South Korea designates August 14 as official memorial day of 'comfort women'
- 6 years ago
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the international memorial day for 'comfort women'... the term used to describe the victims of Japan's wartime system of sexual slavery.
Most of them were from Asian nations,...and the majority were Korean.
And from this year, South Korea is officially marking the day as an official memorial day as well.
Kan Hyeong-woo has more on the significance of the designation.
On this day 27 years ago, Kim Hak-soon, a Korean victim of the Japanese military's wartime sexual enslavement testified about what happened to her,… breaking a decades-long silence on the issue.
And in 2012, the Asian Solidarity Conference for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, a group of victimized countries,... including Korea, China, and the Philippines, designated the day as the International Memorial Day for Comfort Women.
But it was only late last year that the Korean government officially designated August 14 as a memorial day for the comfort women,... so this is the first time for the country to be commemorating the national anniversary.
"This is just the beginning. To make this the most meaningful national memorial day, I believe in unceasing efforts to restore the human rights of the victims by revealing the truth. We also have to teach a true history to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy."
South Korea's designation of a memorial day for the comfort women is in lockstep with the current administration's stance on the 2015 agreement between Seoul and Tokyo,... in which Japan gave about nine million U.S. dollars to fund a foundation for the victims and to resolve the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
But Seoul decided not to use the money... and just last month, the Cabinet approved a government budget to replace the Japanese fund.
The decision is line with the Moon administration's conclusion that the 2015 deal failed to reflect the opinions of the victims.
Experts, however, say that renegotiating the agreement might be unrealistic,… but the dispute between the individual victims and the Japanese government needs to be settled.
"Even though the agreement between the two countries was made, the victims still have the right to hold Japan legally accountable. There has been a lot of effort made in South Korea, but every time the case reaches Japan's Supreme Court it gets thrown out."
Of the 240 registered victims in South Korea, only 28 women are still alive... and as their average age is over 90 years old, time is running out for them to receive what they call a "heartfelt apology" from Tokyo.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News
Most of them were from Asian nations,...and the majority were Korean.
And from this year, South Korea is officially marking the day as an official memorial day as well.
Kan Hyeong-woo has more on the significance of the designation.
On this day 27 years ago, Kim Hak-soon, a Korean victim of the Japanese military's wartime sexual enslavement testified about what happened to her,… breaking a decades-long silence on the issue.
And in 2012, the Asian Solidarity Conference for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, a group of victimized countries,... including Korea, China, and the Philippines, designated the day as the International Memorial Day for Comfort Women.
But it was only late last year that the Korean government officially designated August 14 as a memorial day for the comfort women,... so this is the first time for the country to be commemorating the national anniversary.
"This is just the beginning. To make this the most meaningful national memorial day, I believe in unceasing efforts to restore the human rights of the victims by revealing the truth. We also have to teach a true history to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy."
South Korea's designation of a memorial day for the comfort women is in lockstep with the current administration's stance on the 2015 agreement between Seoul and Tokyo,... in which Japan gave about nine million U.S. dollars to fund a foundation for the victims and to resolve the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
But Seoul decided not to use the money... and just last month, the Cabinet approved a government budget to replace the Japanese fund.
The decision is line with the Moon administration's conclusion that the 2015 deal failed to reflect the opinions of the victims.
Experts, however, say that renegotiating the agreement might be unrealistic,… but the dispute between the individual victims and the Japanese government needs to be settled.
"Even though the agreement between the two countries was made, the victims still have the right to hold Japan legally accountable. There has been a lot of effort made in South Korea, but every time the case reaches Japan's Supreme Court it gets thrown out."
Of the 240 registered victims in South Korea, only 28 women are still alive... and as their average age is over 90 years old, time is running out for them to receive what they call a "heartfelt apology" from Tokyo.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News