少女像移転と10億円は無関係 韓国、慰安婦合意でＱ＆Ａ解説
2016/1/21 日経
【ソウル＝峯岸博】韓国外務省は21日までに同省のホームページに掲載した昨年末の従軍慰安婦問題の日韓合意に関するＱ＆Ａ形式の解説で、韓国政府が元慰安婦支援を目的に設立する財団を通して日本から10億円を受けとるのと、ソウルの日本大使館前に設置された少女像の移転は「無関係」との立場を示した。
「最終的かつ不可逆的な解決」については、慰安婦問題の研究や教育など「真実を知らせ、再発を防止する努力は続けていく」とした。日韓が国際社会で互いに批判を控えるとの合意は「約束の着実な履行が前提で、それも政府レベルに限ったもの」と説明した。
日本政府は少女像について「適切に移転される」として韓国政府の対応を見守る姿勢だ。政府内には「韓国が新設する財団への約10億円の拠出は少女像の移転が前提だ」との強硬論もある。
世界遺産登録、韓国民間団体が捏造資料で日本の登録を妨害 日本人写真「強制連行」として悪用
産経2016.4.3
昨夏の「明治日本の産業革命遺産」の世界文化遺産登録をめぐり、韓国の民間団体が登録と直接関係ない資料を複数作成、関係国の選定委員らに配布し、組織的な妨害工作を展開していたことが２日、新たに判明した。負傷した日本人労働者の写真を印象操作に使うなど、外交の舞台裏で、官民挙げた反日宣伝を繰り返していた実態が浮き彫りになった。
韓国側が国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）の世界遺産委員会の全委員に配った冊子や宣伝ビラを、日本側関係者が入手した。
冊子は、痩せて負傷した労働者の写真を掲載し、「目覚めよ！ユネスコ 目覚めよ！世界 目覚めよ！人類」との文言が英語で書かれていた。だが、冊子を産経新聞が調べたところ、大正１５（１９２６）年９月に、当時、北海道にあった旭川新聞に掲載された写真の転用であることが分かった。
記事は北海道で労働者１人が死亡した道路建設現場での虐待致死事件を報じたもので、借金返済のために働いていて虐待から逃れた元記者の証言を掲載していた。ただ、記事中には、朝鮮半島出身者の存在をうかがわせる記述はなかった。
しかし、冊子は写真について、「強制連行による労働を強いられた施設」「（世界遺産に）登録すれば韓国民の激しい反発を招き、東アジアでの緊張状態を悪化させる」などと虚偽の主張を展開。日本政府が申請した２３施設の世界文化遺産への登録阻止を狙い、まったく関係ない写真を意図的に転載していたことを裏付けた。冊子は、５万７千人の朝鮮半島出身者が、「ｆｏｒｃｅｄ ｌａｂｏｒ（奴隷労働者）」として徴用されたとも記述した。
写真は、国家総動員法に基づく国民徴用令（昭和１４年）以前の出来事で、時代も異なるほか、朝鮮半島出身者に限っては１９年からの適用で賃金も払われていた。未払いなども、財産請求権の放棄などを決めた４０年の日韓基本条約で、完全かつ最終的に解決済みというのが日本の立場だ。
一方、韓国外務省の真相究明委員会が作成した冊子では、「日本は自己反省なく歴史修正主義をとっている」「多くの女性がだまされ、誘拐された」などと、世界遺産と関係ない慰安婦問題でも虚偽の日本批判を展開。別の冊子は、山口・萩の松下村塾を批判し、長州藩士の吉田松陰が「朝鮮半島への日本の帝国主義を主導した」と断じていた。
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■世界遺産登録問題 「明治日本の産業革命遺産」の登録をめぐり、韓国側が「朝鮮人労働者が強制徴用された施設が含まれている」と反対し、ユネスコ世界遺産委員会が紛糾。韓国の尹炳世（ユン・ビョンセ）外相は昨年６月の岸田文雄外相との会談で協力を約束したが、「朝鮮半島出身者が非人道的な環境で強制労働させられた」と土壇場で反対。強制性の表記をめぐり、各国を巻き込んで最後までもつれた。
https://web.archive.org/web/20160403000504/http://www.sankei.com/world/news/160403/wor1604030008-n1.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20160403000733/http://www.sankei.com/world/news/160403/wor1604030008-n2.html
慰安婦支援団体 野党代表の「合意早期履行」発言を批判＝韓国
2016/04/26朝鮮日報日本語版
【ソウル聯合ニュース】韓国の慰安婦被害者支援団体「韓国挺身隊問題対策協議会」（挺対協）は２６日、最大野党「共に民主党」の金鍾仁（キム・ジョンイン）非常対策委員会代表が別所浩郎駐韓日本大使との会談で、旧日本軍の慰安婦問題をめぐる両国の合意を早期に履行する意向を示したことについて、「国民の期待を裏切った背信的発言」と批判する声明を出した。
声明は「これまで共に民主党は慰安婦合意は『拙速』として再交渉を求める声を上げてきた」として、「合意は被害者により大きな障壁となっているが、最大野党のトップが拙速合意に賛同するのは論外」と非難した。
同党は文在寅（ムン・ジェイン）氏が代表を務めていた昨年末の合意当時、合意の無効と再協議を求める決議案を国会に提出していた。だが、金氏は別所氏との会談で、慰安婦合意について、「合意はできたが履行がきちんと行われていない。速度を上げなければならない」と述べ、党のこれまでの立場を異なるとの指摘が出ている。
https://web.archive.org/web/20160427100104/http://www.chosunonline.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/04/26/2016042603482.html
萩生田官房副長官「慰安婦像撤去は合意の一つ」 朴大統領発言を牽制
産経2016.4.27
萩生田光一官房副長官は２７日午前の記者会見で、昨年末の日韓合意に盛り込まれたソウルの日本大使館前の慰安婦像撤去に関し、韓国の朴槿恵（パククネ）大統領が「合意で全く言及されなかった」と発言したことに対し「韓国側は、日本政府が慰安婦像に対して懸念を持っていることを認知し、韓国政府としても適切に解決されるよう努力をすることになっている」と牽制（けんせい）した。
慰安婦合意、迅速な履行を＝韓国野党代表、日本大使に注文
【ソウル時事】別所浩郎駐韓大使は２６日、韓国最大野党「共に民主党」の金鍾仁非常対策委員会代表と会談した。金代表は席上、慰安婦問題をめぐる日韓合意について「履行のスピードが速くなければならない」と迅速な履行を求めた。同党が発表した。
金代表はまた、「（日本大使館前に設置された）少女像を撤去して初めて、合意を履行するという話は、国民感情を悪化させた」と指摘、双方を関連付けるべきではないという認識を示した。（2016/04/26-22:01）
少女像の撤去「慰安婦合意に言及ない」 朴大統領が発言
ソウル＝東岡徹2016年4月26日
韓国の朴槿恵（パククネ）大統領は２６日、慰安婦問題の日韓合意に関連し、ソウルの日本大使館前に設置された「少女像」について、「少女像の撤去と連携されているが、合意で言及もまったくされなかった問題で、扇動してはならない」などと述べた。
少女像をめぐっては、日韓合意で韓国政府が適切に解決されるよう努力すると明記されている。日本政府は合意に基づいて少女像の移転を求めており、発言の真意を問う声が出そうだ。
朴大統領は韓国の新聞社やテレビ局の編集局長らとの昼食会で、日韓合意に対する反発が多い中で、どう解決していくかなどと問われた。朴大統領は安倍晋三首相と３月に会談した際に合意を誠実に履行していくことを確認したなどと説明。少女像についても自ら触れ、「（少女像の問題は）被害者を助けることにならない」「混乱を引き起こしてはならない」などとも語った。
一方、萩生田光一官房副長官は今月、テレビ番組で「財団の設立式典の日に、大使館の前に像がそのまま残っている姿は想像したくない」などと述べていた。
日韓合意では韓国政府が元慰安婦を支援する財団を設立し、日本政府が１０億円を拠出することになっているが、少女像の移転はその前提にはなっていない。韓国では日本政府は少女像の移転を１０億円拠出の前提にしているのではないかといった声が出ていたことから、朴大統領も日本政府の言動を牽制（けんせい）した可能性もある。
また、朴大統領は北朝鮮情勢について、「５回目の核実験はほぼ準備は終わっており、いつでも決心すれば、できる状態だ」と述べた。（ソウル＝東岡徹）
http://megalodon.jp/2016-0426-2115-29/www.asahi.com/articles/ASJ4V62S9J4VUHBI01K.html
北海道新聞の慰安婦検証特集 生かされなかった朝日の教訓
楊井 人文, 2014年11月26日
北海道新聞が11月17日付朝刊で、戦時下、朝鮮人女性を慰安婦にするため強制連行したとするいわゆる「吉田証言」に関する過去の記事を取り消し、おわび記事を掲載した。同時に2面にわたって慰安婦問題の検証特集も載せた。その名も、朝日新聞が8月上旬に載せた特集と同じ「慰安婦問題を考える」。朝日新聞は検証が不十分などと批判され、池上彰氏の検証コラム見送り問題や「吉田調書」報道の取消しも重なり、信頼が大きく傷つき、社長辞任という結末を迎えた。北海道新聞はそうした経緯を見届けた上で今度の検証記事を出したのだから、さぞかし同じ跌を踏まないよう慎重に検討を重ねたに違いない。はたして朝日の教訓は生かされたのか、検証してみた（関連記事＝【GoHooレポート】道新 慰安婦強制連行｢吉田証言｣初報のみ取消し、【旧GoHoo注意報】慰安婦｢強制連行｣証言 朝日新聞､虚偽と認め撤回、【旧GoHooコラム】｢誤報の危機管理｣に失敗した朝日 挽回へのビジョンを）。
朝日になかった「おわび」 過去の記事は全て公表
朝日新聞の検証特集の場合、虚偽の証言を報じた記事を取り消したにもかかわらず、一言もおわびがなく、「慰安婦問題の本質 直視を」と題する記事で主張を優先するあまり真摯な反省に欠けているとの印象を与えたことが、批判の一因となった。これに対して北海道新聞は1面で「『吉田証言』報道をおわびします」と題する囲み記事を掲載。検証記事でもおわびを表明し、主張を全面に出すような記事は載せなかった。
朝日新聞は取消し対象になった吉田氏に関する記事が16本もあったのに、検証記事では初報の1本の見出しと概要を説明しただけで、その後の記事の内容や経緯をほとんど明らかにしなかった（批判を受け、10月10日付朝刊で12本の見出しと概要を公表）。他方、北海道新聞は吉田氏に言及した8本の記事すべて概要を掲載した。
朝日新聞の検証記事は、当時は似たような誤りが他のメディアにもあったことを強調していたことも問題視されていたが、北海道新聞は他紙との比較検証はしなかった。
これらの点は、いずれも当然の対応であって特筆すべきものではないが、「朝日の教訓」が生かされた部分といえよう。だが、もう少し仔細にみていくと、首を傾げざるを得ないいくつもの疑問が浮上してくる。
23年ぶりの取消し 理由説明なし
朝日新聞の検証記事が一番足りなかったと批判されたのは、今回の取消し措置が初報から32年もかかった要因について何も説明がなされなかったことだった。紙面批評コラムの掲載を一時見送られた池上氏が、最も強調した問題点もそれだった。そうした批判を受け、朝日新聞社は慰安婦問題に関する第三者委員会を設置。10月9日の初会合で、「取消しまで長い時間がかかった理由」も含めて調査する方針が明らかになった（【GoHooトピックス】慰安婦検証第三者委員会 初会合開かれる参照）。しかし、北海道新聞が11月17日に載せた検証記事にも、初報の1991年11月から23年間、「取消しまで長い時間がかかった理由」には全く言及していなかった。ただ、次のような説明があった。
吉田氏の証言に対しては９０年代初めまでに疑義が出ていました。生前の吉田氏に再取材しておけば、早い段階での事実確認が可能だったかもしれません。報道機関には記事内容に疑問があれば自ら検証し、読者に説明する責務があります。北海道新聞がそれを怠り、裏付けの乏しい記事をそのままにしてきたことを、読者の皆さまにおわびし、「吉田証言」記事を取り消します。北海道新聞のこれまでの記事を蓄積しているデータベースの当該記事には、吉田氏証言の信憑性が薄いと判断し、取り消した旨を付記します。
