Show sincerity, former sex slaves urge Japan

By Lee Kyung-min

The victims of Japanese wartime sex slavery have urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit them in order to apologize for the country’s wartime atrocities.

They also expressed strong opposition to media reports that the statue of a girl in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, a symbol of Japanese sex slavery atrocities, may be moved.

The response comes a day after Japanese news outlets reported that the Korean government was considering moving the statute and that Abe would write a letter of apology. Foreign ministers of the two countries are scheduled to hold talks on Monday in order to resolve the sexual slavery issue.

The six victims demanded that Abe visit them, kneel down, and apologize, as former German Chancellor Willy Brandt did in Poland in 1970 in front of a memorial to victims Warsaw ghetto victims, to atone for Germany’s World War II atrocities.

“Abe should come and apologize to us,” Lee Ok-seon, one of the victims, said at a media briefing at a shelter run by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

“We want to meet someone in charge who can solve the problem and hear our demands. Unless the Japanese government admits its involvement in forced sexual slavery, we cannot accept the apology.”

They agreed that they would not accept any such gesture from Japan if there was even one objection from among the 46 survivors.

They also urged Japan to show sincerity before mentioning any “resolution,” such as a fund.

“Even before apologizing, they talk about relocating the girl statue. This is why we think Abe’s plan to send a letter of apology lacks sincerity,” said Yu Hee-nam, another victim.

The council also issued a statement demanding that top diplomats from both countries reach an agreement acceptable to the victims.

“The Japanese government should fully admit to its wrongdoings including operating brothels, drafting young girls against their will to subject them to forced sexual enslavement, which was an egregious human rights violation in history,” the group said in a statement.

“The statue does not belong to the council but to the whole country. It is impossible to relocate or remove it.”