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Kwon Hyun-woo, secretary-general of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation, speaks at the 1,582nd Wednesday Demonstration held outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Feb. 8. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

One day after the verdict was announced in a damages lawsuit filed against the government by a survivor of civilian massacres perpetrated by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War, the 1,582nd Wednesday Demonstration for the Resolution of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Issue was held near the former Japanese Embassy in Seoul’s Jongno District on Wednesday.

The verdict was welcomed during the demonstration organized by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, which established the Butterfly Fund in 2013 to aid the victims of sexual violence by Korean troops during the Vietnam War, as well as the victims’ children.

“Through this ruling, the Republic of Korea has been granted an opportunity to stand tall as a human rights state, instead of following in the footsteps of Japan, which denies its war crimes,” the Korean Council said.

Lee Yong-soo, a survivor of Japan’s “comfort women” system of sexual slavery, bows before the “Vietnam Pieta” after laying flowers to honor those killed in the Vietnam War during the launch ceremony for the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation held at the St. Franciscan Education Center in Seoul on April 27, 2016. The “Vietnam Pieta” statue unveiled that day was created by Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Eun-sung, the artist couple behind the “Statue of Peace” for comfort women, and is meant to comfort the spirits of women and children massacred by Korean troops. (Kim Tae-hyeong/The Hankyoreh)

“This ruling will long be remembered in the human rights community in the Republic of Korea. We sincerely hope it will be an opportunity to conduct a full accounting of the civilian massacres during the Vietnam War and to force the government to officially acknowledge those massacres, officially apologize, and provide legal compensation,” said Lee Na-young, chair of the Korean Council.

“While bearing in mind the courage of Nguyen Thi Thanh, Kim Bok-dong, and Yang Geum-deok, we will never falter in our solidarity or our efforts to make their fervent dreams a reality,” she added, naming the Vietnamese woman who recently won her damages case, a survivor of Japan’s “comfort women” system who went on to become human rights activist, and a survivor of Japan’s forced labor mobilization who stood as a plaintiff in a compensation suit against Japan.

A collection of photos from the Butterfly Fund’s “peace trip” to Vietnam in January 2019. (from the Korean Council website)

“The issues of the Vietnam War and the comfort women for the Japanese imperial army have always been interconnected and have influenced each other, and they will continue to do so in the future,” said Kwon Hyun-woo, secretary-general of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation, while noting that Nguyen Thi Thanh had been encouraged through her meetings with the former comfort women.

Kwon appealed to the people at the demonstration to keep showing their solidarity and support going forward.

Participants in the 1,582nd Wednesday Demonstration on Feb. 8 hold up signs calling for a formal apology and legal compensation from Japan for victims of the “comfort women” system. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Kwon Hyun-woo, secretary-general of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation, speaks at the 1,582nd Wednesday Demonstration held outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Feb. 8. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

By Kim Hye-yun, staff reporter

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