South Korean ‘comfort women’ continue to fight sex slavery accord with Japan
‘We are not fighting because we need money, but for Japan’s apology’
One year after the deal between Korea and Japan over sex slavery crimes committed by the Japanese military during the second world war, surviving victims in Korea are still fighting to nullify the accord and get what they call a real apology.
At the weekly protest condemning Japan’s wrongdoings on Wednesday across from the Japanese Embassy and in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul, former comfort woman Kim Bok-dong, 91, said the accord has no value.
“We will not accept anything until the Japanese government first apologises sincerely,” Kim said. “It’s nonsense what President Park Geun-hye has done for this problem.”
In a verbal agreement on December 28, 2015, the two governments agreed the sexual slavery issue would be resolved for good. It was agreed the Japanese government would offer 1 billion yen (9.6 million won, or US$7,953) to the Korean government, and Seoul would stop raising the issue internationally.
In July, the Korean government founded the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation to distribute the money to survivors and has been persuading them to accept the money. At that time of the agreement, 46 victims remained alive, with 34 saying they would receive the money, 100 million won (US$83,082) each.
“They needed money for their families or to cover their medical expenses,” an activist supporting the victims said.
Over the year, seven of the 46 died. Of the surviving 39, 11 are refusing the money and Kim is one of them. “We don’t need that money,”Kim said. “We are not fighting because we need money, but for Japan’s apology. President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Affairs Minister Yun Byung-se should resign for making the poor deal.”
