hankyoreh

Dec. 30. (photo by Shin So-young

“I’m still only 88 years old. I have to bring peace to the souls of the comfort women who have already gone to heaven. I can do it.”

Lee Yong-soo, a former comfort woman herself, made this vow while standing on stage at the weekly Wednesday demonstration in front of the Japanese embassy. The names of the nine former comfort women who have passed away this year had just been recited - Hwang Seon-sun, Lee Hyo-sun, Kim Oe-han, Kim Dal-seon, Kim Yeon-hee, Choi Geum-seon, Park Yu-nyeon, Choi Gap-sun, and another woman only identified by the surname Park.

“Why is the government making us suffer over and over again by calling this the ‘final settlement’?” Lee said. For a moment, she was overtaken by sobs, but she managed to say, “I will keep fighting until the end, until the end.”

Another comfort woman, Gil Won-ok, 87, who was standing to the side watching the crowd, wiped away tears as well.

On Dec. 30, the year’s last Wednesday demonstration - a weekly rally demanding an official apology and legal compensation from the Japanese government on the issue of the comfort women, who were forced to serve as sex slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army - took place in front of a statue of a young girl symbolizing the comfort women, which is located across from the Japanese embassy in Seoul’s Jongno district.

Former comfort women Gil Won-ok (left) and Lee Yong-soo cry while listening to attendees’ remarks at this year’s last weekly demonstration in support of the comfort women in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul’s Jongno district

This week, the meeting took the form of a memorial service for the comfort women who had died this year. Although the meeting was the first after the South Korean and Japanese governments reached an agreement on the comfort women issue on Dec. 28, participants raised their voices in peace and hope, rather than in rage and despair.

Organizers estimated that around a thousand people from all walks of life attended the demonstration, while police put the figure around 700. Along with former comfort women Lee Yong-soo and Gil Won-ok, there were elementary students and politicians like Lee Jong-kul, floor leader for the Minjoo Party of Korea, and Rep. Park Won-suk with the Justice Party.

“After I returned from a visit to her grave last spring, my mother appeared to me in a dream. She said that she had endured a hard life ever since she was forced onto a truck early in the spring of the year she turned 17, and she asked me to promise her I would keep fighting until the wrongs she had suffered were made right,” said Lee Dong-ju, 64, the son of Lee Hyo-sun, a comfort woman who passed away in May. On stage, Lee recited “Samogok,” a poem he wrote in memory of his lost mother, while gazing at her photo.

“I will keep my promise with my mother and fight for victory,” Lee said.

After the Wednesday demonstration, efforts continued to bring about a genuine resolution to the comfort women issue. First of all, groups of young people agreed to join a campaign to protect the statue of the young girl.

In response to remarks by South Korean government officials about finding an “appropriate solution to the statue of the young girl,” the Peace Butterfly Network and other groups of young people dedicated to resolving the comfort women issue will be holding candlelit vigils in front of the statue every day at 6 pm through Jan. 6, 2016, which will mark the 24th anniversary of the Wednesday demonstrations.

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop) will also keep trying to convince Japan to make a meaningful apology and to accept legal responsibility.

“We have decided to set up a network of young girl statues around the country and to hold the Wednesday demonstrations in rotation at each of these locations around the country. We will also be setting up an international alliance and building statues everywhere in the world where there are human rights violations,” said Yoon Mee-hyang, co-representative of Jeongdaehyeop.

“Even where justice has been overturned, we will show that we are able to walk down the path of peace and hope with a smile of joy on our faces,” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Democratic Public Action and the Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea organized a press conference in front of the statue and denounced the agreement between the two governments.

“While the statue does convey criticism of Japan, it’s supposed to make us reflect on how we treated the comfort women for such a long time. It would be absurd for us to remove the statue at Japan’s request. The heels of the statue have yet to touch the ground,” said Kim Woon-seong, the artist who designed the statue.

The Association of Writers for National Literature (AWNL), an organization of progressive writers, also issued a statement criticizing the agreement and calling for it to be scrapped.

By Bang Jun-ho, staff reporter