UNESCO begins review on 'comfort women'

By You Soo-sun

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is endeavoring to have the “comfort women” archives listed by UNESCO, which began its first review Tuesday.

The UNESCO International Advisory Committee began reviewing applications for its Memory of the World Register, established to preserve documentary heritage throughout the world.

“We are doing our best to submit the comfort women archives, following our basic stance the issue should serve as a historic lesson,” ministry spokesman Roh Kyu-deok said during a regular briefing.

At the general meeting, which will continue until Thursday, the committee is expected to examine around 130 applications, including one for the comfort women, a term used to refer to wartime sex slaves of imperial Japan.

Around 2,744 documents for consideration have been submitted by civic organizations from 14 countries including Korea, China, Japan and the Netherlands.

This is the first review to take place since the application was filed.

The Korean government is seeking to have it pass the review board before the incumbent UNESCO secretary general’s term ends next month.

Prior to the review, there were growing concerns about the listing due to opposition by Japan which funds about 10 percent of the program. Japan’s influence at UNESCO has grown after the United States recently pulled its funding from the program.

The Japanese government has been delaying to pay its share this year, which some critics believe is an attempt to prevent the selection of the comfort women archives.

The UNESCO board has stated its intention to follow regular protocols in determining which submissions to accept.