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whose main readers are lawmakers and staff in Congress and the White House.

Korean-Americans ran an advertisement in the Mar. 18 issue of American political newspaper The Hill opposing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s address to a joint session of Congress.

The advertisement, which was sponsored by “individuals demanding historical responsibility for WWII war crimes from the Japanese government,” says that “Mr. Abe must apologize to the victims of military sexual slavery by Imperial Japan during WWII [. . .] before seeking a speech to a joint session of US Congress.”

Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE), an organization that represents the interests of Korean-Americans, took the lead in collecting donations from Korean-American organizations and designing the advertisement.

The ad features photos of Dutch-Australian Jan Ruff O’Herne and Korean Lee Yong-soo, both former comfort women, testifying before Congress in 2007 and notes that, thanks to their testimony, the US House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution about the comfort women.

Next to a picture of Abe paying his respects at the Yasukuni Shrine in Dec. 2013, the ad says, “Mr. Abe must vow to cease his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where 14 Class A war criminals, including those responsible for the Pearl Harbor attacks, are enshrined as war hereos [sic] and gods.”

The ad also notes that Abe must “accept responsibility for Japan’s war crimes before addressing US Congress.”

In the middle of February, Korean-American organizations released an official statement opposing the idea of Abe speaking to Congress and started a petition, collecting around 6,000 signatures thus far.

KACE intends to bring the advertisement and petition on visits to around 50 offices of US representatives to communicate the view of Korean-Americans.

The fundraising for the petition is continuing at the website of the Korean American Forum (kafus.org).

Abe, who will be paying an official visit to the US at the end of April, hopes to become the first Japanese prime minister to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress. Abe will only be able to make the speech if he receives an official invitation from John Boehner, the Speaker of the House.

In a related story, US soldiers who were taken prisoner by the Japanese military during World War II are arguing that Abe should not be allowed to speak before Congress until he apologizes for Japan’s war crimes.

Jan Thomson, the president of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society, an organization that honors American prisoners of war, sent letters to the House and Senate Committees on Veteran Affairs on Mar. 17.

In the letters, Thomson said that the speech would provide Abe with a unique opportunity to acknowledge Japan’s responsibility for its past.

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]