Japan: "The term 'Jonggun Wianbu' in textbooks will be changed by publishers as well"

Government Stance That 'Wianbu' Is Appropriate... Pressure on Textbook Companies

On the 5th, at the regular Wednesday demonstration press conference held in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, a wreath honoring Grandma Yoon, a comfort woman victim who passed away on the 2nd, was placed.

Koichi Hagiuda, Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, stated on the 10th that publishers of domestic textbooks, which have already passed screening, will review corrections regarding the description of 'military comfort women' in their textbooks.

This was mentioned in connection with the Japanese government's official stance that it is appropriate to use the term 'comfort women' instead of 'military comfort women,' reflecting this in future textbook screenings as well as the possibility of revising the expression of military comfort women in textbooks that have already passed screening.

Fumitake Fujita, a member of the Japan Innovation Party and a member of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, praised the government on the same day for deciding at the Cabinet meeting on the 27th of last month that the term 'military comfort women' is inappropriate and that the mobilization of Korean laborers during the Japanese colonial period should be described as 'conscription' rather than 'forced abduction.' He inquired whether this would be applied to textbook screening as well.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stated, "Regarding the textbook screening standards, if there is a unified government view presented by Cabinet decisions or other methods, describing based on that becomes one of the standards."

Prime Minister Suga indicated that "the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is expected to appropriately respond based on the government's unified view in textbook screening," suggesting that the term 'military comfort women' will no longer be accepted during the screening process.

Fujita further questioned how the government would respond to descriptions of military comfort women or forced abduction in textbooks that have already passed screening.

In response, Minister Hagiuda said, "Based on the textbook screening rules, textbook publishers that issue textbooks containing terms such as military comfort women or forced abduction will review how to correct the descriptions in textbooks that have already passed screening, based on the unified government view decided by the Cabinet."

This effectively pressured textbook publishers to make corrections.

The expression 'military comfort women' or 'so-called military comfort women' was used in the Kono Statement announced by the Japanese government on August 4, 1993.

At that time, the statement acknowledged the responsibility of the Japanese military by stating, "Comfort stations were established at the request of the military authorities at that time, and the establishment, management of comfort stations, and transfer of comfort women were directly or indirectly involved by the former Japanese military," expressing apology and remorse regarding the mobilization of comfort women.

Criticism arises that while the Japanese government declares it will uphold the Kono Statement, it is contradictory to try to erase the term 'military' in order to dilute the coerciveness of the mobilization of comfort women or the military's involvement mentioned in the statement.

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