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Berlin district to keep 'comfort women' statue for now

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Relation between Germany and South Korea is stronger than the relation between Germany and Japan today. More South Korean business men are staying in Germany.

-9 ( +14 / -23 )

Germany is ally.

-24 ( +6 / -30 )

Good on Berlin,Japan can’t impose it’s right wing revisionism to a sovereign and well respected nation like Germany.

Betwem them we have one similarity and one big difference.

Economically they both are heavy weights countries but politically in the world prestige and influence Germany with Merkel plays a major role unlike Japan which is almost non existent.

And again all this emotional reaction of “boycott Germany” like the other day “we don’t buy Nike” shows how irrational and one eye sighted are the ultra nationalist revisionist.

No worries,people around the world will keep buying high quality German products.

-7 ( +27 / -34 )

@fighto!

Why does Germany want to join so many other nations and bully Japan?

Because Germany remembers WW2 crimes in full account unlike Japan, and what Japan is doing to deny history is totally unacceptable to mainstream German politicians.

Yes, Japan may have forgotten about its WW2 crimes, but Germany have not including Japan's crimes. To Germans, forced conscription of comfort women is a historical fact, not claims to be disputed.

Japan is alone in its history denial and no one sides with Japan on the issues of comfort women, Nanjing massacre, forced laborers(which included tens of thousands of British and American soldiers).

-12 ( +24 / -36 )

The Berlin Japanese embassy should refrain from wasting tax-payers money on political protesting.

-10 ( +18 / -28 )

I’m not surprised. Japan and Germany were enemies longer than they were allies. During the Sino-Japanese war in the 1930s, Hitler’s government sided with Chang Kai-shek and sold weapons and sent military advisers to China.

1 ( +17 / -16 )

@Mr. Noidall

I’ll do the same to the Germans and the whole Nazi thing.

There is nothing to hold of. Germany fully accepts the guilt of Nazi crimes, teaches them in vivid details to school children, and Angela Merkel said Germany was forever responsible for Nazi crimes.

If Japan followed Germany's examples, then most of Netouyos would be in prison right now, as history denial is a crime in Germany, and the very act of comfort women denial is a crime in Germany.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-709eqTPy5sU/WAiBzXENOCI/AAAAAAAALRU/dS2Ce9GLwkMVZNRH0H3YmfUtcPm0mu65ACLcB/s500/willybrandtwaehrenddeskniefallsvordemdenkmal.jpg

German chancellor Willy Brandt kneels to apologize to the Jews in Warsaw, Poland.

https://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.4107125!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

Merkel expresses ‘deep shame’ during first Auschwitz visit

-12 ( +19 / -31 )

Well done to Germany. It’s not going to help japan turn a blind eye to its own wartime atrocities, the rest of the world shouldn’t either.

-9 ( +18 / -27 )

Japan is alone in its history denial 

Not true. China likewise buries the history of Mao's atrocities, the Red Guards and Cultural Revolution among other things such as the Sino-Vietnam War and the Tiananmen Square massacre.

24 ( +33 / -9 )

BinYen wrote

I'd like to suggest that Tokyo put up a memorial to the millions of ordinary Eastern Europeans who were taken as slave labourers by the German Nazi regime in 1941-45

And I am sure that Germany would totally support such initiative as supports every anti nazi and fascist initiative from it's former enemy,many of these ultra right wingers put mouth on things they don't even know.

Willy Brandt kneeing as sign of sorrow and respect says all.

-14 ( +13 / -27 )

Samit BasuToday  07:55 am JST

@Mr. Noidall

I’ll do the same to the Germans and the whole Nazi thing.

There is nothing to hold of. Germany fully accepts the guilt of Nazi crimes, teaches them in vivid details to school children, and Angela Merkel said Germany was forever responsible for Nazi crimes.

If Japan followed Germany's examples, then most of Netouyos would be in prison right now, as history denial is a crime in Germany, and the very act of comfort women denial is a crime in Germany.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-709eqTPy5sU/WAiBzXENOCI/AAAAAAAALRU/dS2Ce9GLwkMVZNRH0H3YmfUtcPm0mu65ACLcB/s500/willybrandtwaehrenddeskniefallsvordemdenkmal.jpg

German chancellor Willy Brandt kneels to apologize to the Jews in Warsaw, Poland.

https://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.4107125!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

Merkel expresses ‘deep shame’ during first Auschwitz visit

Excellent post Samit,you summarized it very well.

>

-14 ( +14 / -28 )

Good. While a lot of cowards want this statute taken down because they'd rather avoid the truth of history, in doing so they would be neglecting to address abuse in general -- all for politics, and all in the name of cowardice and arrogance.

-13 ( +17 / -30 )

You don't have to be an ultranationalist revisionist to see the hypocrisy in a German city putting up a memorial to the Korean comfort women.

I cant see any hypocrisy. Germany has more memorials, statues and museums to remind the world of the atrocities of the Nazis, than any other nation in the world. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin is probably the most powerful.

Germany has permanently faced up to their history. I think this statue episide shows not all other nations have.

Let it stand.

-6 ( +17 / -23 )

If Japan were like Germany it would be quietly selling South Korea weapons subsidized by the Japanese tax payer as Germany does for Israel. The IDFs six Dolphin class subs and the four new SAAR 6 class corvettes are half paid for by the German tax payer. Most people are probably unaware of these financial arrangements.

17 ( +23 / -6 )

I'm not surprised. Japan and Germany were enemies longer than they were allies.

So if another country makes a decision that Japan does not like, that country is an enemy.

Real echo's of the 1930 's here.

-13 ( +11 / -24 )

Since the Koreans are so fond of commemorating war crimes, the Japanese also should follow suit by commemorating and setting up a few statue of their own in Vietnam to commemorate the Koreans rape of the pitiful Vietnamese. Japan can also help the Korean themselves in raising their people awareness of their govt hypocrisy by setting up memorials for the Koreans recruited to work in govt owned comfort stations during the Korean War.

https://www.e-ir.info/2019/03/07/inconsistencies-in-the-korean-comfort-women-narrative/#_ftnref2

The article above offer a good insight on the modern Koreans two-facedness.

12 ( +26 / -14 )

@Desert Tortoise

If Japan were like Germany it would be quietly selling South Korea weapons subsidized by the Japanese tax payer as Germany does for Israel. 

There is no Japanese weapon that Koreans want. Korea has surpassed Japan in all aspect of military industrial complex.

-17 ( +11 / -28 )

The article above offer a good insight on the modern Koreans two-facedness.

It seems to me there were really bad Japanese and also bad Koreans used poor women to make a lot of money during war time.

20 ( +22 / -2 )

No surprise here.

Japanese government time and again has failed on this issue and several others when dealing with S. Korea.

They respond after the statue is already up. With this kind of negotiations skills on Japan's part, is no surprise we gave them over 50 apologies and want more.

No surprise they backed out from Comfort Woman Deal they signed in 2015 as Final and Irreversible.

No surprise they allow bias SKorean Court Ruling to Seize Japanese Assets and try to sell them.

14 ( +22 / -8 )

Japan has no say on this issue. South Korean statue in Germany. You cant hide what happened by trying to remove memorial statues no matter where they are. The question is, if Japan has atoned for its past action, why does it not have its own statue of a comfort woman? Doing so may show regret and shut South Korea up a little. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So remember this and memorialize with your own statue, then South Korea can not accuse you of coverups or failure to atone.

-17 ( +8 / -25 )

Unfortunately, Koreans’ childish actions will continue.

8 ( +21 / -13 )

Relations between Germany and Israel are good because Israel is not South Korea!

The state of Israel has existed for a short amount of time. They never had problems with far away Germany until Hitler and the Nazi came to power.

Israel is not building Statues all over the world, not asking for compensation for a 3rd time or a 4th time. Not asking for apology number #52 and then the next day say it never happened.

Anti-Japan crowd never likes to talk about this difference between South Korea and Israel.

8 ( +18 / -10 )

Japanese government time and again has failed on this issue and several others when dealing with S. Korea.

Japanese and S Korean government actually and officially signed in 2015 as final and irreversible. It seems to me Japan did not fail at all but S Korean failed on the issue.

14 ( +20 / -6 )

The aim/focus of these bronze statues should encompass a commemorative/remembrance to the atrocities and unspeakable sexual violence committed by the Imperial Japanese Army 1941-1945. Lest we forget….

Let’s not beat around the bush, tip toe over the cornflakes of history.

Appalling Shōwa Era acts of depravation, and perfidy, ultimately resulting in crimes against humanity.

OK, let fast forward to modern day Japan.

It is not the political 21st century reasoning/propose behind the installation of these hideous bronze statues.

There is a cynical duplicitous political agenda at play to inflict/fan the flames of pugnacious belligerent retribution to a modern day japan, its culture, people, youth, to harbor hatred, so to force the bitterness and contempt onto future generations.

Modern day japan with the exception of a few, bullet headed, knuckle dragging right wing nut cases afforded undue media attention, are being used by the current South Korean Government to weaponize a political means so leverage, so defaming and subsequently hijacking the horror the now frail pensioner endured.

To hold modern day German politics up as some example of atonement of righting historic wrongs is at best naïve.

The spectacle of German chancellor Willy Brandt prostrate in front a memorial for the Jewish Uprising in 1943 is a masterclass in the art of the political apology.

Action speak louder than words, this is the reality….        

Germany owes Poland over $850 billion in WW2 reparations: senior lawmaker

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-germany-reparations-idUSKCN1S215R

Also ask yourselves, Modern day German political embraces a yearning to return to the past, reset the historic political clock……

Germany's AfD: How right-wing is nationalist Alternative for Germany?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37274201

13 ( +21 / -8 )

There is no Japanese weapon that Koreans want. Korea has surpassed Japan in all aspect of military industrial complex

Not true. Not true at all. Japanese built helos don't break rotor masts, crash and kill their aircrew and Japanese tanks don't have the transmission problems the K2 has. The Koreans still have to buy their engine and transmission from MTU as the Korean equivalents are still too unreliable while Japan designs and builds these components in house. The Type 10 has a CVT, the first to be used in a main battle tank. The South Koreans have suspended the use of their K9 Thunder 155mm howitzer pending the investigation of one blowing up. South Korea has quality problems with their military hardware.

11 ( +20 / -9 )

Mitte district mayor Stephan von Dassel said at the time that the group had been given permission to display a “peace statue” for one year as a “statement against sexualized violence against women in armed conflicts.” Instead, he said, the statue unveiled in September exclusively addresses the Japanese army's behavior in WWII.

Well, then the permission should be revoked, because the South Koreans (again) displayed a contempt for law. This statue is clearly designed to incite, if not hate, a desire to hurt Japanese. And what difference does it make if there is no hate but hurt happened. Hate is harmless, hurt is not.

ReasonandWisdomNipponToday 09:53 am JST

They respond after the statue is already up. With this kind of negotiations skills on Japan's part, is no surprise we gave them over 50 apologies and want more.

Yes, it would certainly have a better chance if Japan could quietly pre-empt the permission was issued in the first place. How much more should Japan spend in agent intelligence, so it can detect the actions of a sub-city level government?

Further, from the above information, the permission itself is rather hard to object to. The problem is Korean exploitation of that permission.

13 ( +21 / -8 )

The question is not requiring or demanding the statues removal.

Its the political motivation underlining, some 80 years after the event, it's appearance.

I don't believe for one minute it is a to commiserate/commemorate the suffering, or the genuine cause these comfort women endured.

15 ( +20 / -5 )

If Japan would keep quiet about this, I doubt anyone would actually be paying any attention to these statues. Also, the term "comfort woman" should be "sex slave".

-6 ( +11 / -17 )

Completely agree with Gokai.. here. Japan, once again shoots itself in the foot by giving it this kind of continuing interest.

I also agree that Japan Should themselves have a statue to the comfort women but we saw what happened when one was placed just in a temporary exhibition.

what does Japan regret most ? Having started the pacific war or having lost it ?

-12 ( +9 / -21 )

*Historians say tens of thousands of Korean women were lured or forced into sexual slavery at Japanese military-run brothels when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule in 1910-45. .*

*© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.*

.

I hope people makes sure where the news source comes from.

There it goes, a full of false propaganda again.

The way it writes sounds familiar. I know who wrote this article.

.

And... Historians? Who?

The truth is below.

The oppressed voice from Korean professors, which some media refuses to pick up.

.

[1] Korean History Textbook Research Institute

OPEN LETTER Our standpoint on the statue erected in Mitte Borough, Berlin

....We must face the fact that the “Statue of Peace” is a symbol of a distortion resulting from a combination of distorted facts and fabricated stories of comfort women....

.

http://www.sdh-fact.com/essay-article/1610/

.

[2]Professor Park Yuha of Sejong University

The myth "Korean comfort women were coerced by the Japanese military"

http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/summary-of-professor-park-yuhas-book.html

.

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2017/11/22/park-yuha-and-the-uncomfortable-realities-of-south-korean-democracy/

.

[3] Professor Lee Yong-Hoon 李栄薫 got assaulted by Korean nationalists after he said comfort women were prostitutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tygtzR9ARvM

.

He is the author of the book, Anti-Japan Tribalism(反日種族主義)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Japan_Tribalism

15 ( +20 / -5 )

gokai_wo_manekuToday  11:35 am JST

If Japan would keep quiet about this, I doubt anyone would actually be paying any attention to these statues. Also, the term "comfort woman" should be "sex slave".

Why do you think so? The Comfort Women (Ianfu) are called Comfort Women (Wianbu) in South Korea. Not only that, the South Korean women who served the US troops as camp following prostitutes are called "Comfort Women" in South Korea. The term "Sex Slave" was applied by the CW activists to invoke emotional reaction. Anyone familiar with present day human trafficking problem knows that the usage is wrong. Military Prostitutes is the correct term, as the debate is about how they got there, not what they were. You've been brainwashed if you believe otherwise.

11 ( +23 / -12 )

Germany has never addressed, apologized or atoned for it's own Military Prostitution System. There are no statues or memorials for the victims.

"According to records, at least 34,140 European women were forced to serve as prostitutes during the German occupation of their own countries along with female prisoners of concentration camp brothels. In many cases in Eastern Europe, teenage girls and women were kidnapped on the streets of occupied cities during German military and police round ups called łapanka or rafle."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_military_brothels_in_World_War_II

Berlin is hardly is a position to host this statute.

10 ( +22 / -12 )

what does Japan regret most ? Having started the pacific war or having lost it ?

It seems Japan doesn't regret any more. War was many decades ago. No more regret but the important thing is what Japan must/can do for the peaceful future. Japan moved on from miserable war and it has never made/started war for at least 75 years, hence no one and no soldiers died in battle and ever. War is against its constitution, except self-defense.

14 ( +18 / -4 )

The state of Israel has existed for a short amount of time. They never had problems with far away Germany until Hitler and the Nazi came to power.

The Nazis came to power before the state of Israel existed.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The political hypocrisy of Mitte district mayor Stephan von Dassel, plus his failure to get his own house in order is truly remarkable.

The numbers say of sexual violence defined as "collective or particularly degrading rape" committed in Belin between March and the beginning of July 2020 alone?

Go on, hazard a guess.

What say the numbers across Germany as a whole?

Number of rape and sexual assault cases recorded by police in Germany from 2008 to 2019….

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1107371/rape-and-sexual-assault-cases-number-police-record-germany/

And yet Mitte district mayor Stephan von Dassel policy and answer to combat Berlins appalling record levels of sexual violence against women is to allow a politically motived statue to throw crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army 1941-1945, into the faces of the people of modern-day Japan.

What about the conviction rate between modern day Germany and Japan?

Let’s say between Tokyo and Berlin?

The comparisons are revealing.

13 ( +18 / -5 )

Berlin is hardly is a position to host this statute.

Well argued OssanAmerica. Germany have no right to allow this statue to try and shame Japan, while they still have not apologized for their own system of WW2 military prostitutes. Germany was far, far worse than Japan in WW2.

Germany is showing they are no friend of Japan, and just another bully like Chna, North Korea, South Korea and Russia. Sick of countries always picking on Japan.

12 ( +20 / -8 )

here we go again.

it is easy to understand if people start seeing comfort women issue as human rights issue than political.

who are setting these statues up? korean government? no, its the human rights activists.

and yes, the same activists have statues setup for what skorean army did to the civilians during the vietnam war (vietnam pieta).

stop being so defensive people.

none of us are perfect.

-9 ( +5 / -14 )

marcelitoToday 12:44 pm JST

If a mere statue that is a reminder of the past causes so much " hurt" to Japanese what about the " hurt " those old Korean victims must feel? Yet the rightwingers here always dismiss it and tell them to "move on". Yet you can't " move on " past a statue.

When I say hurt, I did not mean mere "feelings" or "non-material" damage. Said statue is designed to persuade (incite) people to pressure Japan to pay out good money despite having made two payouts already. When that happens, Japanese are materially hurt.

To my mind, the West should stop spoiling the Koreans, like they are slowly learning to do with the Chinese. Once we break them of the idea that they "deserve" the money or any other new concession, then we might make some progress. The past is not more important than the present.

10 ( +18 / -8 )

These statues are not erected to promote indemnification, atonement, addressing past historic grievances, to strive for system of parlance, of seeking to find a route to absolution.

This is a cynically political motivated policy, purely to poison, tar and feather generation after generation to worship at the altar of belligerent hatred.

Only though education does one learn to forgive and understand fully how to redress past historic grievances.

16 ( +20 / -4 )

letsberealisticToday  12:29 am UTC

So, are you suggesting there is some worldwide conspiracy over generations of historians against Japan, and that these select 'Korean experts' that you found on a right-wing Japanese website are the truth?

I found on right-wing Japanese website? ?

You got to stop having the idea of "Japanese right wing, Blah! Blah!", believing the news these medias are feeding you.. You don't even know who wrote this APress article.

.

I have and read books written by these scholars.

This is about a history, the fact, documents, statistics, collecting truthful or false testimonies, the time consuming job which these Korean scholars went through while there are so many propagandas/ false information out there.

.

The lecture is available on YouTube. (Unfortunately currently only Korean and Japanese subtitle)

https://youtu.be/YTV_f_YyERk

13 ( +18 / -5 )

The statue is a symbol of propaganda and hate targeting solely a particular group of people, not a serious inquiry/reflection of the past, nor commitment to non-violence. Above all it's none of business to most Berliners.

It's good to know that Yoon Mee-hyang, a renown leader of the comfort women campaign got finally indicted over her embezzlement of the comfort women fund. Yet it's disappointing to see vocal and complacent Korean activists turn to remain silent or try to avoid facing the scandal. Inconvenient things are put under the rug. Hypocrisy and opportunism run deep.

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2020/09/14/national/socialAffairs/Yoon-Meehyang-Korean-Council-Lee-Yongsoo/20200914185500362.html

Overall, those radical campaigners (in civilian disguise) never want to resolve the issue, otherwise they would have to be dissolved, robbed of livelihood.

14 ( +21 / -7 )

Instead of making and spreading statues at a large expense, why not providing the money of the same amount directly to aged former comfort women? In fact, the activists have for long sabotaged such money provision as promised upon the 2015 agreement (and Yoon and others embezzled the fund).

Or I just wonder if they are trying to make statues a next major Korean export which may outperform semiconductors.... well, that's a thought :D

12 ( +18 / -6 )

@OssanAmerica

Germany has never addressed, apologized or atoned for it's own Military Prostitution System. There are no statues or memorials for the victims.

It's a relatively unknown or under-addressed truth. Let me also add that quite a lot of Germans became targets of sexual violence by the Allies (primarily Soviet Reds) during the Berlin downfall and the postwar occupation.

I wouldn't protest if the dispute statue is to highlight historical/ongoing violence against the women as a more universal theme, regardless of time and place. It'd be worth standing at a Berlin park. Unfortunately, that statue only spells out a particular historical event, done much far away from Berlin while neglecting any other equivalents or something more serious.

12 ( +17 / -5 )

The monument or "statue" allows Germans to feel better about themselves and their staggering number of war crimes...

9 ( +16 / -7 )

Me thinks South Korea doth protest too much

10 ( +17 / -7 )

Well argued OssanAmerica. Germany have no right to allow this statue to try and shame Japan, while they still have not apologized for their own system of WW2 military prostitutes. Germany was far, far worse than Japan in WW2.

Germany has every right to erect any statue it wants on it's sovereign soil.

Germany is showing they are no friend of Japan, and just another bully like Chna, North Korea, South Korea and Russia. Sick of countries always picking on Japan.

More echo's of the 1930's.

-9 ( +4 / -13 )

Also the Korean "comfort women" in Japan who serviced Japanese soldiers during the war had to service US soldiers during occupation. So they lost both ways.

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

Also the Korean "comfort women" in Japan who serviced Japanese soldiers during the war had to service US soldiers during occupation. So they lost both ways.

Can you prove they didn't willingly enlist their services? No? Didn't think so. ALL militaries in ALL wars in history have used the services of comfort girls/women. Why is Korea singling out Japan? Bullying, that's why.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

“Japan maintains that it has settled the issue with repatriations, but the country's wartime record continues to strain relations with its Asian neighbors.”

The dictionary says repatriation is the act or process of returning a person or thing to the country of origin.

Which is simply hilarious in this context.

Berlin has managed to become a member of a club of 20some ancient nations and politics are good at smoothing relations with neighbouring nations.

Thats progress.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

gokai_wo_manekuToday  06:08 pm JST

Also the Korean "comfort women" in Japan who serviced Japanese soldiers during the war had to service US soldiers during occupation. So they lost both ways.

They weren't "Korean" and they were recruited by the RAA. Let's stop making up complete nonsense shall we?

The Korean Comfort Women lost when they had to service the US troops during the 1950 Korean War. They also lost when the South Korean government refused to give the money they got from Japan along with an apology to them They also lost when South Korean activists who make a living off of their suffering take money that is due to them.

"South Korean prosecutors on Monday indicted the former leader of an advocacy group for victims of Japanese wartime sexual exploitation on charges of fraud and embezzlement."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-comfortwomen-idUSKBN2651GB

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Many of the comments here reveal a lamentable ignorance of the facts and an equally deplorable willingness to buy into group-thinking. I am a German-speaking Japanese citizen who has lived in Korea. I am fond of all three countries; I am not fond of self-righteous nationalism of any kind. In Germany, admirable efforts have been made to atone for the past, but then Germany has had an easier time of it. The French and the Poles, for example, have not made a cottage industry out of anti-German sentiment. An old and dear friend of mine, whose Jewish parents fled Germany in the nick of time, was once himself somewhat anti-German. Now he is quite proud of his German passport...If Japan were to sink into the sea tomorrow, the Koreans would still be railing about the evil Ilbon-nom a century from now. The Communist Chinese too bash Japan as a way of covering up their own mind-boggling atrocities. The "comfort-woman" issue has simply been mythologized. Pointing out that the term uianbu, Sino-Korean for ianfu, was used in reference to a program to "service" American GIs seems to fall on deaf ears. Is any kind of prostitution morally wrong? Of course it is! (I am looking forward to see how long it takes for me to get a dozen thumbs-down--or to find this message censored.)

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Is any kind of prostitution morally wrong? Of course it is! 

Thats very subjective, depending on your morals. Most nations and cultures, while not endorsing it, accept and allow prostitution. Including Japan, US, Germany and Korea. It has been around since these cultures/nations began. Which makes this whole issue so hypocritical of Germans and Koreans, who have traditionally utilized comfort women as much as if not more than Japan. I am very skepical of the honesty of German and Korean culture that they cannot accept this.

Where are the statues to commemorate the comfort women used by Koreans and Germans in theatres of war? Nowhere.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Some continue to try to deflect and incessantly try to change the topic from woman being forced to have sex to woman being paid to have sex. Given the testimonies, there were both. Some were paid and some were forced to serve hundreds of soldiers. It is the latter that the statues and the article are all about.

“Military prostitutes” and “comfort woman” are all attempts to deflect by those who continue to try and deny the existence of sex slaves whenever the atrocity is mentioned.

So unfortunately, no they were not all prostitutes. The topic isn’t prostitution which existed. The topic is the comfort women forced to have sex with soldiers one right after another.

Try and stay on topic.

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

This has nothing to do with Germany itself, it was a wrong decision by a tiny credulous left Green Party mayor of a part of Berlin who got successfully tricked. He has no guts to stand up for the right thing to remove the statue after finding out about the wrong application contents and rather buckles down to the famously known crying of Koreans. The goal is clear to keep the ugly statue up also after August next year. Federalism in Germany prevents higher administrative offices to interfere here. Only a strong reaction of opposing groups may work here. Unfortunately due to the perfect Korean wave coordinated by their government this is difficult since one would be stigmatized to glorify war crimes. Remember Berlin is run by a coalition of Left (direct descendant of the Marxist-Leninistruling party of the former East Germany), Green (Left oriented environmental party) and Red (cenbter-Left Social Democrats). No chance for an intervention there.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

Bottom line:

German kids learn the whole truth about their country's war atrocities.

Japanese kids are blissfully unaware of theirs.

Thanks a lot, Nippon Kaigi and LDP.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

Frankly speaking, I think most German are not so interested in this issue.

According to the investigation of BBC in 2017, view of S. Korea influence in Germany is as follows;

Mainly negative: 32%

Mainly positive :11% (worst in the investigation)

The rest may be not so interested in S. Korea.

Germany was the worst country for S. Korea from the viewpoint of positive assessment based on the BBC investigation.

https://globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/bbc2017_country_ratings/BBC2017_Country_Ratings_Poll.pdf

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

This has nothing to do with Germany itself, it was a wrong decision by a tiny credulous left Green Party mayor of a part of Berlin who got successfully tricked. He has no guts to stand up for the right thing to remove the statue after finding out about the wrong application contents and rather buckles down to the famously known crying of Koreans.

From what I heard, they were going to get rid of the statue until the Korean wife of a more powerful politician had her husband put pressure on the mayor to keep it.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Some continue to try to deflect and incessantly try to change the topic from woman being forced to have sex to woman being paid to have sex. Given the testimonies, there were both. Some were paid and some were forced to serve hundreds of soldiers. It is the latter that the statues and the article are all about.

I partly agree, and this view seems to be fairer. Unfortunately, radical Korean activists would like to count and categorise all of them as "sex slave" while Japanese far rightwing might want to call them "sex workers". I assume that the truth lies somewhere in between, and there must have been a big diversity regarding women's profiles as well as surrounding conditions. "Comfort women" is an convenient term, yet also containing a risk of missing details and variations.

Despite decades-old investigative efforts, unconfirmed info and disagreement among serious experts and scholars still exist regarding the comfort women, namely their total numbers, country/ethnicity of origin, working status, recruitment process/kidnapping allegation, the Japanese army's degree of involvement, etc. And of course, with this being into perspective, the comfort woman is more a ubiquitous, universal phenomenon, not merely an issue limited between Japan and Korea. I kindly ask lay audiences, if interested, to try to learn deeply with a cool head, not to jump to a simple explanation or conclusion.

“Military prostitutes” and “comfort woman” are all attempts to deflect by those who continue to try and deny the existence of sex slaves whenever the atrocity is mentioned.

I disagree. The term "comfort women" is neutral and official, for even the Korean government and mainstream media use it. The term "sex slaves" is also highly provocative and biased, failing to grasp the whole real picture, the point I've just noted above.

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German kids learn the whole truth about their country's war atrocities.

Not true. Many Germans are unaware of the world's first genocide committed by the German empire in Africa which has been hushed up for years.

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world's first genocide committed by the German empire in Africa which has been hushed up for years.

Sigh. There were genocides thousands of years before the German Empire existed. The history of man is filled with them.