これでは「90年代初めに疑義が出ていたのになぜ検証をしなかったのか」「生前の吉田氏に再取材できなかったのはどうしてなのか」という読者の素朴な疑問に全く答えていない。実際、22日付同紙の「読者の声 はい読者センターです」欄によれば、検証特集掲載後、読者センターには「２０年以上もの間、何をしてきたのか」「知らんぷりをして頬かぶりをしてきたのではないか」「検証記事では経緯がよく分からない」といった声が寄せられたという。そうした批判は、「朝日の教訓」を想起するまでもなく当然予想できたことであろう。朝日新聞と同様、北海道新聞もまた、検証すべき最も核心的な問題に答えなかったのである。しかも、朝日新聞のように、これから検証するという動きも今のところ見られない。
そもそも、北海道新聞が何をきっかけに、いつから吉田証言の検証、再取材を始めたのか、検証特集の記事からは時間軸が全く見えてこない。朝日新聞もその点は明確にしていなかったが、「一部の新聞や雑誌が朝日新聞批判を繰り返している」事情や、今年4〜5月に済州島を取材したことを明らかにしている。
取り消したのは初報の1本だけ
北海道新聞は今回、吉田氏に言及した記事が8本あったと公表した上で、「『吉田証言』記事を取り消します」と表明した。ところが、実は取り消しをしたのは初報の1本だけで、残りの7本は訂正も取消しもされていないことが、読売新聞などの他紙の報道と北海道新聞社広報担当者への取材で判明。データベースでも確認できた。しかし、検証記事には、「初報だけ取り消す」とはどこにも書かれていなかった。当然、残りの7本を訂正・取消し対象にしなかった理由も全く触れていない。普通に読めば、公表された8本すべてを取り消したと読者は理解するだろう。朝日新聞も、吉田氏に言及した16本すべてを取り消すと検証特集に明記していなかったが、すべて取消しとなっていた。「初報だけ取り消す」ならなぜそのように検証特集で説明しなかったのか、重大な疑問が残る。
北海道新聞社広報担当者に聞くと、「続報では吉田氏がソウルに訪問したことなど動かしがたい事実を報道したもので取り消しようがない」とのことだった。だが、続報のほとんどが、証言内容が真実であることを前提とした報道になっていた。なぜ一部訂正、一部取消しといった対応もとらなかったのか。それだけでなく、吉田氏が国会で参考人として招致されることが決まったと報じた記事も、実際には招致が行われず、当時訂正や続報を出していなかったのに、今回も放置されたのである。
戦時中、朝鮮人女性を旧日本軍の従軍慰安婦として強制連行した日本の元労務報国会幹部が北海道新聞記者に、しょく罪の気持ちを込めて連行の実態を告白したインタビュー記事（十一月二十二日本紙朝刊）が、韓国の代表的夕刊紙、東亜日報の二十六日一面準トップ記事として紹介、韓国民に新たな衝撃を与えている。（1991年11月27日付朝刊26面）
弁護団は、連行の実行行為者だった元山口県労務報国会動員部長の吉田清治さん（７８）＝千葉県在住＝の証言も証拠としてそろえ、軍と行政が一体となって行った実態を具体的にあぶり出す作戦だ。（1991年12月6日付夕刊21面）
吉田さんは戦時中、半官半民組織の山口県労務報国会動員部長を務め、朝鮮半島から女性千人を含む約六千人を戦地や日本へ強制連行した。
この中には福岡の陸軍西部軍司令部から「皇軍慰問・朝鮮人挺（てい）身隊」の極秘労務動員命令書を受けて行った連行もあった、という。
戦後、その体験を語ることで過去を償い続けている吉田さんは、国会で証言することについて「事実を語ることは私の義務。証言が元慰安婦に対する早期の補償につながってくれれば」と話している。（1992年2月15日付朝刊3面）
昭和十七年から敗戦までの三年間、山口県労務報国会動員部長を務めた吉田さんは、陸軍西部軍司令部などの指示に従い女性約千人を含む朝鮮人約六千人を強制連行した。
その中でも特にひどかったのが従軍慰安婦にされた女性たちの連行方法で、「四、五日から一週間で若い女性五十人を調達しなければならなかったので警察や軍を使って乳飲み子のいる若い母親にまで襲いかかり、奴隷狩りそのものだった」という。（1992年2月25日付朝刊3面）
戦時中に朝鮮人女性を従軍慰安婦として強制連行した元山口県労務報国会動員部長の吉田清治さん（７８）＝千葉県我孫子市在住＝が十一日午後、ソウルを訪れた。十四日まで滞在し、元従軍慰安婦との面会などを通じて、自らの行為と旧日本軍の蛮行に対し、直接謝罪することにしている。（1992年8月12日付朝刊22面）
吉田さんは「（慰安婦狩りは）五十人くらいの日本人警察官が韓国人の警察官を引率して村を回る。村は泣き叫ぶ声でパニック状態」と生々しい体験談を語り、従軍慰安婦の実態解明を怠る日本政府とそれに同調する一部知識人の姿勢を厳しく批判した。会場には何人かの元従軍慰安婦も出席していたが、吉田さんは証言後、金学順さん（６８）と向かいあい、「あなたの前で土下座しておわびしたい」と深々と頭を下げた。（1992年8月13日付朝刊23面）
「私も迫害を受けたが、支持してくれる人はもっと多い」と語るのは、朝鮮半島から女性を強制連行した体験を公表した元山口県労務報国会動員部長、吉田清治さん（７８）＝千葉県在住＝。「慰安所の実態はあの通り。五十年間の沈黙を破る歴史的な証言だ」といい、「国民的な反省と謝罪をしないと、反日感情がどんどん再生産されてゆく」と強調する。（1993年9月14日付朝刊22面）
「誤報とは言い切れない」と非公式コメント
さらに、驚くべきことに、北海道新聞社は初報の記事を取り消したにもかかわらず、メディアの取材に対し、その初報すら「誤報とは言い切れない」と回答していたことが分かった。記事の取消しは通常、誤報だった場合にとる措置である。訂正との違いは、記事の主要部分、根幹部分に誤りがあったかどうかである。検証特集の紙面のどこを読んでも「誤報とは言い切れない」などという弁明は書かれていない。もちろん「誤報」という表現もないが、普通に読めば、北海道新聞社が誤報と判断したがゆえに取り消したと読者は理解するだろう。
他のメディアですらそう認識し、混乱が発生した。毎日新聞は検証特集が掲載された11月17日の夕刊に「北海道新聞も記事取消し 慰安婦問題 吉田証言『誤報』」と見出しをつけて報道。だが、翌日朝刊では「北海道新聞 誤報は否定 『吉田証言』撤回」と事実上修正した。
検証特集では「誤報とは言い切れない」とは一言も触れていない。だが、同社の広報担当者は「誤報とは言い切れない」という理由は「紙面を読めばわかる」という。そこには次のように書かれていた。
北海道新聞は、過去の報道経緯を当時の記者などから聴いたり、吉田氏が著書で慰安婦狩りをしたと書いた済州島の古老や郷土史家、ソウルの研究者などを訪ねたりして、証言の内容を検証した。
その結果、著書と記事の内容を裏付ける証言や文書は得られなかった。吉田氏本人は死亡しているが、日本の研究者の間でも証言は学術資料たりえないとの見方が強く、信憑性は薄いと判断した。
「信憑性はない」と言い切らず「信憑性は薄い」と表現している。朝日新聞のように「証言は虚偽」と断定していない。だから、「誤報とは言い切れない」という認識を示したと思われる。おわび記事を改めて読むと、吉田証言の初報を掲載したことに対しておわびをしたのではなく、証言の信憑性に疑義が生じた後長年にわたって検証を怠ったことに対しておわびをしたようにも読める。
では、なぜそう紙面で説明しないのか。再取材で「著書と記事の内容を裏付ける証言や文書は得られなかった」というのに、「信憑性はない」ではなく「信憑性は薄い」と判断したのはなぜなのか。検証特集に掲載された学者のコメントには、吉田氏が所属していたという労務報告会が日本内地の一地方組織にすぎなかったことや、強制連行したという時期に済州島に日本軍がほとんどいなかったことなど、証言の信憑性を否定する事実も出ている。にもかかわらず「信憑性は薄い」あるいは「誤報とは言い切れない」というのは、証言が真実だと信じるに足りる理由が何か別にあるのか、単に「誤報」と認めたくないだけなのではないか。報道内容に裏付けがないことが判明したら「誤報」ではないのか。
いずれにせよ、読者に新たな疑問を募らせるだけで、理解に苦しむ検証記事である。
検証記事は、「吉田証言」を取り上げた報道の影響についても次のように述べている。
証言を取り上げた本紙報道（91年11月）が韓国紙に報じられた影響について、韓国の元外交官やメディア関係者、研究者らに尋ねたところ、世論に大きな影響を与えたものではないとの見方が一般的だった。吉田氏の著書は89年以降、韓国語訳されている。
しかし、北海道新聞は91年11月27日付続報で、自社の「吉田証言」の初報が韓国に及ぼした反響について「韓国紙、異例の大々的報道」「広がる衝撃」「韓国民に新たな衝撃を与えている」などと報じていたのである。それによると、東亜日報が北海道新聞の記事を一面準トップ記事で取り上げ、「『挺身隊徴用は奴隷狩りだった』との7段カット見出しを付け、『泣き叫ぶ女たちを殴りつけ、乳飲み子を引きはがしてトラックに積み込んだ』などとする様子を赤裸々に紹介。百五十行の長文記事を一面から二面にわたって編集する異例の紙面づくりだった」という。23年たった今になって「韓国の元外交官やメディア関係者、研究者らに尋ねたところ、世論に大きな影響を与えたものではないとの見方が一般的だった」と言っても、当時の報道という証拠を前にしては、説得力に乏しい。
このほかにも疑問点として指摘すべきは、記事の取消しをしたにもかかわらず、1面の「おわび」も検証特集記事も、識者のコメント以外すべて匿名で、責任者の名前が全くなかったことである。朝日新聞の場合、杉浦信之編集担当取締役＝のちに解任＝の署名記事が1面に掲載され、検証記事全体が杉浦氏を責任者として作成されたことが分かるようになっていた。
また、北海道新聞の検証特集「慰安婦問題を考える」は見開き2ページに掲載され、見開き2ページを2日連続で掲載した朝日新聞と比べると外形的には半分の量だが、実質的にはそれよりもっと少ない。1ページ目は3人の有識者の慰安婦問題に関するコメントで埋め尽くされ、そのほとんどが自社の報道検証とは関係がない内容だった。ちなみに、取り上げられたのはノンフィクション作家の半藤一利さん、東京基督教大学教授の西岡力さん、京都大学大学院教授の永井和さん。「従軍慰安婦問題の本質は、朝鮮民族の女性の人権をまったく無視し、ひどい思いをさせたというヒューマニズムの問題だ、という認識をもつかどうかだ」で始まる半藤さんのコメントが、他の2人よりひときわ大きな扱いだった。
報道検証と呼べる記事は、2ページ目の上の3分の1程度のスペースを割いた「本紙『吉田証言』でおわび 証言の信憑性薄いと判断」だけだった。残りのスペースは、「日韓条約 混迷の原点」と題して慰安婦問題の歴史的経緯を説明した記事と、「３つの論点」と題して政府・軍の関与、強制性、吉田証言のそれぞれについて説明した記事が載っていた。前者は「元慰安婦への対応など、戦後補償問題を十分に協議しないまま、日韓両政府が『両国の請求権問題は完全かつ最終的に解決した』との合意を急いだことが、問題の混迷を招いたと言えそうだ」と北海道新聞の見解が示されたほかは、淡々と事実関係を時系列に羅列してまとめただけだった。後者も、各論点の議論の経緯と対立する立場の見解を淡々とまとめただけで、何ら新たな取材、検証をした形跡がなかった。つまり、2ページ目の3分の2のスペースは実質的に「検証」ではなく、既知情報の「まとめ」記事にすぎなかった。
検証が不十分といわれた朝日新聞も、検証特集の初日の見開き2ページの大半を4つの論点に関する自社の報道検証に割き、紙面的には力の入れようが読者に伝わる構成だった。2日目も、1ページ目は慰安婦問題の詳細な経緯をまとめただけだったが、2ページ目は初日の検証記事に対する識者3人の批評コメントを載せていた。これと比較して、北海道新聞の検証記事は、朝日の検証記事から３か月以上も遅れての「取消し」となったにもかかわらず、構成面をとっても内容面をとっても、時間とリソースをどれだけ費やして作ったのか、甚だ疑問の残るものだった。
https://web.archive.org/web/20160325233541/http://gohoo.org/14112601/
http://megalodon.jp/2014-1126-2316-10/gohoo.org/14112601/
韓国「支援財団と像撤去は別」 慰安婦問題は本当に最終解決するのか…
産経2016.4.22
【ソウル＝名村隆寛】慰安婦の「最終的かつ不可逆的な解決」に向けた日韓合意に基づき、韓国政府が元慰安婦の支援を目的とした財団の設立準備に向けて動いている。日本としては、ソウルの日本大使館前に不法に設置された慰安婦像の撤去も、問題の最終的解決には不可欠だ。しかし、韓国政府は「財団設立とは別の問題」としており、撤去からはほど遠い状況だ。
日韓は２０日にソウルで外務省の局長級協議を行い、財団の設立について話し合った。韓国外務省報道官は２１日の記者会見で、「特に財団設立に向けた準備委員会発足の時期、任務、設立時の事業履行などを中心に意見交換があった」と説明した。
韓国政府は元慰安婦の女性と関連団体などの意見を収斂することを重要視し、「（元慰安婦らの）意見を最大限に反映して財団が設立できるよう最大限の努力をしている」（同報道官）という。現在、支援機関である女性家族省など、関連部署と協議し設立準備を進めているが、準備委員会の発足時や人選、財団設立の時期などは明らかにしていない。
一方、「日本側では大使館前の慰安婦像撤去と財団設立を結びつけた意見がある。局長級協議でも議論になったのか」との質問に報道官は次のように答えた。
「常に基本を振り返らねばならないのだが、合意内容にはこう書かれている。『韓国政府が慰安婦被害者の方々への支援を目的とする財団を設立し、これに日本政府の予算で資金を一括拠出する』と。このどこにも、少女像の問題は差し挟まれてはいない」。報道官はさらに続けた。
「財団設立の問題と少女像（慰安婦像）の問題は完全に別個の事案だ。したがって、それを結びつける、あるいはそのように連想することは、今後もないことが望ましい」。
報道官の言葉通り、確かに日韓合意の「財団設立と日本政府による資金（約１０億円）の一括拠出」の部分には慰安婦像の撤去については触れてはいない。しかし、韓国側は合意の第２項で次のように明言している。
「韓国政府は、日本政府が在韓日本大使館前の少女像に対し、公館の安寧・威厳の維持の観点から懸念していることを認知し、韓国政府としても、可能な対応方向について関連団体との協議を行う等を通じて、適切に解決されるよう努力する」。大使館前に置かれた慰安婦像が、外国公館の保護を定めたウィーン条約に違反していることを、韓国政府も合意で認めているのだ。
慰安婦像の撤去について日本政府は、像が不法に設置された２０１１年末以来、韓国側に繰り返し求めてきた。しかし、合意以降も韓国政府は、「市民が自発的に設置したものであり、政府が『ああしろ、こうしろ』とはいえない」（韓国外務省）との主張を続けている。朴槿恵大統領からして、同じことを公の場で明言している。
慰安婦像の撤去や移転について、世論の反発は強く、一朝一夕に実現することは、まず望めない。ただ、日本の資金拠出による財団設立と慰安婦像は別問題だとしても、「適切な解決への努力」を韓国側は約束している。
しかし、韓国政府の望み通り財団の設立は実現しても、慰安婦像の撤去は「実現が伴わない単なる努力」に終わってしまう恐れもある。合意に従えば、「努力したが、やむをえない」との“言い訳”も可能かもしれない。
ただ、それで慰安婦問題は合意通りに、「完全かつ不可逆的に解決」されたといえるのだろうか。
https://web.archive.org/web/20160423115102/http://www.sankei.com/world/news/160422/wor1604220024-n1.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20160423235138/http://www.sankei.com/world/news/160422/wor1604220024-n2.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20160423235301/http://www.sankei.com/world/news/160422/wor1604220024-n3.html
I Am Not a Comfort Woman.
Over 2 decades have passed since the late Kim Hak-sun became the first person in the world to testify as a victim of the Japanese Imperial Army’s “comfort women” sexual slavery on August 14, 1991. Since then, a rally has been held every week on Wednesdays in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul by the former “comfort women” victims to demand an apology from the Japanese government. It has since become the world’s oldest rally with a single theme. However, the Abe government not only continues its refusal to accept responsibility for its wartime atrocities, but is also taking steps to turn Japan into a nation capable of waging another war.
Celebrating the 70th Independence Day, KBS World Radio aims to share the views of director Cho Jung-rae, who is currently working on a film on “comfort women” titled Gwi-hyang (Spirits’ Homecoming) and actress Seo Mi-ji, who indirectly experienced the pain of the “comfort women” victims through her role in the movie. Through the vivid testimonies of the victims and the efforts of civic groups and experts in and outside of the country, we wish to inform Japan that future partnership and peace in Northeast Asia will only be possible when it faces its past.
Special Program Marking the 70th Anniversary of Korea’s Liberation from Japanese Colonial Rule: I’m not a ‘Comfort Woman.’
Part 1: Spirits’ Homecoming
N: A man is singing a folk song, walking along the ridges between rice paddies. He is carrying his 14-year-old daughter, Jung-min, on an A-frame carrier on his back. The image of the happy father and daughter is beautiful.
The scene is from a movie titled “Spirits’ Homecoming,” which describes the plight of Korean sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II. This scene was filmed at the Seodeok field in Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province. According to the film’s director, Cho Jung-rae, it is an old, peaceful rural area where a full 360-degree rotation of the camera shows a vast, serene field. Here, Jung-min had a happy childhood.
N: As did the elderly victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. Kang Il-chul was the youngest in a family of 12 children, and she was the darling of the family.
My hometown is Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. My family ran a business of dried persimmons. As I was the youngest child in the family, my parents adored me and my sisters would give me a piggyback ride. I would cry if I wasn’t allowed to embrace my mom’s bosom.
N: Lee Yong-soo cared for her younger twin brothers as if she was their mother. The cheerful girl could sing very well.
I liked to play cute tricks, and I could sing and dance well. People around me said they wouldn’t have any fun without me. I raised the twins, often carrying them on my back. They would look for their older sister, not their mom.
N: Kim Bok-dong, a young girl full of dreams, enjoyed playing hide-and-seek and hopscotch with her friends.
I hung out with friends all the time and we used to gather round in the village to play hopscotch and other things. Peaceful days passed, and there was nothing to worry about. I wasn’t lonely as I had younger siblings. I thought all I had to do was study hard.
N: However, from the moment when they were forced to serve as sex slaves, the lives of these young girls turned into a nightmare. 70 years have passed since Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule, and those girls have now become old women. But they are still living in miserable pain to this day.
