IN BRIEF (Page 11)

SOUTH KOREA

Tokyo sends funds to sex foundation

Japan sent Thursday a promised 1 billion yen ($9.6 million) to a South Korea foundation for former sex slaves for wartime Japanese soldiers, as part of a controversial deal struck last year aimed at settling the "comfort women" issue. Mainstream historians say 200,000 women, mostly from Korean Peninsula but also other parts of Asia including China, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II. In December, the two nations reached a "final and irreversible" agreement, under which Tokyo offered an apology and 1 billion yen to open the foundation.