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Former comfort woman Lee Yong-su renounces former Korean Council chair Yoon Mee-hyang for misusing funds during a press conference at the Hotel Inter Burgo in Daegu on May 25. (photo pool)

In a second press conference on May 25, Lee Yong-su, a survivor of sexual slavery under the Japanese military as a “comfort woman,” asked, “What right do they have to use the comfort women?” Her question was directed at recently elected lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang for the Together Citizens’ Party (a Democratic Party satellite) and the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council; formerly known as Jeongdaehyeop and Justice for the Comfort Women).

Recalling a relationship with Yoon that stretched back nearly 30 years to when she first reported her victimization in 1992, Lee claimed that Yoon and Jeongdaehyeop had “used” the survivors, and that the funds raised by the group were not properly used for the survivors’ benefit. “Jeongdaehyeop used the [comfort women survivors], having us suffer and sending us this way and that, and then they went to the cemetery to shed tears. Those were fake tears,” she even said at one point. She also accused Yoon of “claiming personal gains and then taking it upon herself to serve as a proportional representative in the National Assembly.”

Numerous allegations regarding Yoon and the Korean Council’s operation have been raised since Lee’s first press conference on May 7. They have kept coming almost on a daily basis: accusations of accounting improprieties, the purchase of the Anseong “healing center” at above-market prices, and the use of donation funds sent to Yoon’s personal bank account. The 30-year history of the campaign for the comfort women’s human rights has suffered a major blow, and the public’s trust has been undermined. This is all deeply dismaying.

The political attacks have also been heating up. After ratcheting up its offensive with mention of a “parliamentary investigation” of Yoon, the United Future Party (UFP) held an inaugural meeting on May 25 for its “comfort women investigation task force.” The Democratic Party, for its part, has maintained that verification of the facts is paramount, stating that it will “decide its position after seeing the outcome of the prosecutors’ investigation.” The Korean Council was supposed to be scrutinized by an external accounting firm, but with the prosecutors having already launched their investigation, the key to the facts would appear to be in their hands now. The prosecutors will need to undertake a fair and prompt investigation that is free from any political considerations.

Regardless of how the prosecutors’ investigation goes, however, Yoon Mee-hyang and the Korean Council will need to provide honest answers to Lee’s questions. The claims she made may be one-sided and come from a place of intense emotion, but it is not good for Yoon and the Korean Council to remain silent. Trust in the campaign for the comfort women’s human rights is eroding, and they cannot afford to leave the situation alone for the South Korean and Japanese far right to take advantage of in their attempts to rewrite history. Yoon in particular should take responsibility and personally answer Lee’s accusations.

This situation should be seen as an invaluable opportunity to look back on what has been missing from the 30-year campaign for the comfort women’s human rights and develop it into an even more meaningful movement. In her May 25 press conference, Lee said, “This is about changing the way things are done, not ending [the campaign].”

She also stressed that Japan “must still apologize and provide compensation for the comfort women issue even if a thousand or ten thousand years pass,” while insisting that this will require “students in both South Korean and Japan to learn the proper history.” In a separate press conference statement, she wrote, “Going forward, the movement will need to follow three principles: citizen leadership, carrying on the achievements of the 30-year struggle, and ensuring transparency in the process.” Activists, survivors, and members of the public will need to be united toward the creation of a new path forward.

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