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“Treated worse than an animal”: the ‘comfort women’ issue before the United Nations
by Theresa Kim Hwa-young
For Japan, the 1965 bilateral agreement settled the issue of reparations. During the Second World War, some 200,000 Korean women between 11 and 25 were drafted for sexual favours by the Japanese military.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – “I was treated worse than an animal” is how every comfort woman describes her life during World War II when 200,000 Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. On Wednesday, South Korea raised the issue of Japan’s legal responsibility for the comfort women issue at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, for Japan, the issue of reparations arising from its occupation of Korea was settled with a bilateral accord signed in 1965.
“I was stabbed by a Japanese soldier and still have a scar on my back,” said Song Shin-do, a former comfort woman. “What they did was beyond barbaric. If the Japanese government does not solve this problem, I will be mortified to die.”
“The Japanese government claims that the issue of military comfort women was resolved legally,” said Shin Dong-ik, South Korea’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations; hoewver, “the military comfort women issue, being an inhumane crime, cannot be viewed as resolved through the South Korean-Japanese claim agreement, and legal responsibility remains on the part of the Japanese government”.
“We acknowledge that the comfort women issue represented a grave insult to the dignity of women,” the Japanese UN delegate is quoted as saying. “We express our sincere apologies and penitence to all the comfort women who suffered serious physical and psychological wounds.”
At the same time though, the delegate reiterated Tokyo’s established position that the issue of compensation for damages to victims during World War II was legally resolved with the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the subsequent bilateral agreement, including Korea-Japan Basic Treaty of 1965.
During the Second World War, 200,000 women between the ages of 11 and 25 were drafted as sex slaves in ‘comfort stations’ where they were victims of coercion, rape and abuse day and night.
Even after Korean independence, some were left in such stations because of prejudice and neglect by their own government.
Of the 234 registered former comfort women, more than two thrids have already passed away without having their last will fulfilled, which was to see the Japanese government make a sincere apology.