The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Hybe's new boy group Boynextdoor aims to be 'one and only' presence in K-pop

  • 3

    Brave Girls to restart activities under new name

  • 5

    Rapper Mino attends sister's wedding in U.S. amid military service

  • 7

    Running convenience stores becomes popular among people in 20s, 30s

  • 9

    Actors' off-screen chemistry enthralls fans

  • 11

    Sluggish exports behind weak Korean won

  • 13

    Naver suffers shrinking online search market share

  • 15

    Doctors, pharmacists to receive 30% bonus for offering telemedicine service

  • 17

    'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema

  • 19

    Directors thrive on streaming platforms amid sluggish film industry

  • 2

    Seoul city erroneously sends emergency alert after NK launch

  • 4

    NK's attempt to launch 1st spy satellite fails after 'abnormal' flight: S. Korean military

  • 6

    Korea to ease immigration rules to attract more medical tourists

  • 8

    Big businesses face growing union pressure to extend retirement age

  • 10

    Seoul city takes flak for emergency text alert on NK's rocket launch

  • 12

    Anti-corruption watchdog set to investigate crypto assets of lawmakers

  • 14

    Seoul resident clashes with authorities for raising dogs to nab 'North Korean spies'

  • 16

    Pyongyang may have delayed spy satellite launch due to technical issues

  • 18

    NATIONALKorea likely to face pressure over imports of Fukushima seafood

  • 20

    Rude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penalties

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Thu, June 1, 2023 | 04:46
Thoughts of the Times
Has comfort women activism failed?
Posted : 2017-06-25 17:20
Updated : 2017-06-25 17:30
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Maija Rhee Devine

The final scene of "The Apology" (director: Tiffany Hsiung, 2016) about three former comfort women ends with a drum beat of determination. On a bus, Grandma Gil of S. Korea and her activist/caretaker returning from an overseas mission of demanding an apology and compensation from Japan, belt out "Live Like a Rock!"

"Let's stand against windstorms

that whip and slash . . .

and become the foundation stone. . . .

Let's live like a rock!"

In contrast, immediately before this scene, the activist (from The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan) is seen sobbing. We see her hands pressed against her eyes. Before this meltdown, she admitted:

"I feel guilty. Maybe, we shouldn't have driven Grandma Gil and other comfort women grandmas, pushing them through alien airports, watching them toss on strange beds,serving them hard-to-digest foods, and keeping them on schedules that daunt even young people. . . . The grandmas suffered plenty and earned respect for what they already endured. We should've left them alone. Instead, here we are, dragging them for years through Japan, the U.S., Geneva, all over. Maybe, this is wrong, especially when the trips have ended in one failure after another."

The honesty needles hearts. But has activism failed? Even a casual glance at the chronology of the events since 1991—when former Korean Comfort Woman Kim Hak-soon burst onto the world stage with her story as one of the Comfort Women of WWII—yields examples of impressive successes. True. Sweat and tears have poured into the activism's gains. And urgent work still piles, including the all-important task of assuring all victim nations and Japan teach future generations accurately about this chapter of WWII history.

Random samples of their coups include:

*Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono's admission of the Japanese military's use of "coercion in recruitment" of women forced to work in military brothels (1993).

*The International Commission of Jurists' statement that the Japanese military's acts constituted war crimes, crimes against humanity, slavery and the trafficking in women and children" (1994).

*The Japanese Federation of Bar Association's recommendation that Japanese government pay individual compensation to victims (1995).

*The U.N. Commission on Human Rights' recommendation to Japan that "victims of Japan of WWII be compensated." (2001).

*The California State Board of Education's vote to include the history of World War II sexual slaves from Asian countries in the state's 10th-grade curriculums. (2016).

*The U.N. Committee Against Torture's suggestions that the December 2015 Park-Abe agreement needed to be revised, and that the Comfort Women were "sex slaves." (2016).

Setbacks, however, vie with successes. Japanese nationalists, outspoken against "anything Korean" (The National Interest, 6/11/17), demand the apologies already expressed by Japanese high-ranking officials be revoked. The passage on the Japanese military's use of sex slaves fell into a black hole from Japanese middle school textbooks 1997-2001.Shying away from "renegotiation" of the 2015 Park-Abe Agreement of an apology and compensation, the new S. Korean Moon administration proposes a "fresh bilateral effort," a potential setback. However, the Korean activists, who saw the Agreement as a slap across comfort women's faces in the first place, may consider a fresh start as a coup, rather than a failure.

The activist's tears enunciate that she and her fellow advocates believe only a completely satisfactory apology (an on-the-knees atonement) and a Japanese-government-appropriated compensation can finally heal all sorrows, stop the flow of what Koreans call "blood tears" of victims and open up channels of reconciliation and cooperation.

Both sides have miles on moonless roads to go.

The author of an autobiographical novel about Korea, "The Voices of Heaven," and a poetry book, "Long Walks on Short Days," Maija Rhee Devine is working on her next books ― a nonfiction book and a novel about comfort women of WWII. Contact: www.MaijaRheeDevine.com or maijadevine@gmail.com.











 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1Seoul city takes flak for emergency text alert on NK's rocket launchSeoul city takes flak for emergency text alert on NK's rocket launch
2Rude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penaltiesRude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penalties
3[INTERVIEW] Asia expected to be key driver of ESG growth: Deloitte ESG Partner INTERVIEWAsia expected to be key driver of ESG growth: Deloitte ESG Partner
4North Korea's spy satellite launch fails as rocket falls into sea North Korea's spy satellite launch fails as rocket falls into sea
5Retailers adopt generative AI to offer personalized products, services Retailers adopt generative AI to offer personalized products, services
6Committee calls for lowering requirements for foreigners to teach English online Committee calls for lowering requirements for foreigners to teach English online
7Chinese account for 54% of foreign-owned homes in Korea Chinese account for 54% of foreign-owned homes in Korea
8LS chairman appears in YouTube commercial LS chairman appears in YouTube commercial
9AMCHAM stresses S. Korea-US ties after NK fires 'space launch vehicle' AMCHAM stresses S. Korea-US ties after NK fires 'space launch vehicle'
10Samsung Sharing Kiosk raises $174,000 to help children in need Samsung Sharing Kiosk raises $174,000 to help children in need
Top 5 Entertainment News
1[INTERVIEW] Lee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out' INTERVIEWLee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'
2'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema 'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema
3SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal' SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal'
4ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood' ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood'
5'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' raises bar with epic battle scenes 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' raises bar with epic battle scenes
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group