Moon attends memorial event for sex slaves
President Moon Jae-in, left, heads to a memorial event to commemorate the national anniversary of the Memorial Day for Comfort Women Victims of the Japanese forces, holding hands with sex slave victim Lee Yong-soo at the Office of National Cemetery for Overseas Koreans in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, Tuesday. Moon urged Japan to reflect on its past wrongdoings saying during a speech it is not a political issue but a human rights issue. / Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
President Moon Jae-in became Korea's first president to attend a memorial event for sex slaves during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation since it was designated as a national anniversary in December, in a bid to express respect for those women and urge Japan to reflect on its past wrongdoings, saying it was not a political issue but a human rights one.
President Moon took part in the Aug. 14 6th International Memorial Day for Comfort Women and said he would consider those women key to resolving problems according to international guidelines.
“Based on the victim-centered approach of international society, I would respect those old women as the key to resolve problems,” Moon said during the memorial held Tuesday at the Office of the National Cemetery for Overseas Koreans in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
The President's attendance is the first since the day was introduced in 2017 to remember the late Kim Hak-soon who held a press conference on Aug. 14, 1991, to speak up for the first time of her humiliation and exploitation as a sex slave by Japanese forces during the colonial period.
The ceremony was held at a national cemetery for Koreans who died overseas or were taken overseas to work against their will and later died in Korea. Some of the victims of sex slavery and forced labor during the Japanese occupation are laid to rest there.
Separating the issue from diplomatic relations, Moon said, “I don't want this issue to be linked to diplomatic disputes between Korea and Japan. I don't think it is something that can be solved diplomatically between the two countries. It is a problem that can be resolved when we, Japan and the entire world consider sexual violence against women and human rights and firmly decide not to repeat history but learn a lesson from it.”
The comfort women issue has been one of the key issues causing tensions to exacerbate relations between countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
Moon has been urging the Japanese government to make a sincere apology, saying “in resolving the issue of sexual slaves, the Japanese government, the perpetrator, must not say it is over,” the President said in a speech marking the 99th anniversary of the 1919 March 1 Movement, where thousands of Koreans took to the streets to call for the country's independence from Japan's colonial occupation. The Japanese government, meanwhile, expressed “regret” about Moon's remarks.
Mentioning the testimony day's designation last year as a national anniversary, Moon also added, “Through this ceremony, I hope the people can deeply resonate with the victims' pain and voices. I hope the surviving old women would live longer together with us.”
Meanwhile, Moon also invited national heroes and their families to Cheong Wa Dae and said the country will push for joint efforts with North Korea to recover the remains of independence fighter An Jung-geun.
“Commemorating the 100th anniversary of South Korea's provisional government, the government is pushing for this joint effort with North Korea to discover the remains of Ahn Jung-geun next year,” Moon said during a luncheon at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday.
Today, South Korea celebrates the 73rd Liberation Day marking the country's liberation in 1945. Around 240 people, including about 50 overseas descendants of independence activists, participated in the event, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
Ahn assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the Japanese resident-general of Korea, in 1909.