Sex slave victim to protest in front of Japanese Embassy in Washington

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Kim Bok-dong

A victim of Japanese wartime sex slavery will hold a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C. today.

Kim Bok-dong, 89, arrived in the U.S. Monday to stage the “Wednesday Rally.” On the same day, the 1,185th Wednesday Rally will be held in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

It is the world’s longest-running rally held every Wednesday since 1992 by former sex slave victims and activists.

This is the first time there will be such a rally in front of a Japanese Embassy overseas.

Kim held a press conference at a restaurant in Virginia, Tuesday, saying she will urge Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize for his attempts to distort the history of the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Asian women under Japanese colonial rule in the early 20th century.

She said that the Japanese not only kidnapped and forced her to be a sex slave, but also took blood from her to help treat wounded Japanese soldiers.

Japan has learned nothing from its past wrongdoings, but rather has attempted to rearm itself by revising the Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation, Kim added.

Kim also called on U.S. President Barrack Obama to actively challenge the distorted view of history taken by the Japanese.

Various activist groups including the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues and the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan will participate in Wednesday’s rally.

Dennis Halpin, a senior researcher at the U.S. Korea Institute at Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, is also expected to join the rally.

Kim’s five-day visit to Washington wraps up after a Thursday meeting with Catherine Russell, the ambassador-at-large for global women's issues at the U.S. State Department.

Kim was born in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1926. Japanese police took her to serve as a sex slave in 1940. She was only 14.

Kim was forced to serve as a sex slave for five years in a number of places including Guangdong, Hong Kong, Sumatra, Malaysia and Singapore.

More than 200,000 women, mostly Korean, are believed to have been sexually enslaved by the Japanese during World War II.

A total of 238 Korean women have been registered with the government as former sex slaves. Of them, only 49 victims are still alive.