'Comfort Women Controversy' Ramseyer... Korean Americans in the US Launch Petition Campaign to 'Condemn Ramseyer'

International Petition by the Korean American Association of the Northeastern United States Urging the Retraction of a Harvard Professor's 'Comfort Women Paper'
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Choyoung] Korean American organizations in the United States have also launched an international petition campaign demanding the retraction of a paper by Harvard Law School professor Mark Ramseyer, who labeled the victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery as "prostitutes." Korean American groups have held rallies in front of comfort women memorials, and the movement condemning Professor Ramseyer's remarks in the U.S. is expected to expand further.

On the 17th (local time), according to the Korean American Federation of the Northeastern U.S., the federation posted a petition on "Change.org," the world's largest petition site, the day before, stating, "We strongly condemn Professor Ramseyer's historically distorted paper and urge the immediate retraction of the paper and a sincere apology."

The federation, which includes the Korean Associations of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Delaware, issued a statement in both Korean and English representing 700,000 Korean Americans in the Northeastern U.S. near Harvard University. They emphasized, "The issue of Japanese military comfort women is a brutal human rights violation and merciless sexual violence against women during the harsh period of war," and "It is an undeniable historical truth that must never be distorted."

The federation plans to collect online signatures and deliver them to Harvard Law School and the International Review of Law and Economics, which published Professor Ramseyer's paper.

On the same day, the federation also held a rally demanding the retraction of the historically distorted paper in front of the comfort women memorial near Hudson River Park in New Jersey. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 15 representatives from various Korean associations attended, holding Korean and U.S. flags while reading the statement.

They also announced plans to hold a protest in front of Harvard University on March 1, the Samiljeol (Independence Movement Day), to demand the retraction of Professor Ramseyer's paper.

Korean American organizations held a rally demanding the retraction of Professor Ramseyer's paper in front of the Comfort Women Memorial in New Jersey
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Earlier, the cyber diplomatic mission VANK also launched an international petition on the same site earlier this month demanding the retraction of Professor Ramseyer's paper. VANK's petition, aiming for 25,000 signatures, has currently surpassed 15,000 signatories.

Meanwhile, unlike the growing criticism of Ramseyer in the U.S. academic community, on the 16th, the president of Harvard University responded to VANK's request to retract Ramseyer's paper by stating, "Academic freedom within the university must be guaranteed even if it causes discomfort to society," suggesting that the movement condemning Professor Ramseyer's remarks is expected to intensify further.

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