UN Women urged to address 'comfort women' issue

Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hee-jung, left, U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, center, and Lee Yong-Soo, one of the 53 surviving “comfort women,” hold hands during their meeting on the sidelines of the World Education Forum at the Songdo Conventia in Incheon, Wednesday. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family

By Jung Min-ho

INCHEON – Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hee-jung urged U.N. Women, Wednesday, to cooperate in resolving the issue of “comfort women,” who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II.

At the Songdo Conventia, Kim met with U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who is visiting Korea for the World Education Forum.

A ministry official told The Korea Times that Kim asked Mlambo-Ngcuka to make more effort to resolve the long-lasting issue of human rights before she delivered a keynote speech at the UN Women’s special session, “Ensuring Equity and Gender Equality in Education.”

Kim did not mention the issue again during her speech, which was mainly about how Korea eliminated gender disparities in education, the official said.

This came after Kim conveyed the same message during her speech at an annual meeting of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in New York two months ago.

At that time, she said the issue “has yet to be resolved” and noted that “necessary measures should be taken with full accountability for past wrongdoing.”

As soon as she became the minister, Kim promised to strengthen collaboration with the international community to resolve the “comfort women” issue, which has long been one of the core issues for the ministry.

Her predecessor Cho Yoon-sun, also urged the Japanese government in October of 2013 to apologize and recognize its legal liability for the use of women in wartime brothels.

Yet the U.N. Women, which is to promote gender equality around the world, has been reluctant to deal with the issue openly.

Up to 200,000 women, from Korea, China, the Philippines, the Netherlands and other countries, are believed to have been forced to provide sex to Japanese troops in front-line brothels in the lead-up to and during the war. Today there are only 53 living former comfort women registered with the Korean government.