Even though our nation was liberated decades ago, we haven’t been liberated yet. I wouldn’t say we’re living a decent life.
N: The term “comfort women” is a euphemism for women who were forced to provide sex to soldiers at the so-called “comfort stations” operated by the Japanese army during World War II. Those girls who lived through unbelievably brutal times were called comfort women. But in reality, they were Korea’s daughters who had their own names.
How am I a comfort woman? Why should I use the dirty name, “comfort woman”? I’m not a comfort woman. I’m Lee Yong-soo. This is the very name given by my mother and father.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to our special program on KBS World Radio. Marking the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, we’ve prepared a two-part special program, “I’m not a Comfort Woman.” This is part one titled “Spirits’ Homecoming.” Today, we’ll share with our listeners the painful and miserable lives of Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery.
N: On a Sunday in July, film director Cho Chung-rae visited the House of Sharing after completing his filming work. It had been quite a while since he last visited the shelter for surviving former sex slaves in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. It is the place where the old ladies who provided a motive for the movie “Spirits’ Homecoming” are staying. Among them, 88-year-old Kang Il-chul was forcibly dragged to a comfort station in Changchun, Jilin Province of China, in 1943. She was only 16 years old. Through her, director Cho came to learn the horrible history of former sex slaves for the first time.
N: 13 years ago, Cho visited the House of Sharing with his friends, bringing a drum with him. They were the members of a traditional percussion music club. He had previously learned about sexual slavery during World War II in school, but he knew little about the harrowing moments the victims had actually undergone. At the shelter, Cho happened to see a shocking painting. It portrays young girls who are burned alive in a large pit. When he asked what the painting was about, the old lady Kang said that all the girls were burned to death and she was the only person who miraculously survived.
I had a high fever and lost hair due to typhoid. The Japanese troops were worried that the epidemic might infect the soldiers. It was a precarious situation and I was in great danger. I was crawling out of the incinerator, when a soldier of the Korean independence army took me with him, carrying me on his back. It was a miracle.
N: The director had thought that most victims of sexual slavery were living somewhere in Korea after returning home. He couldn’t believe that a lot of girls had actually been killed.
He was so shocked that he suffered from severe body aches for days. He even had a dream that the souls of the elderly victims returned to their hometowns. After that, he was determined to make a movie from this heartrending story.
N: Do you know how old the girls were when they were forcibly taken to Japanese military brothels? Here is Kim Bok-dong, who is 90 years old now.
I was 14 years old. They said I would be sent to a factory producing military uniforms. I soothed myself thinking I wouldn’t die in a factory. But as it turned out I was dragged to a frontline area, as a comfort woman. I was brought to a number of regions, such as Taiwan, Gwangdong in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sumatra and Java of Indonesia, and Singapore. They treated me like a bag, putting me on top of luggage in trucks.
N: 13 years ago, Cho visited the House of Sharing with his friends, bringing a drum with him. They were the members of a traditional percussion music club. He had previously learned about sexual slavery during World War II in school, but he knew little about the harrowing moments the victims had actually undergone. At the shelter, Cho happened to see a shocking painting. It portrays young girls who are burned alive in a large pit. When he asked what the painting was about, the old lady Kang said that all the girls were burned to death and she was the only person who miraculously survived.
I had a high fever and lost hair due to typhoid. The Japanese troops were worried that the epidemic might infect the soldiers. It was a precarious situation and I was in great danger. I was crawling out of the incinerator, when a soldier of the Korean independence army took me with him, carrying me on his back. It was a miracle.
N: The director had thought that most victims of sexual slavery were living somewhere in Korea after returning home. He couldn’t believe that a lot of girls had actually been killed.
He was so shocked that he suffered from severe body aches for days. He even had a dream that the souls of the elderly victims returned to their hometowns. After that, he was determined to make a movie from this heartrending story.
N: Do you know how old the girls were when they were forcibly taken to Japanese military brothels? Here is Kim Bok-dong, who is 90 years old now.
I was 14 years old. They said I would be sent to a factory producing military uniforms. I soothed myself thinking I wouldn’t die in a factory. But as it turned out I was dragged to a frontline area, as a comfort woman. I was brought to a number of regions, such as Taiwan, Gwangdong in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sumatra and Java of Indonesia, and Singapore. They treated me like a bag, putting me on top of luggage in trucks.
One night, a soldier and a girl came to my house. The girl signaled to me. I thought she was fooling around with me, so I ignored her and sat at a spinning wheel. The girl approached me. She put her arm around my shoulders and covered my mouth. The soldier then poked me in the back with something and walked me off by force. Still, I thought they were playing a trick on me. I had no idea of what was going on. I never knew.
N: Lee was forced on the train right away. She took the train for the first time in her life and started on a long journey.
Farewell to my parents? No. I was taken away in the middle of the night. How could I ever say goodbye to anyone in that situation?
N: Just like Lee, Kang Il-chul also had to leave home without even a moment to see her parents.
My Parents didn’t know what was happening. They were not at home when I was taken away. After returning from school, I ate something and sat on the floor by myself. My parents didn’t know.
N: Japan’s Shinzo Abe Administration claims there is no proof that the Japanese military or government forcibly conscripted women to work as sexual slaves. Yun Jung-ok, former professor at Ewha Woman’s University, has been studying the comfort women issue all her life. She is over 90 years old. She brings a book titled “Comfort Women” from her study filled with books and research material related to this issue and begins reading a particular phrase in a furious tone.
The Japanese Kwantung Army wanted to mobilize 20-thousand Korean women for sexual enslavement. This is shown in page 99 of this book. See? It is clearly stated that the Kwantung Army asked the governor-general of Korea to send 8,000 Joseon women as sexual slaves in order to conscript 20-thousand comfort women and that the 8,000 women were sent to the northeastern region of China.
N: Written by Yoshimi Yoshiaki, a Japanese modern history professor at Chuo University in Tokyo, this book was based on the document about comfort women written by Japan’s War Ministry in 1938. The professor unveiled the document in 1993. This contributed greatly to eliciting the Kono Statement, in which the Tokyo government acknowledged the Japanese military’s involvement in recruiting comfort women by force for its troops.
Professor Yun still vividly remembers the moment when she was almost taken away as a comfort woman. It was in spring of 1943, when she was a freshman at Ewha College.
A man wearing the Japanese military uniform brought a person who looked like an assistant. He handed out blue printed materials and told us to sign the papers with both thumbprints. We were so frightened that we felt we should follow his order. A similarly intimidating atmosphere prevailed in Korea at the time. Everything was done quickly. They distributed the papers and stamp pads. As soon as we signed the papers with our thumbprints, the papers were collected one by one from the back, just like test papers.
N: The girls were hauled into trucks, ships and trains. Yu Hee-nam recalls the moment.
They covered our heads with something black. When we boarded the ship, the windows of the cabins were all covered with something black so that light would not escape through the windows.
N: They finally arrived at unknown military units. There, something that the teenage girls could hardly endure began to happen.
N: The girls were placed on exam tables under the pretext of sanitary inspections. They were then sexually violated. The late Kim Hak-sun wailed when she recalled the humiliating and dreadful moment. She gave a public testimony in 1991 and became the first comfort woman to come forward.
I was only 17. I just turned 17 when a Japanese soldier brutally dragged me and raped me. It was no use crying. I tried to storm out of the room, but the dirtbag, the Japanese man, the soldier grabbed me and never let go of me. While being raped, I couldn’t stop crying. The experience was too heartbreaking for words.
N: Lee Yong-soo was even tortured with electric shocks because she resisted. Even today, she can’t look at her scars from the torture without shuddering.
It was just so horrible that I can’t even think about it. I suffered electric torture because I refused to enter the soldiers’ room. I still hear a strange sound. I’m not sure whether it comes from my head or my ears. I also have a scar on my belly. Why should I enter the soldiers’ room?
N: Aso Tetsuo was an army doctor who examined sexually transmitted diseases at comfort stations at the time. He wrote in his diary, “Women brought from Joseon were the best imperial gift granted by the emperor to Japanese soldiers.” The expression indicates that the Korean victims of sexual slavery were young women who had no sexual experience at all. Similar expressions are also found in the same diary. Let’s hear from Yoon Mi-hyang, president of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
It is also written that the women are a sanitary public toilet where Japanese soldiers can discharge their sexual desire. The sentence has conflicting concepts. The word “sanitary” suggests that the young, clean women were actually virgins. But the word “toilet” implies that these women were treated as a mere toilet to receive the soldiers’ sexual waste.
N: The Japanese military strictly managed comfort stations, even setting a guideline for the proportion of Japanese soldiers to sex slaves. Professor Su Zhiliang from the Comfort Women Research Center at Shanghai Normal University cites a comfort station in Nanjing as an example.
We’ve found a record about a comfort station in Nanjing. In the document, it is written that the proportion of Japanese soldiers to sex slaves is 178 to 1.
N: Kim Bok-dong’s testimony also backs this up.
On Saturdays, the soldiers would line up from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Sundays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. When it was over in the evening, I could hardly stand up. My limbs got badly swollen. Medics then gave me medicines and shots so I would recover during the coming week before the same routine was repeated.
N: President Yoon Mi-hyang says that sexual slavery during World War II was an unprecedented war crime in human history.
The Japanese government planned the scheme as a policy, and the Japanese military recruited women and positioned them at the battlefields. In doing so, Japanese troops were provided with safe rape camps, namely, comfort stations, where they were allowed to rape women. The military examined and managed the venereal diseases of the women, who were robbed of their freedom and ended up serving Japanese soldiers as sex slaves. This can be defined as a war crime that had never existed before and will never occur again in human history.
N: Many of the girls who were dragged by the Japanese military were underage, and they hadn’t even had their first period. The same was true for Jung-min, the heroine of the movie “Sprits’ Homecoming.” Actress Oh Ji-hye talks about one of the most distressing scenes in the movie.
The drafted girls include those who haven’t even had their first menstrual period. In a more heartbreaking scene, the heroine has her first period, while being raped. She falls asleep on the bed and has a dream. She wakes up, but she still can’t tell if she is awake or dreaming.
N: While playing the role of Jung-min’s mother who made cloth sanitary pads for her daughter, actress Oh felt a deep pang of sorrow.
The mother is making cloth sanitary pads called gaejim. While sewing the pads, the mother says, “Oh, my girl has grown up so fast. Congratulations, darling. You’re now an adult.” The daughter keeps calling out for her mother. “Mom, mom…” Suddenly she wakes up. She soon realizes everything was a dream. How sad! She probably finds herself hoping to die. My heart ached with sympathy for the poor kid.
