Historical truth cannot be forever hidden from the persistent efforts to uncover it. For the first time ever, official Japanese government documents have been discovered that list the names of women made to be "comfort women" for the Japanese military who are still alive in Korea. The document is a report by the Japanese health ministry written immediately after the end of World War II. It was based on the military records of the approximately 160,000 Koreans attached to the Japanese military who were missing at the end of the war, and it includes the name and personal details of Kim Bok Dong and around 300 other Korean women who were made to be "comfort women." It will be important in demanding an official apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan is calling 2005 "the year of resolving the comfort woman issue" which has now been an issue for 60 years. The goal is to build a "museum of war and women's civil rights" for the honor and civil rights of these elderly women and to secure an apology and compensation from the Japanese government through international solidarity. For 13 years, starting in January 1992, the organization has held "Wednesday Protests" in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul to demand the issue be resolved, and it has since succeeded in making the issue an international one. No significant progress, however, has been made in getting that apology and compensation. All there has been is an attempt by Japanese civil society, and not the government, to deliver its own apology and consolation money.
We call on the Japanese government as it seeks to make the 60th anniversary of the end of the war the start of its push to become a global power. If it wants to progress to a leadership position it must win the understanding of the international community by washing itself of the wrongs it committed during the era of its militarism. If it wants to do that, it will not be able to avoid a process of disclosing the full truth about "comfort women," giving an official apology and compensation, and teaching its future generations about what happened.
The Korean government, too, needs to be told that it has left the issue almost entirely to private individuals. It must work to have the Japanese government engage in a fundamental resolution to the issue, as that is also what is needed for the establishment of a new relationship between both countries. These women are nearing the end of very painful lives, and the government also needs so be responsible for their welfare.
The Hankyoreh, 13 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] The Year to Resolve 'Comfort Women' Issue |
