By Yi Whan-woo
The South Korean government has cut spending on some projects related to Japan's wartime sex slavery, drawing criticism from the surviving victims as well as civic activists.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stopped funding a civic campaign aimed at submitting documentary records on victims of sex slavery worldwide to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
It also plans to cut its spending by 31 percent next year on supporting the former comfort women and their advocates, officials here said.
The budget cut appears to be in line with an agreement with Tokyo last year to "finally and irrevocably" resolve disputes on the issue.
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the budget cut has nothing to do with the Seoul-Tokyo agreement, but there are many signs showing that the Korean government is trying to keep the issue at arm's length.
The gender ministry admitted that it decided to pull its annual funding of the Women's Human Rights Commission, which has been working with international groups to gain UNESCO heritage status for the records on sex slavery.
The ministry insisted that the decision was made after consulting officials at the Cultural Heritage Administration and other experts in October 2015.
Fourteen civic organizations from nine countries, including China, Taiwan and the Netherlands are now working together for UNESCO recognition of over 2,700 documents on comfort women. Some 600 pieces, such as written testimonies, photos and drawings, are from Korea.
The ministry funded the campaign for two years ― providing 30 million won in 2014 and 460 million won in 2015.
"We learned that funding would be seen as government interference in a civic campaign and may give UNESCO a negative impression in its review of candidates," a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "The campaign will not require as much money as in the past."
The gender ministry also said it will spend 2.8 million won next year, down 31 percent from this year, to help former sex slaves.
An Il-hwon, who runs a shelter for the surviving victims, criticized the government.
"It's sheer nonsense aimed at covering up the government's move to pull out from the fight against Japan," he said. "Holding seminars and public promotions even after submitting a bid is critical and we can't continue campaigning unless we get more financial support."
Han Hye-in, a team manager of the international committee's Korea secretariat, voiced a similar view.
"It's true that the government funded major parts of the campaign," she said. "But it would have been better if we received support in the future as well."
Han said her colleagues have been using their own money to fund the campaign.
In October, the Chinese government offered to work together with Korea to register their collection of documentary records that hold details of Japan's wartime sex crimes on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
However, Seoul rejected the offer, citing possible negative impact on bilateral ties with Tokyo amid growing military threats from North Korea.
The register is a UNESCO program aimed at preserving and administering a collection of historically valuable records, including documents, books, letters, photos and video footage.
The South Korean government has cut spending on some projects related to Japan's wartime sex slavery, drawing criticism from the surviving victims as well as civic activists.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stopped funding a civic campaign aimed at submitting documentary records on victims of sex slavery worldwide to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
It also plans to cut its spending by 31 percent next year on supporting the former comfort women and their advocates, officials here said.
The budget cut appears to be in line with an agreement with Tokyo last year to "finally and irrevocably" resolve disputes on the issue.
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the budget cut has nothing to do with the Seoul-Tokyo agreement, but there are many signs showing that the Korean government is trying to keep the issue at arm's length.
The gender ministry admitted that it decided to pull its annual funding of the Women's Human Rights Commission, which has been working with international groups to gain UNESCO heritage status for the records on sex slavery.
The ministry insisted that the decision was made after consulting officials at the Cultural Heritage Administration and other experts in October 2015.
Fourteen civic organizations from nine countries, including China, Taiwan and the Netherlands are now working together for UNESCO recognition of over 2,700 documents on comfort women. Some 600 pieces, such as written testimonies, photos and drawings, are from Korea.
The 14 organizations jointly formed the International Committee for Joint Nomination of Documents on the Japanese Military Comfort Women and submitted their bid together on May 31.
The ministry funded the campaign for two years ― providing 30 million won in 2014 and 460 million won in 2015.
"We learned that funding would be seen as government interference in a civic campaign and may give UNESCO a negative impression in its review of candidates," a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "The campaign will not require as much money as in the past."
The gender ministry also said it will spend 2.8 million won next year, down 31 percent from this year, to help former sex slaves.
An Il-hwon, who runs a shelter for the surviving victims, criticized the government.
"It's sheer nonsense aimed at covering up the government's move to pull out from the fight against Japan," he said. "Holding seminars and public promotions even after submitting a bid is critical and we can't continue campaigning unless we get more financial support."
Han Hye-in, a team manager of the international committee's Korea secretariat, voiced a similar view.
"It's true that the government funded major parts of the campaign," she said. "But it would have been better if we received support in the future as well."
Han said her colleagues have been using their own money to fund the campaign.
In October, the Chinese government offered to work together with Korea to register their collection of documentary records that hold details of Japan's wartime sex crimes on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
However, Seoul rejected the offer, citing possible negative impact on bilateral ties with Tokyo amid growing military threats from North Korea.
The register is a UNESCO program aimed at preserving and administering a collection of historically valuable records, including documents, books, letters, photos and video footage.
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