Demand for Deletion of 'Military Comfort Women' Expression in Japanese Textbooks Amidst New Japanese Rebellion

[Image source= Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] It has been reported that Japanese right-wing forces have requested the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to delete the expression 'Jonggun (從軍) Comfort Women' used in some middle school textbooks.

According to the right-wing-leaning Sankei Shimbun on the 29th, a Japanese group that supports a right-wing historical view called 'Association to Make New History Textbooks (Saekyokmo)' took issue with the expression in a textbook published by Yamakawa (山川) stating that "Women were recruited from Korea, China, the Philippines, etc. to 'comfort facilities' established on the battlefield."

Saekyokmo has argued that the expression 'Jonggun Comfort Women' is not appropriate as a historical term because it did not exist during the war at that time. They also claimed that 'Jonggun' refers to military auxiliaries such as war correspondents and military nurses, and that comfort women did not serve as military auxiliaries.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology responded that it is not considering recommending corrections to the content in response to such opinions submitted by Saekyokmo in December last year.

In Korea, the term 'Jonggun,' meaning 'following the military,' is rarely used recently because it may give the impression that the victims voluntarily became comfort women. Instead, the expression 'Japanese military comfort women' is often used to clearly indicate that the military authorities requested the establishment of comfort stations and were involved in their operation.

Separately, the reason Saekyokmo takes issue with the expression 'Jonggun Comfort Women' is interpreted as an intention to completely abandon including explanations about the Japanese military comfort women issue. It also appears to be aimed at attacking the Kono Statement, which used the term 'Jonggun Comfort Women.'

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