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Japan to scrutinize U.N. recommendation on 'comfort women'

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The tear jerking and Chong Dae Hyup coached "testimonies" of former Comfort Women are not credible. Prof Ahn of Seoul University reached this conclusion back in the early 1990s. But the hoax was perpetuated, to the extent that now a South Korean professor gets persecuted by the South Korea judicial system for voicing her views that contradict the South Korean "Comfort Women Narrative".

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A comfort woman died at the age of 93 on 11 November, 2017.

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/818545.html

The Korean anti-Japan group says she was deceived and dragged to a comfort station in Singapore and forced to be a comfort woman there at the age of 15.

It is calculated that she was 15 in 1939 when Singapore was under British occupation.

Hilarious. She should have asked the compensation to U.K. This is not the only one contradiction in the testimonies of so-called Korean comfort women. Japanese people are now totally doubtful about their testimonies, and there are only such testimonies that Korea has presented as the evidence of the coercion by Japanese Military.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You guys are quite a laugh, actually.

You post up links to extremist, spoof websites written about Japan's involvement in the war (and post) - yet when I looked up one of the professors that supposedly wrote one of the articles - it turns out he is a professor of Geology, with no papers ever written on war based things - let alone Japan.

It's really not hard to see past the misinformation. Egg on faces. And the world still continues to know.

Must be hard work...

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

English translation of excerpts from a former Korean comfort woman Mun Oku-chu's memoir: http://www.kyobobook.co.kr/product/detailViewKor.laf?ejkGb=KOR&mallGb=KOR&barcode=9788991066106&orderClick=LAA

“I saved a considerable amount of money from tips. ----- so I decided to put my money in the saving account.---- I got my savings passbook and found 500 yen written on the passbook. I became the owner of the savings passbook for the first time in my life. I worked in Daegu as a nanny and a street seller from the childhood but I remained poor no matter how hard I worked. I could not believe that I could have so much money in my saving account. A house in Daegu cost 1,000 yen at the time. I could let my mother have an easy life. I felt very happy and proud. The savings passbook became my treasure.”

“I withdrew 5,000 yen from my saving account and sent it to my mother.”

“After two or three months, the troop unit to which Yamada belonged returned from the front. Yamada returned in good health. He immediately came to the comfort station. He said "I, private first class soldier Yamada, have just come back from the front." Yamada gave a salute to me. We hugged in full of joy. Such a day was so special that the comfort station owner Matsumoto (a Korean from Daegu [Note: Some Koreans chose to use Japanese names when Korea was part of Japan]) closed business for the day. The comfort station was full of excitement, and we, comfort women, contributed 1 yen per woman to hold a big party for them.”

“I could go out once a week or twice a month with permission from the Korean owner. It was fun to go shopping by rickshaw. I can't forget the experience of shopping in a market in Rangoon. There were lots of jewelry shops because many jewels were produced in Burma, and ruby and jade were not expensive. One of my friends collected many jewels. I thought I should have a jewel myself, so I went and bought a diamond.”

“I put on a pair of high heels, a green coat and carried an alligator leather handbag. I swaggered about in a fashionable dress. No one could guess that I was a comfort woman. I felt so happy and proud.”

Source: http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/former-korean-comfort-woman-mun-oku.html

5 ( +6 / -1 )

AgentXToday 08:42 am JSTSure, there are most likely some cases that have been taken out of context - this is not a witch hunt, it's a call for due justice that still has not been served.

There is a difference between justice based on truth, and justice based on false allegations. The latter is not justice at all.

There are Japanese military personnel from that time who have already corroborated a lot of the verbal testimony - what else can those victims fall back on? Incidents where the losing side (Japan) did, or tried to destroy evidence (book keeping etc) before The US could get their hands on them are well known.

Again. You are only fooling yourselves.

