hankyoreh

Jan. 31. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Young-hee, staff reporter

At the 41st Angouleme International Comics Festival in France - the world’s largest event dedicated to comics - the truth about the horrors faced by the so-called comfort women (sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II), was expressed and condemned in pieces by Korean comic artists. The exhibition, titled “The Flower That Doesn’t Wilt: I’m the Evidence,” successfully opened after encountering some trouble, with a preliminary press conference being canceled.

The Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (KOMACON) announced on Feb. 2 that the work of 19 comic artists - including Lee Hyeon-se, Pak Jae-dong, Kim Gwang-seong, Cho Gwan-je, and Kim Geum-suk - had been displayed at the Angouleme Theater for four days, beginning on Jan. 30. Visitors to the exhibition said that it had been a chance to get a fresh look at the issue of the comfort women.

“Today I learned for the first time about this painful tragedy suffered by many people. Everyone in the world ought to know about these sad facts,” said French visitor Charlotte Henreman, according to KOMACON.

Another French visitor, Aurelian, said, “I was in the exhibition for six hours. It had a huge impact on me. But I was confused about why Koreans are still using the term of ‘comfort woman’ that was used by the Japanese army. It seems like ‘sex slave’ would be better than ‘comfort woman.’”

While there was an enthusiastic response to the exhibition, with more than 3,000 people visiting on the first day alone, the event garnered a heated response. The preliminary press conference scheduled to take place in Paris on Jan. 29 was canceled, and former comfort women were not invited to participate as had originally been planned. A Japanese NGO reportedly submitted to the festival organizers a petition signed by 12,000 people opposing the exhibition.

Asked during a press briefing on the festival grounds on Jan. 30 whether the Organizing Committee had felt that the exhibition could not be held unless the press conference in Paris was canceled, Committee Chair Franck Bondoux said that that was the case, appearing to acknowledge that there had been pressure.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry distributed a press release through its diplomatic mission in France expressing its deep concern that the object of the festival - seeking mutual understanding and promoting cordial relations - was being distorted by the comic exhibition about the comfort women promoted by the South Korean government. The cancellation of the press conference appears to be attributable to pressure from Japan and concerns on the part of the organizers that the press conference would look like a political event.

Since this year is the 100th anniversary of the First World War, Angouleme displayed quite a few comics dealing with condemnation of war and sexual violence suffered by women in wartime.

The comfort women comic exhibition, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, featured about twenty pieces, including “Japan Playing Innocent” by Lee Hyeon-se and “Secret” by Kim Geum-suk. The comic artists are members of KOMACON and the Alliance of Korean Comic Artists.

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