赔偿和道歉要求而断绝关系;“慰安妇”是指二战期间被迫在随军妓院工作的妇女。日本拒绝响应韩方的呼吁，因为两国已在2015年签署了“最终且不可逆转”的和解协议。

Instead, Mr Abe will demand that South Korea honours its side of the 2015 deal, making it harder for Mr Moon to reignite the dispute even as he welcomes world leaders to the Olympics.

相反，安倍将要求韩国方面履行2015年达成的协议，这将使忙于欢迎世界领导人参加奥运会的文在寅更难重启争议。

“If circumstances allow, I want to attend the opening ceremony for the Pyeongchang Olympics,” Mr Abe said. “At the same time, I’d like to hold a summit with President Moon Jae-in and properly lay out Japan’s position on our ‘comfort women’ agreement.”

“如果条件允许的话，我想出席平昌冬奥会开幕式，”安倍表示。“我希望与韩国总统文在寅举行首脑会谈，向韩方恰当地阐明日本有关日韩慰安妇协议的立场。”

The 2015 agreement was thrown into doubt early this year when Mr Moon derided it as “seriously flawed”. A state-appointed panel in South Korea said the previous conservative government had failed to consult victims properly before reaching the deal. Earlier this month, South Korea’s foreign ministry said it would not try to renegotiate the agreement, but called on Tokyo to keep making efforts to restore honour and dignity to the victims. The South Korean government also said it would set aside $9m to help the victims in place of compensation already paid by Japan.

2015年的协议在今年初产生变数，当时文在寅不屑地称它“有严重瑕疵”。韩国政府任命的一个专家小组称，保守派政党当政的上届政府在达成协议之前，未能妥善地征求受害者的意见。本月早些时候，韩国外交部表示不会试图重新谈判协议，但呼吁东京方面继续作出努力，恢复受害者的名誉和尊严。韩国政府还表示，将拨出900万美元帮助受害者，接替日方已经支付的赔偿金。

Many in South Korea and Japan regard those actions as tantamount to nullifying the deal. Some of Mr Abe’s conservative supporters want him to retaliate by freezing relations with Seoul. But other Japanese officials think that would play into Mr Moon’s hands by allowing him to claim that the 2015 agreement was dead. They want to uphold Japan’s end of the deal and force Mr Moon to take the initiative.

韩国和日本都有许多人认为，这些行为等同于推翻协议。安倍的一些保守派支持者希望他冻结与首尔的关系，借此进行报复。但是另外一些日本官员认为，那么做正合文在寅之意，使他可以顺理成章地声称2015年的协议已经失效。他们希望履行日本在协议中的义务，迫使文在寅出牌。

“We welcome Japan’s decision to officially announce Prime Minister Abe’s visit to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics,” Seoul’s presidential spokesman said, adding that the two governments would consult closely to make Mr Abe’s visit a success.

“我们对日方决定正式宣布安倍首相将出席平昌冬奥会表示欢迎，”韩国总统府发言人表示。他补充说，两国政府将密切协商，确保安倍的到访取得圆满成功。

Mr Abe said he also wanted to discuss North Korea with Mr Moon. Tokyo and Seoul are the two most important US allies in the region. Co-operation is important in coping with Pyongyang’s military threats and the unpredictability of Donald Trump, the US president.

安倍表示，他还想同文在寅讨论朝鲜问题。日韩是美国在该地区最重要的两个盟友。既要应对平壤的军事威胁，又要应对美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)不可预测的行事风格，意味着合作十分重要。

The “comfort women” issue has long poisoned relations between the neighbours. Many in South Korea believe Tokyo has never shown sufficient remorse. Many in Japan think Seoul uses the issue as a diplomatic weapon and no apology will ever be sufficient.

“慰安妇”问题长期毒化两个邻国间的关系。韩国很多人认为，东京从未表现出足够的悔意。日本很多人认为，既然首尔把这个问题当作一件外交武器，日方再怎么道歉也没有用。