Why then are some South Korean scholars speaking up to expose the "truth" but they are being persecuted in South Korea? The Japanese military destroyed tons of evidence before their defeat. Except that Prostitution was not a crime at the time, and other nations had Military Brothels in operation. In other words, there's nothing worth destroying. The U.S. captured and interrogated numerous "Comfort Women". Why is it that none of them gave accounts that match South Korea's allegations? If they were kidnapped and being held as "sex slaves" the first thing they'd want to do is say everything bad they could think of to the US military. But there is no evidence of this at all. You are fooling yourself because the "truth" regardless of what it may be, will always come out in time. And eventually the world will realize that that South Korea's narrative is a hoax, a nation that persecutes it's own citizens for speaking out against this narrative.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Sure, there are most likely some cases that have been taken out of context - this is not a witch hunt, it's a call for due justice that still has not been served.

There are Japanese military personnel from that time who have already corroborated a lot of the verbal testimony - what else can those victims fall back on? Incidents where the losing side (Japan) did, or tried to destroy evidence (book keeping etc) before The US could get their hands on them are well known.

Again. You are only fooling yourselves.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

AgentXToday 12:10 pm JSTThis from a link posted above in regards to the Dutch women that Japan also forced into sex-slavery.

Some Comfort Women in the Netherlands received financial compensation about 10 years ago. A number of them refused as a matter of principle, wanting the Japanese to first acknowledge that war crimes were committed.

This is pretty much at the core of this whole issue, and why it keeps getting inflamed again and again the world over. The fact that Japan still wants to deny their wrongdoings and act like they are victims. There have still been no sincere apologies.

The incidents in Dutch Indonesia were documented, charged and tried as War Crimes. The Netherlands does not make it a national policy to harp on them forever. The difference is that in contrast, South Korean claims have nothing to support it other than coached and contradictory verbal testimony, have received apologies and compensation, agreed to end this issue in 2015 (and again received compensation) yet still continue to harp on this issue to keep it alive. Claims that Japan "destroyed the evidence" fall flat when one considers that the US fought Japan amassing as much damaging information as possible, but could not find anything to support South Korea's claims of "200,000 girls kidnaped". Where they came from, how they got there, and how much they were getting paid was all documented by the US military at the time through interrogations of captured Comfort Women, whom the US correctly categorized as "Military Prostitutes. A 7 year multiagency search in the US seeking such evidence to support South Korea's claims, at a cost of USD 30mil to US taxpayers uncovered no evidence. It is about time that South Korea faced up to the reality of their history, and display some democratic ideas by not persecuting South Korean scholars who are speaking up and disclosing the "Truth" about the Comfort Women.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

On the first morning at the house, photographs of the girls were taken and displayed on the front of the verandah, which served as a reception area.

This is so Japan. Take a walk through Ueno, Shibuya, and Shinjuku and you see these same photos on the walls of normal streets. Now if they had said the Japanese had them work at massage parlors, you’d have to doubt their credibility.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

UN has other issues greater than this that they have not addressed or resolved. They also have a extremely poor history of presiding over war crimes. Not the time and place for them to get involved.

Think.., there are atrocities during war times; such as robbery, rape, and murder as well as thefts and killings recognized as “justified” and "acceptable" if by the “victor” but condemned if by the loser... Why..? Are they not the same..? The only difference is that one was “with consent” and “willingly accepted” therefore “justified” and require no scrutiny, just compensation or punishment.

Legalized or forced prostitution (basically selling or giving sex) and rape (forced sex) exist in all nations whether recognized or not. It has existed throughout history of the world and in Korea as well as in Japan, before as well as after the war. That will probably continue throughout the world as long as there are men and women.

Interestingly there is “forced sex” and “rape” between women and between men as well. Society still has not really addressed such cases as they have with women…

There is another aspect.., that of children both female and male being forced or raped. This.., has yet to be addressed openly and properly.

Given that… if the victims are demanding monetary compensation which the governments have already settled, their demand should be with their own government that received the settlement.

If they are demanding an apology, that is another question that must first be addressed with their own government. If their government has accepted the compensation which recognizes an apology related to that compensation, they must relate and settle first with their government’s effectiveness and intentions.

