Ruling Party: "Distortion and Defamation of Comfort Women History... Ramseyer Paper Must Be Retracted"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 20th, the Democratic Party of Korea stated that Professor John Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School should withdraw his paper amid controversy over historical distortion. The Democratic Party emphasized, "Distorting events that destroyed and violated human dignity, and neglecting such distortion, equally damages the honor of the victims and the justice of our society."

On the same day, Kwon Ji-woong, the Democratic Party's youth spokesperson, issued a statement saying, "Following criticism from Harvard students and professors, Korean American organizations in the U.S. have also been continuing petitions since yesterday demanding the withdrawal of Professor Ramseyer's paper," and added, "Professor Ramseyer's paper distorting the history of comfort women must be immediately withdrawn."

Spokesperson Kwon pointed out, "The U.S. Department of State has also clearly stated regarding the issue of Japanese military comfort women that 'as the U.S. has stated multiple times, the sexual trafficking of women by the Japanese military during World War II was a severe human rights violation,'" and added, "Professor Ramseyer's paper is not merely another academic opinion but a clearly false claim."

Earlier, Professor Ramseyer introduced the Japanese military comfort women system as voluntary prostitution and denied the existence of sexual slavery in a paper scheduled to be published in the March issue of the International Review of Law and Economics.

Spokesperson Kwon analyzed, "Professor Ramseyer's official title is 'Mitsubishi Professor,' known for its association with a war crime company," and added, "Considering the circumstances that Japan has been continuously lobbying the international community at both government and private levels, this cannot be seen as a simple personal claim."

He continued, "The Japanese military comfort women issue itself is a serious war crime, but concealing and distorting it like this is also a matter that must be dealt with seriously," and emphasized, "Distorting events that destroyed and violated human dignity, and neglecting such distortion, equally damages the honor of the victims and the justice of our society."

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