International Organizations work in various ways to settle the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of women worldwide
- 6 years ago
South Korea isn't the only country that suffered from Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
Victims also came from other countries including.... China, the Philippines... and the Netherlands.
And with the issue still unresolved,.... many international organizations are fighting in their own ways for a sincere apology from Japan.
Lee Ji-won reports.
As many as 410-thousand women and girls around the world are estimated to have been kidnapped and forced to serve Japanese soldiers at military brothels during World War Two.
They never received a sincere apology or legal compensation from the Japanese government.
That's why international civic groups are working for their cause,... and to ensure such atrocities are never repeated again.
One such organization is the Asian Solidarity Conference for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, working across 8 victim countries.
"We've been meeting since 1992,... and have been carrying out a range of activities like helping countries set up comfort women statues. In 2000, the conference successfully opened the Women's international War Crimes Tribunal on the comfort women issue in Japan,.... and it deemed Japan's late Emperor Hirohito and others guilty for their knowing participation in the crimes."
Another group works to remember this brutal chapter in history by having related documents registered in UNESCO's Memory of the World list.
They include historical evidence, testimony and paintings produced by the victims.
More than 27-hundred records were submitted from 8 countries in 2016.
But last year, UNESCO decided to postpone the listing, when a Japanese civic group submitted similar documents with contrasting interpretations... which drew criticism.
"The U.S. withdrew from UNESCO last year, and Japan, the next biggest donor, held back its payment,... pressuring UNESCO to decide in favor of Tokyo. We even got testimony from expert panels that the Japanese government lobbied them to block this registry."
For now, Han says that the international body has nominated a mediator for the talks it recommended and that details will soon be announced.
The issue is still far from resolved, and settling it won't be easy.
"There hasn't been much progress in getting a sincere apology from Japan. This can be seen in the fact that they do not include this history in their textbooks. And with many of the victims over 90 years old now, more needs to be done for them."
But activists say they will continue to speak out.
"This is not just a problem of history, or of Japan's imperialism, but of human rights. We must remember the painful past and the efforts made to overcome the destruction of war. We have to teach correct history and make sure it does not happen again."
Victims also came from other countries including.... China, the Philippines... and the Netherlands.
And with the issue still unresolved,.... many international organizations are fighting in their own ways for a sincere apology from Japan.
Lee Ji-won reports.
As many as 410-thousand women and girls around the world are estimated to have been kidnapped and forced to serve Japanese soldiers at military brothels during World War Two.
They never received a sincere apology or legal compensation from the Japanese government.
That's why international civic groups are working for their cause,... and to ensure such atrocities are never repeated again.
One such organization is the Asian Solidarity Conference for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, working across 8 victim countries.
"We've been meeting since 1992,... and have been carrying out a range of activities like helping countries set up comfort women statues. In 2000, the conference successfully opened the Women's international War Crimes Tribunal on the comfort women issue in Japan,.... and it deemed Japan's late Emperor Hirohito and others guilty for their knowing participation in the crimes."
Another group works to remember this brutal chapter in history by having related documents registered in UNESCO's Memory of the World list.
They include historical evidence, testimony and paintings produced by the victims.
More than 27-hundred records were submitted from 8 countries in 2016.
But last year, UNESCO decided to postpone the listing, when a Japanese civic group submitted similar documents with contrasting interpretations... which drew criticism.
"The U.S. withdrew from UNESCO last year, and Japan, the next biggest donor, held back its payment,... pressuring UNESCO to decide in favor of Tokyo. We even got testimony from expert panels that the Japanese government lobbied them to block this registry."
For now, Han says that the international body has nominated a mediator for the talks it recommended and that details will soon be announced.
The issue is still far from resolved, and settling it won't be easy.
"There hasn't been much progress in getting a sincere apology from Japan. This can be seen in the fact that they do not include this history in their textbooks. And with many of the victims over 90 years old now, more needs to be done for them."
But activists say they will continue to speak out.
"This is not just a problem of history, or of Japan's imperialism, but of human rights. We must remember the painful past and the efforts made to overcome the destruction of war. We have to teach correct history and make sure it does not happen again."