Then they must first review all the “benefits” that Japan has voluntarily contributed to the welfare of the S Korean people after the war to hopefully remedy and improve the situation. From which all of the current claimants should be aware that they have already benefited.

Pride and integrity and honor are normally emotional individual issues that even governments have extremely difficulty in addressing and to act upon, as they can be interpreted as personal or national issues which can become extremely costly in international relationships. Definitely UN has no way to deal with that kind of issues.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Korean Newspaper Reports from 1930's

--1939.03.28 동아일보 50여 처녀가 조선인 인신매매단에 걸려서 북지, 만주에 창기로 팔림. 일본경찰이 구해줌.

March 28, 1939 Donga Ilbo Over 50 women were deceived by a Korean trafficker (Bae Jang-eon 배장언) and sent to Northern China & Manchuria. He was arrested and the women were rescued by Japanese policemen.

-- 1939.08.31 동아일보 악덕소개업자가 발호, 이들이 유괴한 농촌부녀자의 수가 무려 100명 이상. 모두 일본경찰님들이 구출해내심.

 August 31, 1939 Donga Ilbo Over 100 women from farming villages were deceived by Korean traffickers (Kim Ok-man 김옥만 & his family) They were arrested and the women were rescued by Japanese policemen.

--1935.03.07 동아일보 중국 상해 암흑굴에 조선여성 2천여명. 이들 원정녀들 때문에 조선인의 체면이 손상됨. 그녀들의 참담한 생활에도 불구하고 대책이 막연. 왜냐하면 경제적 문제로 인한 자발적인 근로라서 대책을 세울 수 없음을 안타까워하는 내용.

March 7, 1935 Donga Ilbo About 2,000 Korean women work in the Shanghai slum. These prostitutes tarnish our reputation. But we can't stop them because they voluntarily stay there for economic reasons.

Source: http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/korean-newspaper-articles-from-1930s.html (The copies of the original newspaper articles are posted here.)

6 ( +8 / -2 )

This from a link posted above in regards to the Dutch women that Japan also forced into sex-slavery.

Some Comfort Women in the Netherlands received financial compensation about 10 years ago. A number of them refused as a matter of principle, wanting the Japanese to first acknowledge that war crimes were committed.

This is pretty much at the core of this whole issue, and why it keeps getting inflamed again and again the world over. The fact that Japan still wants to deny their wrongdoings and act like they are victims. There have still been no sincere apologies.

In the information starved society that is Japan, it's easy for its own citizens to buy into these lies and nationalist propaganda. But make no mistake, the rest of the world is well aware what Japan did and continues to do. It's such a head-in-the-ground position to take.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Comment by Professor Jun BongGwan (professor of Korean Literature at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) on July 20, 2014 ChosunIlbo

"We all knew that Korean comfort women were not coercively taken away by the Japanese military. Korean comfort station owners recruited women in the Korean Peninsula and operated comfort stations in the battlefields. The Japanese military was busy fighting all over Asia, and it certainly didn't have time to be in Korea recruiting women.

Although Professor Park Yuha recognizes that Japan's imperialism was the root cause of women's suffering, she claims that Korean comfort station owners were legally responsible as well. I disagree with her logic because the Japanese military did allow Korean owners to recruit women. So the Japanese military was the one legally responsible in my opinion.

Korean fathers and brothers who sold their daughters and sisters, Korean comfort station owners who deceived women, Korean town chiefs who encouraged those acts. They all should be held accountable someday. But now is not the time. We must make Japan apologize and compensate again before we admit our responsibility."

Source: http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/comfort-women-of-empire-reviewed-by.html

2 ( +5 / -3 )

There were no "Hundreds of thousands".