N: If the girls grew up normally, entering adulthood would have been something to celebrate. But in reality, these girls had to shed tears on the hard, cold beds at comfort stations, missing their mothers. N: At comfort stations, girls were humiliated and sexually assaulted before dying.
According to Director Cho Jeong-rae, it felt like the temperature was exceptionally low at the movie set of a comfort station. It was in late April and warm spring was felt outside. Inside the set, however, people felt cold even if they were pulling on their winter parkas. They felt as though the souls of the ill-fated girls were there. It is said that actresses had dreams of the girls when they filmed the scenes of the comfort station. It was indeed a difficult experience, as they were terrified and felt guilty at the same time. Two actresses, Hong Se-na and Park Jae-won, share their feelings.
Hong: The director and us actresses, describe the scene of the comfort station as a scene from hell. I was really scared. Tears were suddenly welling up in my eyes.
Park: I cried a lot. I felt immensely sorry for the poor girls, and I cried so much.
N: Director Cho says he always made a bow before and after filming the scenes of the comfort station. The ritual reflected his hope that the souls of the girls would allow him to lay bare the truth and spread it widely.
N: The Pacific War was drawing near to an end. As the war was not going in Japan’s favor, the Japanese military began to eliminate all evidence of its comfort stations overseas.
N: Comfort stations and relevant documents were burned. Many of the girls were killed as well. In the movie, Jung-min and her friend Young-hee have a narrow escape. Unfortunately, Jung-min is shot while running away. She dies in Young-hee’s arms.
N: How many girls were killed and thrown aside out there?
Young-hee had to leave Jung-min, who died in her arms.
Back then, how many girls had to leave their dead friends behind and move on?
N: Imperial Japan lost the war, and Kim Bok-dong barely escaped death. Thinking about her stolen youth, she feels resentful and angry.
Eight long years…. Back then, I even lost track of the time. After the war was over, I was detained at the U.S. military’s internment camp in Singapore. They found out the women there, including me, were Koreans. So, we were told to wait for a ship to come. The ship for refugees finally came and some 3,000 people boarded it. Only then did I realize that I was already 22 years old.
N: With other victims, Yu Hee-nam also got on the ship bound for Korea. But she couldn’t bring herself to return home.
Of course I had my family back home. But I couldn’t return. I was deeply ashamed. We, women, have traditionally had many things to cherish. I just lived, wandering from place to place. Who could ever say such a shameful thing? I was too embarrassed to go back home.
N: Some girls chose to take their own lives, with their hometowns only a short distance away, as they found it utterly disgraceful to return home with their soiled body.
Needless to say, the women desperately wanted to go home. But having gone through the awful experience, they were too ashamed to face their family. Also, they thought they would put their family to disgrace. For these reasons, many of them chose not to return home.
I will tell you a story. On the refugee ship, a girl heard someone shouting, “We’re almost there! I see Korean mountains over there.” The girl came out to the deck and saw her hometown, Busan, from a distance. But her joy didn’t last long. She murmured how she could see her parents with her dirty body. With these words, she jumped into the sea from the deck.
N: They returned home, home to a place they had missed so much even in their dreams. However, the hometowns they had cherished in childhood were gone. Lee Yong-soo recalls that only her twin brothers, who she used to carry on her back, remained alive.
I learned that my younger siblings and my parents had all died. Only my twin brothers were alive.
N: Kim Bok-dong’s mother was able to see her beloved daughter again for the first time in eight years. At first, she wouldn’t believe what her daughter said. She just couldn’t understand how on earth that kind of thing could happen.
My parents told me to get married, but that was simply impossible. When I told my mom about my story, she said I was telling a lie. She wouldn’t believe me. She said there was no place like that in the entire world. She scolded me for saying silly things because I didn’t want to get married. When she saw my miserable body, she was dumbfounded. My mother lamented bitterly, thinking she could not face her ancestors after death as she failed to manage her child properly. She couldn’t tell anyone, and she began to suffer from anger and depression.
N: Kim felt guilty about returning alive alone. She was too often haunted by her appalling life at comfort stations. Every night, Kim was oppressed by a nightmare.
The girls who had been sent to the frontlines were all dead, except me. After I returned home, my mom gave me all sorts of medicines for one year to cure me. I was often startled while asleep. When I woke up, I wondered for a moment how and why I was there. Even if I stayed and slept in my own house, I felt as if it had been a strange place. For me, it was a near miracle just to stay alive.
They are totally unaware of the suffering victims. Japan claims that such women never existed. It is simply too ridiculous for words. I wish I could vent my anger, even with words, even just once, before I die.
N: The elderly victims had been afraid of going out into the world. But they were able to take courage after Kim Hak-sun testified in 1991 that she was in fact a former comfort woman. She was the first comfort woman ever to go public with her story.
Living all alone, I used to spend time watching TV in the evening. One day, I happened to see people on TV saying they have no idea what comfort women are. A Japanese person even said there were no such women at all and it was Korean people who traded women. I was so heartbroken. Actually, I had always been thinking of speaking out on this matter some day. Upon hearing the absurd claims, I was struck dumb and I cried hard. It was extremely frustrating that people were so unaware of what had actually happened to us. Moreover, Japan blatantly says that it never took any girls and things like that never happened, although there still are surviving witnesses like me. I burst into tears. I was shocked and stunned. That’s why I decided to start this.
N: Kim was 16 years old when she was taken by the Japanese troops. It was not until she was 67 that she spoke up, breaking a 51-year-long silence. Kim’s testimony gave courage to other victims, who began to come forward. A reporting center for victims of Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement was set up on February 25, 1992. However, only 238 elderly women officially admitted that they were former comfort women. That was partly because many victims had already passed away. But for many others, it would be more painful to reveal their miserable past than to die. At first, Kim Bok-dong decided to pluck up courage and tell people the truth. But in reality, she could barely open her mouth.
I was tongue-tied at first. I had never stood up in front of people before, and moreover, I was truly ashamed to talk about my past. I didn’t think I could make it in my sober senses. So I grabbed a drink. As I was feeling a little tipsy, I was able to talk. But tears rushed to my eyes at the same time.
I wondered why I should say things like that.
N: Yu Hee-nam says that she should have died back then, if she had known she would be treated like this.
As a Korean woman, I should have killed myself then. From childhood, we had been taught that a woman would not be treated as a decent human being if she failed to serve only one husband all her life in this country of courteous people. Even if the husband might act like a fool, the wife was supposed to serve him faithfully until she dies in her husband’s house. If the wife returns to her own parent’s house or remarries another man, she was not even regarded as a human. At that time… oh, I don’t want to say any more… It was just indescribable…
N: After Kim Hak-sun’s testimony, other victims started to give similar testimonies one after another. Also, the Japanese government’s documents supporting their testimonies were disclosed.
In July 1992, then-Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato said in a statement that there was no coercion in the comfort women’s mobilization, although the Japanese military was involved in it.
In August the following year, new Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono announced a statement, in which he acknowledged the forcible drafting of comfort women as sexual slaves to Japanese troops.
The Kono Statement said that the Japanese military was involved in the transfer of comfort women and the women were recruited against their will through coercion. But Japan still distorts the truth. The statement also said that the comfort women were mainly drafted by private recruiters in response to the request of the military. It sounds as if private recruiters had played the leading role in comfort women’s mobilization. Citing this, Japanese government still does not recognize its legal responsibility.
N: Japan claims that it fulfilled its legal responsibility through the 1965 Korea-Japan Treaty. Here is Ahn Shin-gwon, director of the House of Sharing.
The Tokyo government claims that all issues regarding its colonial rule were settled in 1965. However, the 1965 Korea-Japan Basic Treaty deals with property rights of Korea under colonial rule. It does not include the right to demand compensation for victims of war crimes against humanity committed by the Japanese military.
N: International organizations have released a series of reports indicating that the Korea-Japan Treaty failed to reflect legal compensation for Korean victims of sexual slavery.
Reports by Radhika Coomaraswamy, a former U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women, and another former U.N. special rapporteur Gay McDougall noted that the 1965 Korea-Japan Treaty did not deal with the comfort women issue. In another report released by Amnesty International in 2005, it is stated that the 1965 treaty and other agreements of involved countries did not settle the comfort women issue. The report urged Japan to pay compensation to the victims.
N: However, Tokyo has erased the history of its sexual slavery of women during World War II in the textbooks, while extremists in Japan are calling the victims “voluntary prostitutes.” They are killing these girls twice.
N: Is the Japanese government simply waiting for all the elderly victims to die? A 72-year-old Japanese woman Kazuko Nagahama has been engaging in volunteer work at the House of Sharing for the last ten years. Her heart feels heavy when she sees the old ladies there, who are getting weaker and weaker.
Obviously, these women have become noticeably fragile. I can clearly see that. I’ve seen five women here pass away in the last ten years. While pushing the elderly women’s wheelchairs and looking at them from behind, I feel my heart is getting heavier.
N: It’s uncertain how many more years the aging women can survive. Lee Yong-soo feels pressured, as she is also running out of time.
My mind is kind of urgent these days, as my elderly friends are dying one by one. I was so frustrated that I even said in the U.S. that I would live 200 years. I try hard not to get sick. I get up early in the morning, dying my hair or taking medicines. My life has been weary, filled with hardships and regrets.
N: On March 4, when a chilly wind was still blowing, the so-called “Wednesday Rally” was held in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. The rally has been held every Wednesday since January 8, 1992. It was the 1,168th such gathering.
N: The demonstration has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest rally on a single issue. It is also a sign that the comfort women issue has remained unsettled for such a long time. The victims had never missed the rally thus far. It is difficult for these old, weak halmonis(할머니) or grandmas to even walk. As soon as the rally begins, however, the light in their eyes changes and their voice rises higher.
N: The lines of the song say, “Let’s live like a hard rock, undaunted by despair.” Kim and Lee are singing the song energetically. How can these 90-year-old women sing so powerfully?
I should win over Japan by all means before I die. Then, I can say something to other victims in heaven. If I fail to resolve this problem, and if they ask me what I’ve done for all those years, I have nothing to say.
N: Lee says that she will live to be 200 years old so she can receive an official apology from Japan. Only then, she says she can die in peace and ease her guilty feeling about returning alive alone.
Sadly, numerous young girls met tragic, untimely deaths in foreign lands many years ago. Now, through his film, Director Cho hopes to take the spirits of the girls back home.
N: On a quiet summer afternoon in early June, the director shot the scene of a shamanistic ritual in front of a 400-year-old zelkova tree by a river in Yangsuri, east of Seoul. This scene is the highlight of the movie.
