Japan and South Korea reached an unexpected deal on the decades-old "comfort women" issue on December 28, 2015. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the Japanese government was "painfully aware of its responsibilities" for this thorny knot and that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed "anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences." Seoul claimed it would deem the matter "finally and irreversibly" resolved if Japan fulfills its promises.

However, the row is far from over. On Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Gil Won-ok, one of the surviving "comfort women," and urged Tokyo and Seoul to put the agreement into practice as soon as possible.

The women, who today are elderly and often poor, have yet to receive apologies and compensation from the Japanese government.

The deal agreed upon by Japan and South Korea has drifted away from its original purpose owing to insurmountable divergences. Both Abe and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye have come under harsh criticism by domestic conservative forces and wider public opinion.

The pact, made on occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, first gained positive response because it was viewed as a practical maneuver of Japan's contrition and a massive step in the reconciliation effort between Tokyo and Seoul.

The Blue House announced that it had made progress in prompting the Japanese government to acknowledge its wartime transgressions and the Abe administration stoutly underlined that the accord would leave the "comfort women" issue "finally and irreversibly" settled.

The deal was welcomed by Washington. US National Security Advisor Susan Rice mentioned in a statement, "The US applauds the leaders of the ROK and Japan, two of our most important allies, for having the courage and vision to forge a lasting settlement to this difficult issue. The White House must feel delighted that Japan and South Korea could be closely bonded as two staunch allies of the US in its "rebalance to Asia" policy.

The accord was even regarded as a landmark milestone. But Japan created a new problem for itself out of the blue: A statue representing a young "comfort woman" in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and South Korea's move to list "comfort women" in the Memory of the World Register of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization have become obstacles for the full implementation of the agreement.

In addition, Japanese right-wing media outlets also boast that "Japan's responsibility" stated in the deal does not include legal liability.

Domestic politics and nationalistic sentiments have led to different interpretations of the accord between Japan and South Korea. The tough negotiation process and elaborate political arrangement are worthless in the eyes of protestors, who believe Abe lacks sincerity and Park's move is surrender to Japan. Their reconciliation, lasting for less than half a year, is heading to a dead end. And a trust crisis is looming.

Now the key of the issue does not lie in the amount of compensation and the timing of the implementation. Healing the wounds of its Asian neighbors calls for Tokyo's sincerity.

No sign has ever revealed that Abe's cabinet will take Japan's historical wrongdoings seriously. To be more specific, it is the insincerity of the Japanese government that has triggered further protests.

Nonetheless, Japanese politicians have been ignoring the indignation and have once again given up the opportunity to compromise with their neighbors.

From Junichiro Koizumi to Shinzo Abe, it seems that Liberal Democratic Party members have neither the time to consider the feelings of the country's Asian neighbors nor an interest in restoring its fractious ties with Beijing and Seoul. All they do is accelerating the pace to cast off the restraints in the postwar period, to revise the pacifist constitution and to exercise the right to collective self-defense. Who can accept such insincere deal delivered by Japan?

Due to this lack of sincerity, Japan, a country that departed from Asia to join Europe in the late 19th century, has failed to achieve real peace with its Asian neighbors over the past 70 years since the end of WWII. It remains a regional state without a clear regional identity.

The author is director of the Department of International Political Science, College of Political Science and Public Management, Yanbian University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn