politics

South Korea court convicts 'comfort women' activist of embezzling donations

48 Comments
By Hyonhee Shin

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At it again with this non sense story!

It is NOT a "nonsense story". Did you even read it?

In fact the judgement is proof that the "comfort women" issue has always been about lining the pockets of a few greedy people.

Just a shame this corrupt politician was not jailed.

22 ( +36 / -14 )

Not a great look ‘activists’. Actively pocketing the dough.

12 ( +20 / -8 )

"...a lawmaker who led an activist group for victims of Japanese wartime sexual exploitation."

So, this Lawmaker high jacked the activist group. However in Korea this issue is very important to them even to this day and should be respected.

It's terrible that one person used this issue as a way to make money.

...the fight continues.

-9 ( +9 / -18 )

Is not even strange these kind of things happen. Funds are always being embezzle by others. Especially donations. And here we have this cancer Unification Church that is taking advantage of people donation too to live a luxurious lifestyle.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

So, this Lawmaker high jacked the activist group. However in Korea this issue is very important to them even to this day and should be respected.

A segment of the body politic in South Korea has been exploiting the plight of the comfort women for votes and to accrue political power.

16 ( +17 / -1 )

Since the 1990s CW "Activist Groups" (with the Chongdaehyup being most prominent) have been the main driving force behind the CW movement. Speaking for the CW, coaching the survivors in giving testimony. Some in South Korea have held that they have links to North Korea. True or not, there is no doubt that the CW issue has been played well enough to act as a successful detriment to the US-SK-JPN military posture towards NK.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

This is largely Yoon's legal victory.

Out of 6 charges, she was found not guilty on 5, partially guilty on single count.

Yoon will try to get the last remaining partial conviction thrown out in the appeals and she does stand a good chance of doing so.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

Oh, Yoon was charged on 8 counts, found NOT GUILTY on 7 and single partial conviction. And she gets to keep her seat.

Legal observers are calling this a total blow out on the part of the prosecutors overseen by President Yoon while he was the Chief of Prosecutor's Office.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

This 'flavour-of-the-week' news story is likely to be done to death in Japanese media more than usual.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Unfortunately so many of the reparation or compensation movements attract grifters

7 ( +7 / -0 )

@Wakarimasen

Unfortunately so many of the reparation or compensation movements attract grifters

But Yoon is not such a grifter, the court examining the book found the comfort women foundation was operated normally and they couldn't find anything wrong with its funding and operation.

The only charge where Yoon was found guilty was the practice of having accepted some donations through her private account and had donations mixed up with her private fund, so they couldn't account $13,000 out of $85,000 or so donations. The rest were accounted for.

Yoon claims she can account for $13,000 discrepancy and have the last remaining partial conviction overthrown in the Appeals court.

President Yoon is getting the flacks for pursuing such a weak case with no evidence like this while he was the Chief of the Prosecutor's Office.

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

The South Korean government embezzled money given by Japan to comfort women.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

15 million won is only worth $11,000? Geez. Why not redenominate if 1 won is essentially worthless ($0.001 or ¹/10¢)?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

...the fight continues.

Seriously, I don't think so..

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Looks,like the Korean legal system is just as corrupt as th Japanese one of this is all this gutter rat gets!

6 ( +9 / -3 )

In fact the judgement is proof that the "comfort women" issue has always been about lining the pockets of a few greedy people.

Makes about as much sense as saying the entire Jiminto apparatus is one enormous grift. On second thoughts……

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Please don't let the last remaining frail pensioners, comfort women genuine plight be sacrificed by the greed of Yoon Mee-hyang.

Found to be guilty of quote....

The Seoul Western District Court said Yoon embezzled at least 17 million won ($13,500) of group funds raised through donations.

Samit Basu, Yoon Mee-hyang is a bad apple, to attempt to deflect Yoon Mee-hyang guilt adds insult to injury for the ageing survivors that I believe need closure.

The Japan Government has, where the comfort women are concerned. offered a settlement.

It is long overdue to both Government for the sake of generations to come to move on however painful.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

the fight continues.

We in Japan are ready for it! Bring it on!!!!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

When will they end this. How much compensation do they want. Time to forget.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

You know, those now frail pensioners have been wheeled out and cynically used as political battering rams.

Japan is a nation of peace loving people devoted to a constitution at present would never engage in war.

Yet can that be said for the Government of China, NK, or Russia.

Japan is a sitting target, hounded by regimes and despots unable or politically unwilling to face the further and so wallow in a poisonous past.

Think carefully, how many cheeks will the people of Japan turn before the country finally accepts that there neighbours are welded to a past that maybe threaten Japan very existence?

3 ( +7 / -4 )

When will they end this. How much compensation do they want. Time to forget.

Japan needs to be honest about their past and they are not.

-9 ( +7 / -16 )

Desert Tortoise,

That is comment is disingenuous.

Certainly there is latitude necessary to reflect in the education system.

However, to generalise that Japan should be honest about historic military imperialism in a modern day 21st century society, where now over 80% not even born is inequitable

7 ( +13 / -6 )

Desert TortoiseToday  11:20 am JST

When will they end this. How much compensation do they want. Time to forget.

Japan needs to be honest about their past and they are not.

I think Japan is far more honest about their past than China.

7 ( +13 / -6 )

We trust the decisions made by the Japanese government in order to protect the interests of the Japanese people in the long run. We trust that Japan will lead Asia into peace.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

LoveJapanToday  11:03 am JST

This isolated incident does not necessarily characterise all efforts to make Japan more accountable for its war crimes. If you have a particular native to spin, maybe it does.

Japan has already beenheld accountable for it's war crimes at the International Tribunal for the Far East, where a large number of defendants were charged, tried and convicted as Class A, B and C War Criminals. At the time, Military Prostitution was not illegal, and neither Japan nor Germany (who also has such ssystem) were charged. BTW France also had such a system. The Comfort Women issue began in the early 1990s,

5 ( +13 / -8 )

@OssanJapan

 Class A, B and C War Criminals.

LDP claims Tokyo trial War criminals aren't criminals under Japanese law, thus Tojo Hideki and Co are deserving of LDP lawmaker's paying respects at Yasukuni.

Doesn't sound like the repenting bunch unlike Germany.

At the time, Military Prostitution was not illegal

But dragging women off the street at gunpoint is.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

The far-right in Japan must be celebrating in the streets!

However, two wrongs do not make a right!

Japan still forced men, women, and girls from all over Asia to be slaves and to be sexually abused or worse by Japanese citizens!

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Think carefully, how many cheeks will the people of Japan turn before the country finally accepts that there neighbours are welded to a past that maybe threaten Japan very existence?

Japan’s willful amnesia about the past contrasts unfavorably with Germany’s far more unambiguous contrition. Japan’s neighbors’ hostility too is in stark contrast to the respect accorded Germany by its erstwhile foes. Japan take a hint; more introspection and less doubling down on the fear and loathing.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

But dragging women off the street at gunpoint is.

That's completely BS and didn't happen on peninsula against Korean (-Japanese then) women.

The only ones who still BS-ing like this are members of Chong Dae Hyup and so-called victims who have

been fooling the entire world under the coaching of Chong Dae Hyup.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Activist groups are largely untrustworthy scam artists that easily manipulate angry people - this same exact scenario played out in North America a few years ago, with some of the Black Lives Matter leaders using donation money to purchase mansions.

In these scenarios, it's a lot harder to punish them for fraud than it is to not get roped in to begin with.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Really oyatoi,

You want to go there....

Poland pressures Germany on war reparations

https://www.dw.com/en/poland-ups-pressure-on-germany-to-issue-war-reparations/a-64300857

Greece makes new claims for WWII reparations

https://www.dw.com/en/greece-makes-fresh-wwii-reparation-claims-from-germany/a-57102886

Then we could review the.......

Germany's far-right AfD and the 'Reichsbürger' movement

https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-afd-and-the-reichsb%C3%BCrger-movement/a-64079836

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Really oyatoi,

You want to go there....

Really itsonlyrocknroll,

The irony of enlisting German (Deutsch Welt) for all three of your links is obviously totally lost on you! Must be embarrassing; the far more genuine contrition of your WW2 allies, who don’t indulge in fork tongue dissembling or wallow in self pity or need to worry about inviting an uyoku death sentence for speaking the truth.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

Japan still forced men, women, and girls from all over Asia to be slaves and to be sexually abused or worse by Japanese citizens!

For those that downvoted me, do you care to prove me wrong?

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

She was really working hard on behalf of the victims....oops herself!!!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Heck oyatoi, my locution was insensitive and brash.

May I offer a reason, an opinion.

Political or diplomatic apologies should not always be considered acts of reconciliation or contrition.

And the meaning and ultimate purpose of any political apology can take various cross-cultural objective reasoning in attempts to solve international conflicts.

For the South Korean government and people the harsh realities of occupation in war were horrendous.

The scars of such pain and suffering reach through generations, hence the failure to find a route to settle past grievances.

Both Japan and South Korea under took to restore relations through Treaty law.

However the constant stream of demands that the people of Japan, must annually display contrition, decades of remorseful penitence in the hand of politician becomes a tool for little more than diplomatic gestures.

Many I suggest then, comparisons of how governments choose to approach contrition, the political reasoning for doing so play a role for their own domestic audiences and ultimately public opinion.

Of course these frail pensioner number dwindle as politicians squabble.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

"Dragging women off the streets at gunpoint" never happened. There are no records of such incidents in Korea. Furthermore, the police in Korea under Japanese rule were Koreans. And over 200,000 Korean men were serving in the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. Are we to believe that all these Korean men remained silent while their wives, sisters, girlfriends were being abducted off the streets at gunpoint? The anti-JPN crowd makes up fabrications which defy rational thought.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

99.9% of nonprofits are scams to enrich the ceo/president/creator of nonprofit. I've witnessed this firsthand in multiple nonprofits.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

itsonlyrocknroll,

Many I suggest then, comparisons of how governments choose to approach contrition, the political reasoning for doing so play a role for their own domestic audiences and ultimately public opinion.

In your rather convoluted explication of bad relations between Japan and it’s neighbours, you leave the reader with no sense whatsoever of you having an awareness of Japan reaping what has been sown. In the eyes of her neighbours, the heinous acts Japan committed on its rampage through Asia have never been forgiven to the same extent as victims of German predations have generally forgiven and moved on. It was foolish of Japan’s diplomacy to expect that reparations to South Korea could be treated in the same rigidly legalistic and formal way nations conduct peace time diplomacy. Shattered by civil war, run by a war time collaborator, any ‘deals’ were bound to unravel, as we’ve seen happen. The genie is now well and truly out of that bottle and nothing will put it back, save Japan embracing the same spirit in its relations with both Koreas as it did with its nemesis the US, to ‘endure the unendurable’. Perpetuate the memory of the war dead by all means, but do it in a more even handed way that tempers pride with humility and contrition.

For the South Korean government and people the harsh realities of occupation in war were horrendous. The scars of such pain and suffering reach through generations, hence the failure to find a route to settle past grievances.

‘Horrendous scars and suffering’ were not limited to South Koreans; indeed no such country or Government existed during the colonial period. As for North Korea; there never was a post war treaty for Japan to claim, as it does vis a vis Seoul, that its high crimes have been expiated.

However the constant stream of demands that the people of Japan, must annually display contrition, decades of remorseful penitence in the hand of politician becomes a tool for little more than diplomatic gestures. Of course these frail pensioner number dwindle as politicians squabble.

Gestures of contrition no sooner voiced than negated by their opposite, denial and blaming the victim. Nor is it "the people of Japan” from whom contrition is expected, but rather from her elected representatives, for whom ‘sorry' seems to be the hardest word.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

More evidence and proof of Korean lies, deception, stealing money, no honor, untrustworthy, Squid Games at work.

Korean agreements, Korean promises and words have: 0 value. 0 honor. Shady and biggest liars you'll ever deal with.

You can trust South Korea to keep a promises made, agreement signed. As much as you can trust North Korea to keep a promise made, agreement signed. 0.00%

Koreans are obsessed with the past, more then Chinese,more then other Asians, Koreans don't live in 2023, they live in 1910 now and forever.

Korean fantasy and wishes?

Get infinite amount of apologies and compensation from Japan now and forever.

Write Japanese text book, every page shame, feel bad, while Korean in his text book nothing but Korean greatness, and pass on Korean crimes and wrong doing.

Korean stole Japanese Island, but they want Japan to recognize the steal as Korean property and legitimate. Korean logic at work!

Korean wants to hate Japan 100% with everything they have, but if half of Korea gets attacked again, they expect full support from Japan. They expect Japanese land and water to be used by USA and Japan to help rescue half of Korea.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

oyatoi,

January 1, 1992

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, in a press conference, said: "Concerning the comfort women, I apologize from the bottom of my heart and feel remorse for those people who suffered indescribable hardships."

January 17, 1992

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, at a policy speech on a visit to South Korea, said: "What we should not forget about relationship between our nation and your nation is a fact that there was a certain period in the thousands of years of our company when we were the victimizer and you were the victim. I would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology for the unbearable suffering and sorrow that you experienced during this period because of our nation's act." Recently the issue of the so-called 'wartime comfort women' is being brought up. I think that incidents like this are seriously heartbreaking, and I am truly sorry."

https://kls.law.columbia.edu/content/japanese-government-statements-and-ministry-foreign-affairs-statements

You know, oyatoi, with all the time, patience, and determination in the world no amount of apologies, political or otherwise will ever dull your resentment.

Fortunately 2002 a program/project was set up that begun a means to link arms and perhaps understand the need to look to the future for Inspiration.

The Year of Japan-China-Republic of Korea National Exchange in 2002

https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/exchange/ck2001.html

This program created, sparked dozens of spin off exchange programs over the decades that followed.

Is not the hardest word forgiveness?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

You know, oyatoi, with all the time, patience, and determination in the world no amount of apologies, political or otherwise will ever dull your resentment.

You know almost nothing about me itsonlyrocknroll; so to engage in petulant name calling by calling me resentful only demeans you. Resentful (bitter indignation at being treated unfairly), prefaced with ‘righteous’, far more accurately describes those who suffered the predations of Japan’s rampaging war machine. For far too many people, Japan is a country that has never truly mastered the art of getting on with its neigbours, who seem only to bring out the cranky and cantankerous in it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22519384.amp

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I must say I am disappointed and saddened oyatoi you feel slighted my comments were directed at you personally.

I can assure you that is not the case. As you quite rightly point out we have never met.

Thank you for your comments, I think I will leave you with the last word on the subject.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

itsonlyrocknroll,

I don’t see any other way to parse “ever dull YOUR resentment” than to assume YOUR refers to myself. Semantics aside, I felt you wronged me Brutus in alleging I’m partial to the ‘other side’. Truth be told, I’m simply an interested observer, fervently desirous of a much more amicable relationship between these two great civilizations with so much yet to be fully realized exemplar potential.

The Japan/Korea relationship is by no means irretrievable and I detect in your writings a genuine desire for a true rapprochement based on respect and willingness to listen to one another.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

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