Citizens commemorate late comfort women at Wednesday Rally

Participants in the anti-sex slavery Wednesday Rally hold posters commemorating Kim Bok-dong, a former victim, during the demonstration in front of the former Japanese Embassy, Wednesday, two days after her death. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Kim Jae-heun

More than 500 citizens and activists participated in the regular Wednesday Rally held in front of the former Japanese Embassy building in central Seoul to protest Japan's wartime sexual slavery of Korean women, two days after one of its victims, Kim Bok-dong, passed away.

The number of participants was almost double the usual figure as many came to commemorate Kim's death. The rally began with a silent tribute to the former human rights activist.

Students made up most of the increase, coming to speak out against the Japanese government and to urge it to make a sincere apology.

“This is my first time participating in the Wednesday Rally,” said 17-year-old high school student surnamed Han. “I've always wanted to join the demonstration but never had the chance to do so. Now I am on vacation and so decided to come when I heard Kim passed away yesterday.

“There aren't many surviving comfort women left and I am angry that the Japanese government is maintaining its ignorant position about the issue. I hope it cleans up its act,” Han said.

Twenty-three-year-old university student Kang Boo-hee urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit the former sex slaves and make a sincere apology.

“I have been coming here for two years after joining the rally through a club at my school. I also had a chance to deliver a speech and have watched the women fighting all year long ― in both cold and hot weather. I felt that I had to do something, too,” Kang said.

“Japan should stop making shameless statements like 'don't make an issue out of it anymore' or 'we have compensated the women so we've done enough.' Japan should never forget what they did during World War II and acknowledge their crime in international society like Germany,” Kang added.

Currently, only 23 former victims of sex slavery are surviving and many of them are over 90 years old. Twent-nine-year-old Kookmin University student Lee Tae-jun said it was now young students' job to fight for the elderly victims.

“The average age of the surviving victims is 93. They have been fighting for 28 years now,” Lee said. “We are holding regular meetings these days about setting up a new comfort woman statue at Marronnier Park in Daehangno.”

Kim died Monday evening after fighting cancer for several years. Commemorating the activist who dedicated her later years testifying against the Japanese brutality, and advocating human rights, civic group members, politicians and nearly 1,500 citizens visited her memorial altar in Yonsei Severance Hospital, Tuesday alone, according to the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance.