Japan Military 'Comfort Women' Victims Memorial Day, Grandmother Lee Yong-soo Attended Alongside Justice Network

This Grandmother Repeatedly Emphasizes "Protest Format Must Change"

Chairman Inayeong Draws Attention by Joining
Lawmaker Yoon Mihyang, Under Investigation, Absent

President Moon's Congratulatory Speech: "We Will Find a Solution"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy (Cheonan) = Reporters Hyunju Lee, Sunhee Son] "I am Kim Hak-soon, who was taken as a Japanese military 'comfort woman'."

On August 14, 1991, the late grandmother Kim Hak-soon gave the first testimony related to the Japanese military 'comfort women' victims. Thanks to Grandma Kim's testimony, the human rights movement for comfort women victims began domestically, but this year, the organizations faced turmoil as issues of donation fraud surfaced. At the support facilities for victims, Nanum House and Mapo Shelter, the grandmothers can no longer be seen. The appropriateness of the weekly Wednesday demonstrations held since January 1992 in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jungang-dong, Jongno-gu, was also questioned.

On the 14th, 29 years after Grandma Kim's testimony, a commemorative ceremony for 'Remembrance Day' was held at the National Manghyang Hill in Cheonan, Chungnam. This was the third ceremony since the government officially designated the day in 2017.

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, who had expressed her intention to no longer attend the Wednesday demonstrations, drew attention by entering the ceremony together with Lee Na-young, Chairperson of the Justice and Memory Foundation. Grandma Lee and Chairperson Lee arrived at the venue in the same car. Dressed in a white hanbok, Grandma Lee responded to questions about her feelings by saying, "Thanks to your concern, (my health) is fine." She was the only surviving victim among the 17 remaining to attend the event. Chairperson Lee said, "Despite various unfortunate events, I am grateful that this event could be held." Former Justice Foundation Chairperson Yoon Mee-hyang (currently a member of the Democratic Party), who was under prosecution investigation from the previous day until early morning, did not attend.

Meanwhile, it seems premature to interpret the joint entrance of Grandma Lee and the Justice Foundation Chairperson as a full reconciliation between the two sides. After the event, Grandma Lee met with reporters again and expressed her intention not to attend the Wednesday demonstrations for the time being. She reiterated her previous argument, saying, "The 30 years of protests (Wednesday demonstrations) were a good way to inform the world, but they were unrelated to resolving issues such as apologies or compensation. The form of the protests needs to change."

President Moon Jae-in sent a video congratulatory message, saying, "The grandmothers are now presenting a new direction for resolving the Japanese military comfort women issue," and "The most important principle for resolving the issue is victim-centeredness. The government will find solutions acceptable to the grandmothers until they say 'it's okay'." The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced through this event its intention to continue the comfort women issue as a movement for future generations. They plan to create a group tentatively called People Who Share Memories for the Future to discuss ways to expand the comfort women issue into a more universal women's human rights and peace agenda. Minister Lee Jung-ok of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said, "We will respond to the grandmothers' testimonies as memories of will."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.