In The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan, Chunghee Sarah Soh, a professor of anthropology at San Francisco State University who specialises in issues related to gender and sexuality, says the widely cited figure of 200,000 comes from a 1981 essay in the Hanguk Ilbo by Yun Cheong-ok, a professor of English literature who claims that of 200,000 “volunteers” only 50,000 to 70,000 were sent to the front lines to become comfort women. Yun “did not reveal the source of the figures given in her essay”, Soh says. She tells us a writer named Kim Teok-seong used the same figures a decade earlier in an article in Seoul Sinmun, and provides an excerpt.“From 1943 to 1945 approximately 200,000 Korean and Japanese women were mobilised as cheongsindae [comfort women for the Japanese military],” Kim wrote. “The estimated number of Koreans among them is between fifty and seventy thousand.”

In other words, according to these sources, not all 200,000 were used as comfort women, and even of those that were, not all were Korean. On the other hand, Kim makes no mention of recruits prior to 1943, when most comfort women survivors say they were recruited.

http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2062028/can-korea-handle-truth-about-japans-comfort-women

6 ( +8 / -2 )

It was hundreds of thousands of women and girls, to compensate them it would most likely 7000yen each.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Other countries no doubt did terrible things, and for those terrible things they should apologize but, that doesn't take away the responsibility for Japan to make amends. I know Japan has looked at this in the past and made some and apologies payments that appear to have been badly handled by the governments that received them but what would it hurt to show some continued contrition on these topics.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So where is the demand for apologies and compensation for the women who were forced to work in other nations' military brothels?

https://nltimes.nl/2015/12/28/dutch-comfort-women-also-want-apology-japan-wwii-war-crimes

But surely you'll say they were volunteers? Oh no, they were used by rogue actors in the Japanese Imperial Forces. Nothing is ever rogue in structured Japanese institutions but Abe's cronies say that in China and Krea the local people freely provided the service and when white women were forced to be sex slaves it was rogue elements. You can't believe their wasn't a standard across Asia.

How can you sincerely and unreservedly apologise with heartfelt remorse and say to the world, "We have apologised many times over and this is South Korea being unreasonable" (Mr Ossan's position) but then https://web.archive.org/web/20070901180504/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070302a9.html state on the record that you don't believe what you have apologised for (Mr Abe's position)? That is akin to holocaust denial. "It didn't happen" which is Trump's version of events regarding his own admission of sexual abuse, so the similarities to Trump are relevent in this day and age of false truths, fake facts and two faced apologies.

Japan plays the victim card very well every August but it is very poor at being contrite, in fact it can not accept as fact anything that portrays in detail it's aggressive past. The Nanking massacre never occured in in it's eyes. There is only a vague sentence or two about "terrible things" in history text books. Keeping the populace ignorant is dishonest.

Be very concerned by the Japanese Right Wing control of historical facts to push it's views on a generally misled populace.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/us-should-be-appalled-by-japans-historical-revisionism-12381

An account of a non Korean or Chinese sex slave. You think this was an isolated occcurance?

In February 1944 a truck arrived at the camp, and all the girls 17 years and above were made to line-up in the compound. The ten most attractive, including Jan O’Herne, were selected by Japanese officers and told to pack a bag quickly. Seven of the girls (including O’Herne) were taken to an old Dutch colonial house at Selarang, some 47 kilometres from their camp. This house, which became known to the Japanese as ”The House of the Seven Seas“, was used as a military brothel, and its inmates were to become ”comfort women“.

On their first morning at the house, photographs of the girls were taken, and displayed on the front verandah which served as a reception area. Visiting Japanese personnel would then select from these photographs. Over the following four months, the girls, all virgins, were repeatedly raped and beaten, day and night. Those who became pregnant were forced to have miscarriages.

After four harrowing months, the girls were moved to a camp at Bogor, in West Java, where they were reunited with their families. This camp was exclusively for women who had been put into military brothels, and the Japanese warned the inmates that if anyone told what had happened to them, they and their family members would be killed. Several months later the O’Hernes were transferred to a camp at Batavia, which was liberated on 15 August 1945.

Who would you believe? These women or Mr Abe's "truth"? He says there is no historical Japanese record, you don't think maybe they destroyed the records out of fear of the truth?

How hard is a sincere, humbling, soul bearing personal appology if you are truly remorseful? Have some guts to show the world your moral fiber. Then move on! Once and for all.