Veteran actress Son Sook performed the role of Young-hee, now an old woman who returned alive long ago. While filming the scene, Son said that she felt like she had finally paid her debt to the girls.
I think almost all women living in this age feel guilty for what the elderly victims had gone through. We’re all indebted to them. But how can we pay the debt? For me, this was an opportunity to pay back, though only in a small way.
N: When the ritual for the spirits’ homecoming starts, a strong wind suddenly begins blowing as if the souls were responding to the exorcist’s chant. At this scene, actress Hwang Ha-seong, who played the role of the exorcist, was so startled that she almost cried.
The wind was blowing so violently. It made my hair stand on end. I felt like I was possessed by a mysterious spirit. My body was trembling, and this gave me goose bumps. I was close to tears.
N: A group of butterflies are flying around the zelkova tree. The butterfly is often compared to a spirit. Having this in mind, the director expressed the spirits of the girls in butterflies—butterflies of peace symbolizing the elderly victims.
N: In a peaceful rural village, Jung-min returns home after playing at the fields. She jumps on the floor and enjoys a meal with her parents. This is the last scene of the film.
Even if it is only in the film, Director Cho hopes to bring the spirits of the girls back home and offer them a spoonful of warm, newly-cooked rice, at least in his movie.
N: The past that we have not lived through only remains in record. But when we face people who still have a memory about the past, history begins to come alive and becomes a reality. So does the history of the elderly victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery.
In the mid-1990s, Japanese journalist Doi Toshikuni captured the lives and deaths of six such victims on film for about two years. Now, he shares his opinion about the essence of the comfort women issue.
There are women who suffered damage. As a result, their entire lives were destroyed. This is the essence of the comfort women issue. Every single one of them was deprived of their dignity that would otherwise enable them to lead decent lives. And they have been troubled by the painful memories for all those years.
There lived an old Korean woman near Dongying, southern China. She grabbed our hands and wept. Unfortunately, she couldn’t communicate with us because she forgot the Korean language. When we were with her, we sang Arirang. We gave it a try. Then, the woman, who couldn’t speak Korean, also began to sing Arirang… Three of us all cried.
N: Imperial Japan’s wartime sexual slavery during World War II completely destroyed the lives of countless young girls. The comfort women issue indisputably comprises the disturbing history of mankind. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the spirits of the girls who died in foreign lands will return home and rest in eternal peace. N: That concludes “Spirits’ Homecoming,” the first part of our special program marking the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Thank you for tuning in, and please join us again tomorrow for the second part of the program. Goodbye, everyone.
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Program Marking the 70th Anniversary of Korea’s Liberation of Japanese Colonial Rule: I’m not a ‘Comfort Woman.’
Part 2: Peace
N: A ceremony was held at the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. on July 28 to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the passage of a resolution on comfort women. During the ceremony attended by some 100 people, including US Congressmen, Director Cho Jung-rae introduced his film “Spirits’ Homecoming.” When the screening of the six-minute preview was over, the participants had to swallow their emotions in a solemn atmosphere. In fact, Congressman Mike Honda invited director Cho to this ceremony after seeing the film in early July. Let’s hear from Honda talking about the power of cultural content.
The movie is a very powerful movie. I’ve met the director and the movie star. In New York, there is a Broadway musical called ‘Comfort Women.’ So, it’s a hit musical. And this is how we are going to get the story out, through the media. So, we have to constantly pressure Prime Minister Abe to do the right thing. Thus, he is the key to turn the whole thing around to make it right again.
N: Director Cho also went to a rehearsal for the musical “Comfort Women: A New Musical” that Honda just mentioned. For director Cho, it’s just amazing that his movie has been invited to the U.S. Congress, while a musical with the same poignant theme is being staged on Broadway.
N: The comfort women issue is no longer a matter of past history shared by Korea and Japan, but a universal concern that still remains controversial and attracts global attention today. The change is all thanks to those who are making efforts in their own areas to pass on peace, not war, to future generations by restoring the dignity of the elderly victims.
N: Welcome to our special program on KBS World Radio. Marking the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, we present a special two-part program, “I’m not a Comfort Woman.” This is part two titled “Peace.”
N: On July 4, American Independence Day, director Cho set foot on U.S. soil for the first time in his life. He was accompanied by actress Seo Mi-ji, who played the role of Young-hee in his film “Spirits’ Homecoming.” Their first destination was Palisades Park in New Jersey, where a monument dedicated to the victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery was erected on October 23, 2010. The monument stands on the lawn of a municipal library in the city. In front of the memorial, the visitors made a deep bow to the souls of the young victims.
N: This monument is the world’s first memorial commemorating comfort women. According to Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo, the memorial bears yet another important significance.
And if you really look at Palisades Park, that is the only monument that’s dedicated to someone not from Palisades Park. There was some concern from some of the long-time residents of the town, but when I also started to tell them the story, started to make them understand that this was more of a human rights issue, this was more of a story that needed to be told because things that happened in war should never happen, this is what needed to be told and when I explained it to them they supported the project right away.
N: The memorial plaque reads, “In memory of the more than 200,000 women and girls who were abducted by the armed forces of the government of Imperial Japan 1930’s-1945 known as “comfort women,” they endured human rights violations that should not be left unrecognized. Let us never forget the horrors of crimes against humanity.”
Carved on the plaque is a picture of a girl crouching as low as possible, turning her back on a Japanese soldier extending his hand toward the girl in an intimidating manner. There, director Cho and actress Seo could see the very girls who appeared in their movie, such as Jung-min, Young-hee, Sun-shim and Ok-bun. It was Steve Cavallo, then-art director for the library, who designed the memorial, a brass plaque on a piece of stone. The visitors wondered why an American artist designed the comfort women memorial.
Well, my first reaction was did this really happen being we’ve never heard about it in history class going through school here in America. And I heard about the comfort women issue back in the 90’s, I didn’t start painting until 10 years later. It was something that stayed with me, so it’s just something that never left my mind. I heard a horrible thing, just like you might hear something on the news 20 years ago, it never leaves you.
N: After paying tribute at the memorial, Cho and Seo moved on to a nearby exhibition room, where some 20 paintings by Cavallo were displayed. The explanation of one painting, in particular, had a long emotional resonance. The picture depicts a woman squatting and plucking grass. Behind her, soldiers are lined up at a comfort station.
And lastly this is one of the older ones from 2009, this is the testimony of a woman who said in ‘Silence broken; that she would go out in the morning and pick fresh grass to put up her nostrils to avoid the stench of the unclean soldiers getting on top of her, which was such a powerful statement and it just gives you an idea of what these women endured.
N: Actress Seo says the painting reminded her of Boon-sook, one of the movie characters.
Looking at the picture, I recalled Boon-sook. In the movie, she is a very strong woman and she always consoles the girls who are younger than she is. But when they are not around her, she often puts grass in her nose because she hates the smell of the soldiers. I imagine she made great efforts to clear herself of shame and humiliation in any way.
N: 21-year-old Boon-sook was like a big sister to the girls. To save them, she even chatted up a Japanese soldier. It seems as if this young woman is sitting in Cavallo’s painting. The world’s first monument dedicated to comfort women created a big stir. About two years after the establishment of the monument, the then-consul general of Japan in New York came to visit Mayor Rotundo.
So when the gentleman came and they would like to do things together and I said “that’s great” “you know we would like to donate books to the library, or plant some (cherry blossom) trees, Japanese trees in the town and do some stuff together to show that we’re united” and I said “that’s fine” and he said the one request I’m going to ask you is that if we could take down the monument. And I said well that’s not going to happen.
N: After the consul general’s visit, some parliament members from Japan presented a petition signed by Japanese people and requested the removal of the memorial. They even presented a petition to the White House and claimed the monument would damage Japan’s reputation. But there demands were not met.
You know it was even at a time when a group said “well what if they offer you 10 million dollars”. I said “again they can keep the money and we’ll keep the monument”. And we explained to them that the California University, one of the professors there was instrumental in providing information to my staff and to give us the correct stories that we felt were true and believable. And when I asked the Japanese official I said “well give us your version”. I said “well give it to us”, if you’re coming from Japan with on your agenda to try to meet me to persuade me to take something down, you would come with some information but they had nothing to offer. And we had documents proving our side and we believed in the research that we did.
N: Rotundo also suggested to the Japanese legislators that they visit the House of Sharing together to confirm the fact. They refused, and they never contacted him again.
Our hope would be that this monument, which had begun and is still growing, got the word out across the World and I know that that monument started that. The small little monument that we have has got a big voice and I’m very proud of it.
N: The memorial controversy caused by Japanese politicians only served as a catalyst in bringing awareness of the comfort women issue to American society. Han Ji-soo, the president of Media Joha, began to show interest in the history of comfort women because of this memorial. Media Joha is a New Jersey-based Korean-American social enterprise. He started operating a cyber history museum and published an English-language book containing accounts of victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. He has been distributing the copies of the book titled “Can you Hear Us?: The Untold Narrative of Comfort Women” to politicians, historians, libraries and ordinary citizens for free.
At first, people were rather reluctant to deal with the comfort women issue. But this issue has been increasingly perceived in light of human rights in the U.S. and more and more local politicians have become aware of it. I think more than 90 percent of U.S. politicians I contacted were willing to accept the book. History professors were also very thankful when they received the book. I thought ‘OK. That’s what I have to do.’ Books like this should be spread widely, so we can enhance publicity on this issue and citizens can join the drive. But it was quite difficult to introduce the book in libraries, especially famous ones. I thought that the book should first appeal to those in politics, the economy and culture, so I began to distribute the copies of the book to people in those areas. Most of them were deeply impressed.
N: Following the establishment of the Palisades Park memorial in New Jersey, similar monuments have been created across the U.S. to commemorate the victims who were forced to serve Japanese troops during World War II. In fact, it is far from easy to build a memorial in a public area in the U.S. Feasibility studies must be conducted and the envisioned memorial should contain certain educational values. Also, the plan requires approval of residents, as well as, district councils and the heads of local governments. Only when these requirements are met, can a memorial be created in a particular public area. Behind the establishment of comfort women monuments all across the nation, the passage of a resolution played a big part. The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved the resolution on comfort women on July 30, 2007.
N: The resolution is simple and clear. The resolution calls on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and apologize for coercing women into sexual slavery for its wartime military, to compensate the surviving victims as they wish, and to educate the current and future generations, so this horrible crime will never happen again.
