Most students say 'comfort women' accord wrong

By Choi Sung-jin

Korea’s middle and high school students think the most urgent problem between Korea and Japan is the “comfort women” issue, a survey showed Monday.

According to an opinion poll of 218 students by a uniform maker, Hyungji, 54.1 percent of secondary school students cited the sex-slavery issue as the problem awaiting the most urgent solution. Moreover, 84.9 percent think the recent agreement between Seoul and Tokyo on comfort women was wrong.

As to the reason for thinking so, 40.5 percent said it was closer to an accord for politicians, not the suffering “grandmothers;” 23.2 percent said officials conducted negotiations without sufficient dialogue with the victims; and 21.6 percent said Japan is still denying the coerciveness in recruiting comfort women.

As the next urgent bilateral problems, the students cited sovereignty over Dokdo (20.6 percent) and history textbooks (20.2 percent), the survey said.

More than half, or 54.6 percent, called for the resolution of historical issues before improving bilateral ties. Yet 18.3 percent answered that the two countries should refrain from using diplomatic issues for political purposes with the other 15.2 percent calling for a narrowing of the differences between Seoul and Tokyo on historical issues.

As to the current Korea-Japan relationship, 42.7 percent were rather pessimistic, saying despite efforts to solve problems the bilateral relationship has been worsening. On the other hand, 30.7 percent saw the two nations resolving common issues in appropriate ways, with the remaining 17 percent expressing satisfaction with the ongoing improvement, albeit with a few regrets.

The greater-than-expected interest in the Korea-Japan relationship was also confirmed at cinemas.

Many middle and high school students have watched or plan to watch two films related to the Japanese colonization of Korea – “Spirit’s Homecoming” and “DONGJU: A portrait of a poet.”

“I could not leave the place for some time, even after the ending credits disappeared,” said a schoolgirl after watching “Spirit’s Homecoming,” a film about two comfort women. “The film was too heart-wrenching to see it again, but I will advise my friends to watch the movie at least once.”

Film critics say the films’ unexpected success indicates Koreans’ sentiment not to forget the miserable colonial days and reflects their discontent with the hurriedly made agreement, which they think gave Tokyo indulgence prematurely.

Some university students have been sleeping in a makeshift tent alongside the comfort woman statue in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul to keep officials from removing or relocating it, as allegedly agreed with Japan under the table. Citizens also have rejected the 10 billion won ($8.9 million) from the Japanese government and started a money-raising campaign.