[Column] The “comfort women” issue is an issue of human rights of victimized Asian women

Posted on : 2022-05-03 17:49 KST Modified on : 2022-05-03 17:49 KST
If the Yoon administration once again recognizes the 2015 agreement, that would nullify the achievements that have been realized in raising awareness that the comfort women system was a system of military sexual slavery
A policy deliberation delegation sent to Japan by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a letter from Yoon to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 26. (provided by the delegation)
A policy deliberation delegation sent to Japan by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a letter from Yoon to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 26. (provided by the delegation)
By Min Pyong-gap, distinguished professor of sociology at Queens College

There were concerns before Yoon Suk-yeol was elected president of South Korea that in his diplomatic relations with Japan, he would accept Tokyo’s position that the military “comfort women” system was not an example of sexual slavery.

But then I saw a report (in the April 20 issue of the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper) that in a conversation with the press before Yoon even took office, his Minister of Foreign Affairs nominee Park Jin recognized the two sides’ 2015 intergovernmental agreement on the comfort women issue. Now those concerns seem to be becoming a reality.

The terms of the agreement presented jointly in late 2015 by the administrations of then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were that Tokyo would provide 1 billion yen for “projects to restore the dignity and honor of the comfort women and heal the scars in their hearts,” while Seoul would provide support funds to the survivors by means of a “Reconciliation and Healing Foundation.”

The South Korean government also said it would take appropriate action to deal with the placement of a statue symbolizing the victims in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, while both governments pledged to refrain from criticizing and condemning each other over the issue on the international stage. Park and Abe declared the comfort women issue to be “resolved finally and irreversibly” with the agreement.

With the agreement, the Park administration took it on itself to undercut the hard-won achievements of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop; now known as the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan), which had fought on the global stage for 25 years to raise awareness that the Japanese military’s comfort women system was a system of sexual slavery.

Its decision was also contrary to the resolution adopted by international human rights organizations insisting that the Japanese government meet seven demands in order to resolve the military sexual slavery issue.

The UN Commission on Human Rights, the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery, and other international human rights organizations made the following demands of Tokyo in their resolution: an investigation to determine the facts of the comfort women system; an acknowledgment that the comfort women system was a system of sexual slavery; a sincere apology for the suffering caused to the victims; compensation to the victims; punishment of those responsible for the comfort women system; informing Japanese students about the Japanese military sexual slavery system, including in history textbooks; and establishing a memorial to the comfort women to ensure that such misdeeds are never committed again.

The 2015 intergovernmental agreement satisfied none of these seven demands.

While it did include a pro forma apology from the Japanese government, that cannot be called a real apology, since it did not acknowledge the comfort women system to have been sexual slavery.

Many of the surviving victims received compensation equivalent to nearly US$100,000, but that money was not provided directly to them by the Japanese government. It was not “official” compensation, but rather a form of humanitarian assistance.

Also, there were serious problems with the procedures behind the agreement, which the Park administration discussed and reached with Tokyo unilaterally, without any consultation with the victims or groups working on their behalf.

Fortunately, the Moon Jae-in administration has been raising issues with the 2015 agreement ever since it took office, informing the Japanese government that the terms were unacceptable. This has led to a deep chill descending on South Korea-Japan relations, but it has also forced Tokyo to continue bearing a historical stigma with its false claims that the comfort women system was not sexual slavery.

If the Yoon administration once again recognizes the 2015 agreement, that would nullify the achievements that have been realized in raising awareness that the comfort women system was a system of military sexual slavery.

It would be tantamount to the government grievously insulting South Korea’s victims of military sexual slavery by acknowledging the arguments of Japan’s right wing, which has referred to the comfort women as “prostitutes” who volunteered their services to earn money.

Whenever there is an unfortunate history between individuals or countries, it is important to resolve things and reconcile. South Korea and Japan in particular are neighbors with an inextricably close relationship in both a historical and geographical sense.

But for reconciliation to happen, the guilty party first needs to acknowledge and sincerely apologize for their past faults. If South Korea-Japan relations are to improve, this needs to be predicated on the Japanese government acknowledging and apologizing for its historical misdeeds.

In international law, the guilty party’s acknowledgment of wrongs and sincere apology for them are seen as the most crucial preconditions for reconciliation. Unfortunately, the Japanese government has been trying to resolve the issue through diplomatic means and economic pressure, while ignoring its own historical criminal record.

The “comfort women” issue is not a matter of diplomacy between South Korea and Japan, but one of the human rights of victimized Asian women. The Yoon administration will need to bear this in mind and approach the issue in a more thoughtful way.

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

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