Director Cho and actress Seo drove five hours from New York and arrived in Washington D.C. Their purpose was to meet Congressman Mike Honda, who spearheaded the adoption of the resolution on comfort women.
N: With soft looks, Representative Honda warmly welcomed the visitors from Korea, with his sense of humor. But he had a serious look on his face when he shared his opinion about the sexual slavery issue during the interview.
I think the Japanese government through the military, in the thirties and in World War 2, had a systematic process by which they captured, kidnapped, coerced girls from their homes and used them as sex slaves. Comfort woman is a euphemism; it’s not the proper terminology. So I think the proper terminology instead of saying Wi-an-bu(위안부) should be really Seong-No-Ye(성노예) and that’s the position that I have.
N: Congressman Honda said the Korean words “Wianbu” and “Seongnoye” meaning “comfort women” and “sex slave,” respectively. He appeared to be infuriated as if the history of the elderly victims had been his own. To him, those elderly ladies, or halmeoni, are always his sisters.
Welcome our sister for traveling from South Korea to be here with us today. To witness Prime Minister Abe have the privilege of addressing the joint congress, the joint session of Congress. And so today he has that wonderful opportunity to apologize to the World, to apologize to our sister here.
N: Lee Yong-soo, one of the elderly victims, went to the U.S. in April to see Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivering his speech at a joint session of Congress. At the time, Rep. Honda urged Abe to apologize to her, calling her “my sister.”
N: The resolution on comfort women was actually first proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives back in 1997. But for the next ten years, it had been scrapped each time, not even being laid on the table, due to Japan’s tenacious lobbying. The resolution passed at last, thanks to the behind-the-scenes efforts by Korean Americans, who suggested a congressional hearing.
I have forgiven the Japanese for what they did to me, but I will never forget. But this is the one thing that Japan has never done; their apology has never been followed by action.
N: You heard from Jan Ruff O’Herne, a Dutch victim of the same atrocity, who was the first Western woman to reveal the fact that she had been a comfort woman. She says she forgave the Japanese for they had done to her, but she will never forget it. On February 15, 2007, she testified before a House subcommittee in a congressional hearing, along with two Korean women, Lee Yong-soo and Kim Gun-ja. She talked about her horrible experience in detail. Kim Dong-seok, the steering committee chair of the New York Korean American Civic Empowerment, recalls the moment as follows.
We brought the elderly Dutch lady to the congressional hearing. Her appearance turned out to be quite a momentum. The hearing played a decisive role in attracting the attention of the mainstream media in the U.S.
N: Through the testimonies of the elderly women, American politicians realized that the comfort women issue moves beyond the past history shared by Korea and Japan, in fact it is a universal concern of human rights abuse. The ethnic Korean community in the U.S. played a significant role in eliciting this change. Some people ask Rep. Honda why he tries to touch on a thing of the past so often.
So, the government is an organic being responsible for its past, its present and its future. So, people ask, “why are you talking about something that happened in the past?” Because the government still exists and the government is still responsible for what happened and the government should be held responsible for an apology. What I do know is that a government sometimes makes mistakes or sometimes they do it on purpose and when they do that they need to apologize.
N: Only then, the veteran politician stresses that people can correct a distorted history and prevent tragedies from reoccurring. At the end of the interview, he was shown the trailer for the movie, “Spirits’ Homecoming.”
N: When it was over, Honda’s eyes turned red. He couldn’t speak for a while.
It was a difficult thing to see. Difficult. So I think this is going to be an important piece of work to share not only with people in Korea, but also especially in Japan. You could have it translated into Japanese; it would be a powerful movie, a powerful movie.
N: As a gift, the Korean director and the actress gave Rep. Honda a DVD containing the movie trailer and a traditional accessory that is given to Jung-min by her mother in the film.
N: The next morning, upon turning on his cell phone, director Cho heard the unfortunate news that another elderly victim had passed away.
We have sad news that Choi Geum-seon, another victim, died about two and a half hours ago.
N: For the director, it is all the more depressing to hear the news about the victims’ death, while in the U.S. As of now, there are only 48 surviving Korean victims.
N: The next stop was Connecticut. Professor Dudden teaches history of Northeast Asia at the University of Connecticut. She came to learn the history of comfort women through the testimony of the late Kim Hak-sun in 1991.
I’m still learning everything from them. One woman had scars (the Japanese soldiers made) to punish her, so that she would be disfigured. Now, that made it a very different kind of history for me. There is no piece of paper, ever, that will say this action was ordered because of why… and this happened. They spoke about their scars as evidence in a way that again, no piece of paper will ever convey the reality of the brutality of being whipped, of being cut, of being tortured, as much as the remnants on your body.
N: Professor Dudden says no record will ever show the reality as brutally as the scars on the bodies of the surviving victims. Is there any other expression that can describe the fears and pain the girls went through more realistically than this? In March this year, Professor Dudden published a joint statement in the official periodical of the American Historical Association, along with 19 U.S. scholars, to criticize the Abe government’s attempt to distort history.
It became clear that the government of Japan would try to censor an American textbook and would use Japanese tax money through its Foreign Ministry officials in New York, to visit a publishing house and ask for the removal of certain passages. And so, a number of us, who are professional historians working in a number of countries got together to discuss whether this was in fact a very different kind of act. So we agreed that it was, and we wrote our letter in support of our colleagues in Japan who also tried to tell the story without being censored.
N: In an American history textbook, it is written that the Japanese military forcibly mobilized and recruited 200-thousand women as comfort women. It turned out that the Tokyo government requested the textbook publisher to delete the phrase from the textbook.
(The Japanese government might say,) “Take it down, and then it won’t have happened”… But that’s not how history works. You can’t erase it once we all know it happened.
N: In May, she led a group of 187 internationally renowned historians of Japanese studies to issue a joint statement denouncing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s perception of history. Some 500 scholars majoring in various fields from 16 different countries have signed the statement so far.
Particularly the history of the former sex slaves of the Japanese military was the defining content of our concern. We recognized that there was an international component beyond Japan, Korea, China that we wanted to make clear to the world… and one that we more broadly wanted to draw attention also to an atmosphere that those of us who work deeply in Japan have noticed affecting both academic freedom and freedom of the press. But we, each of us, has deep engagement in this place and deep engagement with Japanese scholars, Japanese friends. It’s half of our lives, if not all of our lives, and our thinking lives that is. We’re not Japan bashing. We wrote our letter first to the Japanese Prime Minister to incent it first to the official residence to make clear that we’re working as people deeply engaged with this country, and it’s an open letter of support in that respect.
N: It’s been eight years since the adoption of the resolution on comfort women. While the Abe government’s historical revisionism has come under criticism, the Japanese Prime Minister has drawn global attention again. On April 29, 2015, Abe addressed the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. He was the first Japanese prime minister to do so.
I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences… Our actions brought suffering to the people in Asian countries.
N: People listened to the address over and over again, but the Japanese Prime Minister never mentioned the 200-thousand innocent girls, who unjustly became victims during the war. Lee Yong-soo, who was watching Abe delivering the speech in the audience on the second floor, beat her chest.
No, no. Definitely not. Just look at me with open eyes. I’m living proof. I am here. Abe wants all the victims to die. But will this really come to an end when the women die? No. The history remains as it is. So does the crime.
N: Rep. Honda also lashed out at Abe, saying that Abe missed the opportunity to be reborn as a leader of a democratic country.
And then during the time that he was speaking, I was hoping that he would approach the subject and apologize. Use this opportunity to become a world leader by acknowledging their mistakes of their past, very much like what Germany had done. But Prime Minister Abe chose not to and I think that was an opportunity that he missed.
N: Under the San Francisco Peace Treaty that took effect on April 28, 1952, Japan acknowledged the illegality of its colonial war and restored its relations with the international community. But Professor Dudden notes that the Abe government is making a serious mistake by denying this now.
The minority view that Prime Minister Abe espouses as his world view is very serious. Again, a minority view in Japan, but a powerful minority. It is very clear that the San Francisco judgment is illegitimate. However, the San Francisco system that went into place by naming certain Japanese war leaders, war criminals and declaring the illegitimacy, the illegality of Japan’s war effort was critical to the world community reengaging with Japan. So, Japan’s 70 years of success are predicated on the then-government of Japan accepting the terms. So for today, Prime Minister Abe to have his supporters try to argue that that historical moment was wrong is a real problem because it does not acknowledge how the world community reengaged with Japan. And it is, by way of comparison to Germany, unimaginable in this context. For Germany today, for example, to say, “Hey, you know, the Nurernberg Tribunals were illegitimate. And we’re just not really happy with how they happened.” And so, it’s odd. It’s truly odd.
N: In fact, Japan did admit its forcible recruitment of women, as comfort women, and its colonial occupation before Shinzo Abe came to power. In 1993, then-Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged that Japan had mobilized women, by force, as sex slaves in the Japanese military. In 1995, then-Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama formally apologized for Japan’s colonial rule and war of aggression. These acknowledgements are written in history as the Kono Statement and the Murayama Statement, respectively. However, the current Abe administration denies the forcible mobilization of comfort women and distorts history. It is even attempting to revise Article 9 of the Pacifist Constitution.
N: Article 9 of the Constitution bans Japan from waging war and possessing a regular military force. It also stipulates Japan’s renunciation of the use of armed force, as a means in international disputes. The Abe government passed some security bills that would allow an expanded role for the nation’s military in the lower house of the Diet on July 16. Abe claimed that the bills are essential to prevent a war before it breaks out.
N: If the bills are finally approved by the Upper House in September, it would make it possible for Japan to wage war. If that happens, Japan, in effect, will break the promise ‘of becoming a peaceful state’ that it made to the international community after World War II.
We cannot forgive an act of violence passing the bills for the sake of the prime minister’s personal power. I’ll risk my life to protect the Constitution. I’ll do that with all my strength as long as I live.
N: Former Premier Tomiichi Murayama, who is dubbed as the “living conscience of Japan,” took to the streets with citizens on July 23. The 91-year-old politician said that Japanese people can never forgive the arbitrary, violent move to pass the bills on collective self-defense in total ignorance of public opinion.
N: On May 20, the 1,179th Wednesday Rally was held. This particular edition was organized by a Japanese civic group called “Constitution Article 9- To the World, To the Future.” The anti-war, peace-advocating group is dedicated to defending Japan’s Pacifist Constitution, with the purpose of discouraging the country from waging war ever again. Sexual enslavement of women for the military is one of the most serious and brutal war crimes
We, Japanese people, will band together with people in South Korea and those in Northeast Asia who suffered damage from Japan’s colonial occupation. We’ll work hard to make the Japanese government and parliament inherit the Kono Statement and the Murayama Statement, so that Japan can live peacefully in Asia and come up with a solution to be accepted by all elderly victims. We’ll be with them to the end. Thank you.