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

Case closed. All that is left is the private, propaganda-based money-making machine that drives this issue. The Japanese govenment should tell the UN to sit and spin, as per the SK's 2015 agreement. Private groups will always trot these women out so long as there is a buck in it. Disturbingly ironic fate.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

well in 10years time these women will reincarnate in other women and will keep asking for compensation money,

4 ( +9 / -5 )

I thought this matter was resolved in 2015! Or will this mean that everny new incoming S Korean government will say, "oh well that was the thoughts of the previous administration, this is ours and we want the cash"

I sense an air of desperation about this now, as it seem that a lot of the comfort women are approaching end of life and there is probably a recognisable fear that from the S Koreans that unless things are done quickly then the chance to get this money before the last survivors pass on will be over.

What alarms me so much is that where does this end? S Korea demands money back up by the UN - Japan pay money - everyone is happy - election in Seoul with new administration - 2 years later S Korea demands more saying is not enough - UN baulks at the idea of being soft of war crimes demands more money from Japan! It will never stop!

S Korea needs to move on and focus on the real problem north of its border!

4 ( +8 / -4 )

and deal with it "in an appropriate manner."

oooooh so scary

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Testimonies by former comfort women

– In an interview with Professor Chunghee Sarah Soh of San Francisco State University, a former Korean comfort woman Kim Sun-ok said that she was sold by her parents four times.

Yet she testified before UN Special Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy that she was abducted by the Japanese military.

– In an interview with Professor Park Yuha of Sejong University in South Korea, a former Korean comfort woman Bae Chun-hee said she hated her father who sold her. She said that men who recruited Korean women and operated comfort stations were all Korean, and that Korean women who testified before UN Special Rapporteur lied on behalf of Chong Dae Hyup. 

– In 1993 a former Korean comfort woman Kim Gun-ja told Professor Ahn Byong Jik of Seoul University, “I was sold by my foster father.”

Yet she testified before UN Special Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy that she was abducted by the Japanese military.

Source: http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-comfort-women-by-chunghee-sarah-soh.html

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Forced prostitution? Outrageous!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

These women never got money Japan gave to Park several times. So, this time give to them directly. Don't give to Moon. Then notice Moon Japan is not going to pay half price of missile detector SK purchased. No more Extortion payment.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

I wouldn't mind knowing what other countries have had to pay compensation to comfort women in the past, this does seem to crop up a lot and in.the grand scheme of things everyone seems to focus solely on Japan and no other countries. I think they definitely had comfort women and it was probably swept under the rug but at the same time other countries probably had similar practices.

I think the UN should focus more on teaching Japanese kids more about the history of WW2, most Japanese people don't know what changi was or about any of the past transgressions of their own country which is more disturbing in my opinion.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Listen to the Japanese squeal!

Or the South Koreans... Again and again and again and again.

2 ( +12 / -10 )

Listen to the Japanese squeal!

-4 ( +10 / -14 )

Abe should replace Okamura with some one who read constitution.

This is UN helping S. Korea's extortion toward Japan.

Japan has been contributing money to UN even though Japan hasn't never asked UN help. Get out from UN.

1 ( +9 / -8 )

So has the UN Human Rights Council issued a recommendation that Germany and France issue apologies and compensation to the women who were forced to work in THEIR military brothels? How about the South Korean government issuing an apology and compensation to the women who worked in their brothels serving the U.S. military? Who are the people on this "council" who have been paid off to pursue this issue with Japan while openly ignoring the same actions by other countries? Since anyone who has looked into this issue knows that Japan already has apologized and compensated Comfort Women, why this even brought up by South Korea in violation of it's 2015 Agreement with Japan. Seriously about time Japan let the UN know that it no longer intends on being one of the biggest contributor to this organization if it can be bought and used for political purposes.

5 ( +15 / -10 )

Or get out from UN. UN will demand periodically.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Japan needs to give money directly to victims this time. Don't give to Moon. S. Korean gov't put money in their budget all the time.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

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