Weekly Korea Protests Keep Japanese WWII Atrocities Alive

Protesters gather in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every week to demand an apology and reparations from Tokyo for the thousands of South Korean women who were forced into prostitution during World War II. Although this year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, these protesters have helped keep the issue of comfort women alive and made it difficult for Japan to move beyond its past wartime atrocities.

There are only a few surviving elderly women in South Korea who were forced into sex slavery during World War II. But the demonstrations in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul are attracting more young people, like 16-year-old Kwon Oh-ryung, who have become passionate about the issue.

“Japanese doing this is such a crime to us, so we couldn’t stand it. We couldn’t bear it,” she said.

It is estimated that over 200,000 women from across Asia were forced to become comfort women for occupying Japanese soldiers during the war.

Rally organizer Yoon Mi-hyang, with the Korean Council for The Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, said they have been protesting now for nearly a quarter century.

"The reason why we stand here until now is that the Japanese government has not accepted its crime and not offered an official apology and legal compensation which victims have been asking for,” she explained.

The comfort women issue has become even more contentious since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted a less apologetic tone toward Japan’s wartime past. His visit to a war memorial last year that included the names of war criminals angered his neighbors.

Abe also alienated China, South Korea and other Asian countries by questioning Japan’s past apologies on the comfort women issue. Some of his conservative allies have suggested that not all the women were forced into prostitution.

More recently, South Korea criticized Abe’s visit to Jerusalem, including a holocaust memorial for victims of German war crimes, saying that he will be taken seriously when he addresses Japan’s atrocities.

Prime Minister Abe suggested he may alter a 1995 statement from former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, giving a broad apology for wartime damage and suffering, when he makes his own statement in August on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

"As it is now 70 years since the end of [the second world] war, the Abe cabinet will be reflecting on what we did wrong in the last war and also on our progress as a peace loving nation,” he said.

At the rally, a chair was left empty for a comfort women victim who recently passed away. Yoon Mi-hyang said this new generation of protesters would not let Korea’s sense of outrage dissipate after all the survivors die.

“The purpose of our activity is to not repeat such a tragic event like the comfort women issue, and it is also what the victims want,” said Yoon.

The protesters said they would not forget and not forgive until Japan makes amends.

每个星期，抗议者都聚集在日本驻首尔大使馆前，要求日本为二战期间强迫成千上万的妇女充当军妓而道歉赔款。虽然今年二战已经结束70年了，但是这些每周坚持不懈的抗议告诉人们，慰安妇问题并没有成为陈年往事，日本也难以走出战时暴行的阴影。

二战期间被迫充当慰安妇的韩国妇女如今健在的已经没有几位了。不过，日本驻韩使馆前的示威正在吸引更多的年轻人。16岁的权伍隆（译音，Kwon Oh-ryung）一谈起这个问题就激动不已。

她说：“日本人对我们犯下了严重罪行，我们受不了！忍不住！”

据估计，二战期间，亚洲各地有20多万女性被迫充当日本占领军的慰安妇。

“韩国挺身队问题对策协议会”的尹美香（Yoon Mi-hyang）说，他们已经坚持抗议将近四分之一个世纪了。

她说：“我们站在这里，坚持至今，原因是，日本政府还没有承认它的罪行，没有做出正式道歉和受害者一直要求的法律赔偿。”

自从日本首相安倍晋三在日本战时历史问题上降低道歉调门后，慰安妇问题的争议变得更大了。安倍去年参拜靖国神社，激怒了邻国。神社供奉的亡灵包括战争罪犯。

安倍还对日本历届政府就慰安妇问题所做的道歉提出质疑，这也疏远了日本跟中国、韩国等亚洲国家的关系。他的一些保守派盟友示意说，并不是所有的女性都是被迫充当妓女的。

前不久，韩国批评了安倍对耶路撒冷的访问。安倍参观了纪念德国战争罪受害者的大屠杀纪念馆。韩国说，安倍要想向世人证明自己的诚意，必须正视日本的历史暴行。

安倍首相放出口风说，他在8月间二战结束70周年之际发表首相声明时，可能会修改前首相村山富市1995年所做的声明，就战时的破坏和痛苦做出宽泛的反省。

他说：“如今战争结束70年了，安倍内阁将反省上一次战争期间我们犯下的错误，也将写入我们战后做为爱好和平的国家走过的道路。”

在日本使馆前的集会上，抗议者为最近逝世的一名慰安妇放了一张空椅子。尹美香说，所有的幸存者都故去后，新一代抗议者不会让民族恨烟消云散的。

尹美香说：“我们活动的目的是，不让慰安妇这类的悲剧事件重演，这是那些受害人所希望的。”

抗议者说，在日本改正之前，他们不会遗忘，也不会宽恕。