70 Years of Liberation, 30 Years into the Future
The Road to Reconciliation and
Cooperation
Uncovering the historical truth is key to the peace and prosperity of Northeast Asia.
Every Wednesday, a demonstration is held in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Organized by numerous civic groups and the elderly “comfort women” victims, the Wednesday Demonstration consists of people of all ages and backgrounds from both home and abroad. On special occasions, such as Korea’s Independence Day or International Women’s Day, a joint rally is held globally demanding the Japanese government’s redress for creating the “comfort women” problem all over the world. The Wednesday Demonstration was launched on January 8, 1992, and over 1,186 demonstrations have since been held (as of July 8, 2015).
The voices of the Wednesday Demonstration were heard by both the Korean government and global community. This led to the enactment of a special law in 1993 to support the victims in Korea and provided the foundation for the establishment of Woorijip (Our Home), a shelter for the surviving victims.
The Japanese Imperial Army’s “comfort women” issue is now largely viewed as an act of wartime sexual violence against women and also a serious violation of women’s rights. This has led to the adoption of the so-called “comfort women” resolution by not only the United Nations but other states as well. After the United States House of Representatives House Resolution 121 was passed on July 30, 2007, the Netherlands’ lower house (Nov. 8, 2007) and the European Parliament (Dec. 12, 2007) followed suit by passing “comfort women” resolutions. Since 1992, Korea and other victimized nations in Asia have been jointly calling for Japan to be more responsible for its history through the Asian Solidarity Conference.
On March 8, 2013, a monument dedicated to the “comfort women” victimized by the Japanese military during World War II was erected on the Memorial Island in front of the Hackensack Country courthouse in New Jersey. The monument installed by the County of Bergen includes the words “In memory of hundreds of thousands of women and girls from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Netherlands and Indonesia who were forced into sexual slavery by the Armed Forces of Imperial Japan before and during World War II.” Currently, there are 12 monuments dedicated to “comfort women” in 10 different areas in the United States, including Nassau, New York and Glendale, California.
In 2008, the local people of Miyako Island in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture established a monument for the former Korean “comfort women.” The monument is made of stone and known as the “Monument of Arirang.” It represents the Japanese locals’ sentiments of remorse for Japan’s past wrongdoings against the former “comfort women.”