korean comfort women protest in seoul

Wednesday noon demonstrations in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Korea. Begun on January 8, 1992, Wednesday demonstrations continue. For many former comfort women, Wednesday is like a Sabbath, set aside for something sacred. In rain or shine, cold or hot, sickness or health, they assemble at noon in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday. Some have to transfer buses twice or three times but they still come to demand justice from the Japanese government joined by other concerned people, often some from abroad.

(from http://twotigers.org/main/)











Korean Comfort Women:

"The women cried out, but it didn't matter to us whether the women lived or died. We were the emperor's soldiers. Whether in military brothels or in the villages, we raped without reluctance." According to Unit 731 soldier Yasuji Kaneko

Beatings and physical torture were said to be not uncommon.

Comfort women (慰安婦 ianfu?) or military comfort women (従軍慰安婦 jūgun-ianfu?) is a euphemism for the women who were forced into prostitution and sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels during World War II. Around 10,000 - 200,000 are estimated to have been procured, but there is still some disagreement about exactly how many women were. However, historians and researchers have stated that the majority were from Korea, China, but women from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia, and other Japanese-occupied territories were also involved in "comfort stations". These stations were located in Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, the then Malaya, Thailand, the then Burma, the then New Guinea, Hong Kong, Macau, and the then French Indochina. Young women from countries under Japanese imperial domination were reportedly abducted from their homes against their will, while in some cases women were also recruited with offers of work in military canteens and factories and subsequently forced to sexual service. It has been documented that the Japanese military itself recruited women by force.

The size and nature of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II is still being debated, especially in Japan. Many military brothels were run by private agents and supervised by the Japanese Army. Some Japanese historians, using the testimony of ex-comfort women, have argued that the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were either directly or indirectly involved in coercing, deceiving, luring, and sometimes kidnapping young women throughout Japan's Asian colonies and occupied territories.

Official position of the Japanese government

The 1998 UN report stated their understanding of Japan's legal position regarding compensation:

"Until the early 1990s, the Japanese government denied the extent of its involvement in the creation of comfort stations and the abuses committed against women (comfort women). The Japanese government has made various apologies since the early 1990s. One very notable apology was made by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in July of 1995 in which he specifically mentions the Japanese military’s involvement in crimes against comfort women. Though it has seemingly apologized repeatedly for these offenses, the Japanese government denies legal liability for the creation and maintenance of the system of “comfort stations” and comfort women used during WWII. The Japanese government has set up an Asia Women’s Fund which conveys Japan’s apologies for crimes committed against women during WWII through direct donations from the Japanese public. Despite this, according to the Japanese government, individual comfort women don’t deserve compensation."












...

I.

she had this kind of joy
evident in how she waved
her winged protest
... what she went through
i could never really know

and yet she had this joy

i wondered

if this was her retaliation
against japan

instead of returning their violence
and denial

she sat there
joyfully
waving a butterfly

korean comfort women

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The yellow (butterfly) sign reads 'Apologize to us on your knees'.