Jeonguiyeon and Grandmother Lee Yong-soo File Defamation and Insult Charges Against Conservative Group for Repeated Hate Speech (Comprehensive)

Conservative Group Disrupts Wednesday Demonstrations by Occupying Peace Statue Site Since 2020
"Comfort Women Are Prostitutes" and Other Insulting Remarks Repeated

On the 16th, Jeonguiyeon held a press conference in front of the Jongno Police Station in Seoul titled "Press Conference on the Lawsuit and Accusation Against Far-Right Historical Denial Groups for Disrupting the Wednesday Demonstration and Defaming and Insulting Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims and Participants." / Photo by Gong Byung-sun mydillon@

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Civic groups including the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeokyeondae) have drawn the sword against conservative groups that have repeatedly disrupted the Wednesday demonstrations in front of the Statue of Peace and made hateful remarks. Grandmother Lee Yong-soo also took legal action against those who deny and insult the history of Japanese military comfort women.

On the 16th, Jeonguiyeokyeondae held a press conference titled "Press Conference for the Lawsuit and Accusation against Far-right Historical Denial Groups for Disrupting Wednesday Demonstrations and Defaming and Insulting Victims and Participants of Japanese Military Comfort Women" in front of the Jongno Police Station in Seoul. They announced that they would file complaints against about 10 participants of the conservative groups' disruptive rallies for violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act, defamation, and insult.

The lawsuit and accusations were joined by seven civic groups including Jeonguiyeokyeondae, the Catholic Women Religious Superiors Association, the Institute for Korean Historical Issues, the National Women's Solidarity, and the Peace Butterfly Network. After the press conference, they submitted the complaints to the Jongno Police Station.

They explained that conservative groups continue to disrupt the Wednesday demonstrations. Lawyer Ham Seung-yong said, "Conservative groups have occupied the rally in front of the Statue of Peace and are broadcasting sounds of bombs, bullets, and screams," adding, "Since they repeatedly engage in actions that do not replace the rally, it constitutes the crime of disrupting an assembly."

Legal actions were also taken against repeated insults and defamation directed not only at the demonstration participants but also at the comfort women grandmothers. Han Kyung-hee, Secretary General of Jeonguiyeokyeondae, said, "They have been disrupting the Wednesday demonstrations for over a year, insulting the victims and denying history," and added, "Even though a complaint was filed with the National Human Rights Commission, such acts have not stopped." Kim Young-hwan, Director of External Cooperation at the Institute for Korean Historical Issues, also stated, "Conservative groups call the comfort women grandmothers prostitutes and engage in hateful acts," and said, "It is unbelievable that this situation is repeating in 21st century Seoul."

Grandmother Lee Yong-soo also participated in the lawsuit and accusations. She filed complaints for defamation and insult against Kim Sang-jin, Secretary General of the Liberty Solidarity, Joo Ok-soon, representative of the Mom Unit, Kim Byung-heon, representative of the National Action to Abolish the Comfort Women Law, and two unidentified individuals. According to her legal representative, on the 15th and 16th of last month, they made insulting remarks targeting Grandmother Lee Yong-soo and the entire group of comfort women. Lawyer Park Kyung-chan said, "Insults against Grandmother Lee Yong-soo continue to occur within the jurisdiction of Jongno," and added, "We hope the police will actively investigate and thoroughly uncover the criminal acts against the victim complainant." Additional lawsuits are expected depending on future developments.

The disruption of the Wednesday demonstrations by conservative groups has been repeated since the allegations of embezzlement of sponsorship funds by independent lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang surfaced in 2020. Because of this, Jeonguiyeokyeondae has continued the Wednesday demonstrations at a location away from the Statue of Peace. Some participants of the conservative groups are known to have made insulting remarks denying the history of comfort women, such as "comfort women are prostitutes."

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