N: That was Kenichi Asano, the group’s co-president. If people join forces, they will be able to produce strong power.
N: The Asian Solidarity Conference for the Issue of Sexual Slavery by Japan was held in Seoul on May 22. This strong alliance has been giving testimonies in public and supporting the victims since its first conference in 1992 with the purpose of resolving the issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of women in Asia and the Pacific region during World War II.
I want to say to the entire world that justice has never been given to us. So many fellow victims died, and they weren’t given justice, either. This is my message toward the world. Of course, it is important to make the Japanese government take responsibility. But it is also important to elicit international support for this issue.
N: A small, thin old woman is testifying that she was once a comfort woman, crying out for justice. She is Fedencia David from the Philippines. The lecture hall is filled with people who are listening carefully to the elderly women’s testimonies. Among them, many Japanese are spotted. The reason is found in the remarks of Mina Watanabe, co-president of the “Japan Action for the Resolution of the Comfort Women Issue.”
I became actively engaged in work related to comfort women because I’m a Japanese national. Most importantly, the Japanese government, which had inflicted damage on so many people, should face up squarely to this issue and recognize responsibility, so it can teach the next generation not to repeat things like that ever again. I believe this is also the responsibility of each and every one of Japan’s citizens.
N: Japanese journalist Toshikuni Doi also talks about Japan’s conscience through his documentary.
N: His documentary film “Live with Memory” was screened in Tokyo on June 7.
N: Director Doi captured the lives and deaths of six sexual slavery victims on film for about two years from 1994. He edited it into a documentary film that lasts three hours and 35 minutes before releasing it.
I could say that I don’t know what happened during the war. But I can’t be free from the reality that I’m a Japanese man. As a journalist of Japan, the perpetrator, I feel a sense of immense responsibility. I want to convey the pain of each victim through the film.
N: This film, reflecting the journalist’s conscience, is striking a chord in the hearts of Japanese viewers.
The Japanese government will reportedly issue a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. I’m wondering what kind of statement it will be. I’m afraid that the government is moving in a dangerous direction this summer. We have to figure out exactly what the problems were. We’re also responsible for informing our future generations of the problems. To this end, we need to see this film and learn about the problems once again.
N: Sometimes, cultural content can create a bigger stir than legal disputes or rallies, this is visible in the documentary “Live with Memory,” the film “Spirits’ Homecoming” and the musical “Comfort Women: A New Musical.” Professor Dudden showed keen interest in the film “Spirits’ Homecoming.”
I have goose bumps. You really accomplished something amazing, imagining, bringing to life the real violence that occurred. And something that none of the documents and nothing written can ever convey.
N: The professor now talks about truthfulness that can only be conveyed by visual materials.
And obviously, there is the famous mini-series in American television history called “Roots,” which really for the first time exposed many Americans who, you know, probably would say, “Oh, well, yes, slavery was bad, but didn’t really have a sense of the physicality.” This compounded with the blockbuster movie “Amistad,” which for the first time really I think to many Americans conveyed the horror of the Middle Passage. And there are some scenes, which still when I show my classes make my students deeply disturbed even know intellectually they know that slavery was bad. But at the same time there is something that only in film can make people stop worrying about their preconceptions and really connect with victimhood.
N: “Comfort Women: A New Musical” portrays a Korean girl deceived by a Japanese man. He told her she could work and earn money. But instead she was forced to live as a sex slave in Indonesia before escaping. Actress Sandra Lee, who performed the role of the heroine Ko-eun, actually had a painful experience similar to that of the sexual slavery victims.
Well, a little bit of background information on me. I was in the US army for 8 years and I’m a survivor of military sexual trauma, and so that subject in itself is something close to me and something that I’ve been through. In relation to that and the topic of comfort women it’s very similar and it’s important. It’s a very important story that not many people know. It’s surprising when I talk to people about Comfort Women, they don’t know what that is and when I explain to them they’re shocked. It’s important to get it out there, to get the conversation going, so that more people are aware.
N: Early this year, the musical debuted in front of a sellout crowd at Broadway’s supper club “54 Below” in New York. Due to its strict performance conditions, it is often called the gateway to Broadway. Here is Kim Hyun-jun, who wrote and directed the musical.
Miraculously, tickets were sold out, only two weeks after sales started. January, February and March are considered the slow season in the performing arts scene. This musical was the only show that was sold out during the season. Ticket prices were rather expensive, ranging from 80 to 90 dollars. I was very surprised that the tickets were all sold out. I wondered who got the tickets, and it turned out that the audience members were mostly Western people.
N: How could this musical with the unfamiliar theme of comfort women successfully make its Broadway debut?
As a matter of fact, this isn’t a problem that only existed 70 years ago. Sexual enslavement occurred in many wars, with humans repeating it constantly. This isn’t unique to Korea. Rather, it is universal history of mankind. People tend to show indifference because they think it is only part of Korean history. That’s not really true. It should not be simply regarded as a thing of the past. Some victims are still alive.
N: The musical was able to appeal to American society, as it approached the audience from the viewpoint of the universal issue of human rights. A form of popular culture, namely, musical, was combined with the most basic ethical value of human rights. And the combination worked. The musical is now being staged at an off-Broadway theater in New York City. It opened on July 31 and runs through August 9.
N: Global interest in the comfort women issue has grown in recent years. But the change didn’t come overnight. In the U.S., which wields great influence upon Japan, the ethnic Korean community and American politicians made great efforts for a long time to resolve this humanitarian problem. Conscientious Japanese citizens, world-renowned historians, as well as journalists and artists have put pressure on the Tokyo government. Those people have made tireless efforts together to realize justice, and their efforts have come to bear fruit.
But it would be fair to say that everything started from some courageous elderly victims!
N: On Parents’ Day, May 8, a celebratory event was held at a shelter for elderly victims, “Our Peaceful Home.” It was a very rare occasion that their favorite song filled the house.
N: Young people visit the place and sing for the old women, as if they were their own sons, daughters and grandchildren. When the old ladies watch them singing, they feel like normal women who have lived a comfortable life without any worries. Kim Bok-dong, among others, appears to be very happy.
Of course I’m happy. We don’t have any children to visit us. But these young people warmly welcome us and try to share our suffering. Their kindness makes me cry. I have no words to thank them enough.
N: These women were once the miserable victims of war. But they have now turned into the guardians of world peace and human rights activists.
These women are victims, but they are also activists advocating women’s rights at the same time. I see them as anti-war, human rights activists, my perception about those women has completely changed.
N: On June 24, Kim Bok-dong gladly donated 50 million won, which is about 45-thousand US dollars. The donation will be used to help female war victims who are in pain and agony, just like Kim herself.
N: In the movie, director Cho expressed the souls of the young girls as butterflies. Now, young people in the next generation will become butterflies themselves and be with the girls… until the day when the elderly victims restore their dignity and lasting peace is settled in the entire world.
When a nation loses its sovereignty, its people are not treated as humans. We’re so glad to see our next generation doing a great job. We’re delighted beyond words. We’re thankful to young people for doing well.
We sincerely hope that Korea will become a peaceful state, so that what happened to us will never occur again. We also hope our descendants will grow up in peace and comfort to become decent citizens and defend this country.
N: That wraps up the second part of our special program marking the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Thank you for tuning in. Goodbye, everyone.
「慰安婦」日韓合意は世界の非常識〜渡辺美奈さんが国連報告
尾澤邦子
「私は日本代表団の団長の『慰安婦』問題に関するご発言は大変残念で、失望しました。受け入れがたいご発言です。70年前に起こった歴史や歴史的事実を、変えたり否定することは誰にもできません」と、2月にジュネーブで行われた国連女性差別撤廃委員会でゾウ委員は発言しました。オーストリアのホフマイスター委員の質問に対して返答した、日本政府の杉山外務審議官に対しての発言です。
4月3日（日）午後、東京の韓国YMCA国際ホールは、会場満席の約150名の熱気につつまれました。国連女性差別撤廃委員会に参加してきた渡辺美奈さん（写真上）の報告に熱心に聞き入りました。（集会名：「日本の常識？世界の非常識！」国際社会は「政府間合意で解決」を認めない！主催：日本軍「慰安婦」問題解決全国行動）
ホフマイスター委員は、日本と韓国の二国間合意の法的性格についてや、これまでの諸国連機関による数々の勧告（補償、存命の加害者の訴追、第二次世界大戦中の日本軍当局の役割に関するしかるべき捜査と情報、教育についてなど）をどう実施するかについてなどを、日本政府に質問しました。
杉山晋輔外務審議官は、韓国政府との間で「慰安婦」問題が「最終的かつ不可逆的に」解決されることを確認したと強調する一方、「日本政府が発見した資料の中には軍や官憲によるいわゆる強制連行を確認できるものはなかった」「性奴隷といった表現は事実に反する」などと発言しました。
しかし日本政府が、極東国際軍事裁判をはじめアジア各地で開催された国際法廷、オランダ政府から送付された報告書など日本軍による「強制連行」を示す文書・資料を持っていることは明らかです。また日本の裁判所に提訴された「慰安婦」裁判でも軍による強制連行が事実認定されています。にもかかわらず日本政府は「強制連行を証明する資料はない」とウソを言い続けているのです。あきれるし、恥ずかしいし、こんなことが許されるのかと思います。
渡辺さんは「日本政府は質問に答えないし、また答えられない新人を連れてきておうむ返しの返答をさせていた」と報告しました。またメディアが政府の報告しか報道しないことも非難しました。
国連女性差別撤廃委員会の対日審査最終所見は3月7日に出されました。その中で「「慰安婦」問題が「最終的かつ不可逆的に解決した」とする大韓民国との二国間合意の発表は、被害者中心アプローチを十分に採用していない」と指摘しています。渡辺さんは「『合意』に被害者が関わっていないことだけで国際社会ではアウト。合意の内容はあいまいで、文書もない」と話しました。
集会のまとめでヤンチンジャさんは「日本政府は被害者を傷つけている。メディアは真実を報道しない。みなさんはネットワークで拡散してほしい。被害者不在の『合意』はありえない。それは国際社会の常識だ」と話しました。
レイバーネット2016-04-05
https://web.archive.org/web/20160405180700/http://www.labornetjp.org/news/2016/0403ozawa
http://megalodon.jp/2016-0418-1853-35/www.labornetjp.org/news/2016/0403ozawa
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