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The German-Herero conflict of 1904-07 was the first genocide of the 20th Century, just for the sake of clarity. It should be noted that the casualties in the US Civil War were about six times greater than the casualties of the German-Herero conflict The Mongols killed about 800,000 when they sacked Baghdad in 1258. During the Qing Dynasty the population of China decreased from 100 million to about 14 million.

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The Nazis came to power before the state of Israel existed.

Am genuinely curious as to why some people apparently disagree with this, and what their reasoning is?

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The more a country denies her past the more the past will haunt her future generations in a perpetual motion.

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kokontozai may well be right about general German indifference. When I asked an old friend about the statue controversy, he replied that he had never heard of it--and he has a Japanese daughter-in-law in Berlin and, before COVID-19, was often here in Japan. (It might be remembered that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's fifth wife is Korean.)

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As a Korean, I am sick of Korea's obsession over anything Japan did seventy years ago. To the Germans, it may be a sign of remembrance of war, but to Korea, it's just another victory for its anti-Japan agenda.

Three months ago, it was discovered a Korean activist group was embezzling money meant for the surviving comfort women.

Before that, a district tried to put stickers in classrooms saying “This device was made by a war criminal”, not to mention the nationwide boycott of Japanese products where even gas stations refused to refuel Japanese cars. The hypocrisy and lack of sincerity makes me ashamed to be Korean.

Remembering victims of war is one thing. Indoctrinating children to hate is another.

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Germans don't even know that this is a statue of a girl who was run over by an American tank. When the Korean applied for this statue, he said, "It is a work of art and a gift for Mitte". They misrepresented that the title of the statue was "Statue of Peace". 

If Mitte is evil for all war crimes, that's fine. Next to this statue, let's build a statue of Rydayhan, the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb, and a gas chamber at Auschwitz. That's what you Germans are trying to do to Japan.

Germany did not think that it was a country which influenced the vote because the bride was said by the pre-prime minister of the South Korean. It's very disappointing. There is now a movement around the world to remove this statue of a Korean comfort woman. The reason is that China always eats into the assembly in the region. The organization promoting the installation of the comfort women statue in South Korea is a Chinese organization. Therefore, it is removed one after another all over the world. Governments and parliaments will not allow new ones to be created. Are Germans sparse in information?

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Historians say tens of thousands of Korean women were lured or forced into sexual slavery at Japanese military-run brothels when the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule in 1910-45.

It was NOT just exclusively Kankokujin. If you can still find the book below (suppressed), you will get a well researched portrayal of the life of JAPANESE COMFORT WOMEN taken by these same psychopaths and forced into relentless sexual slavery. I cannot even think of this book without a sob at least forming in my throat...

"Sandakan Brothel No. 8: An Episode in the History of Lower-Class Japanese Women" by Tomoko Yamazaki (translation by Karen F. Colligan-Taylor), 1998.

Do not expect to be quite the same person after finishing this book. Like most books which expose the real mentalities and behaviors of our ruling psychopaths, this book is difficult to find. If you are to have any valid opinion in this discussion, this book is a MUST READ. If Japanese women really became generally aware of what was done to them by the generals and their government during the dominance of the "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere", I think the whole issue would vanish and Japan would shut up and own up to the sins of their fathers. The word 'heinous' would be a white wash for what the generals did to these poor women.

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@suomitheway: German kids learn the whole truth about their country's war atrocities.

Not true. Many Germans are unaware of the world's first genocide committed by the German empire in Africa which has been hushed up for years.

As long as we're talking about genocides (apparently permitted here), we can talk about the long history of Human genocide which is much of Human history, or we could discuss Human History's LARGEST GENOCIDE, the programmed genocide of the Native Americans of North America. And, for those women, rape was the least they suffered at the hands of Government military psychopaths and Christian invaders ("honest settlers"), murderers all. I suppose people do not read history because their delusions are so much more comfortable than what we, Humans, really do to each other. And trying to justify one psychopathic episode by pointing to and accusing another just paints the whole Human monkey farm as wholly pathological because no national history on this planet is free of shame. It is our lot as Humans. We need to be honest about it or, as Hiro S Nobumasa above sez: "The more a country denies her past the more the past will haunt her future generations in a perpetual motion."

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