Grandma Yong-soo Lee informs the Korean delegation to Japan about steps to resolve the “comfort women” issue
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Japan’s Prime Minister cancels out 2015 apology
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94-year-old Lee Yong-soo informs the Korean Delegation to Japan for President-elect, Yoon Seok-yeol, about concrete steps necessary for a survivor-centered resolution to Japan’s WWII-era military sexual slavery
April 21, 2022
Today, Yong-soo Lee, a 94-year-old activist and survivor of Japan’s WWII military sexual slavery (the “comfort women” system), informed an upcoming South Korean delegation to Japan about concrete steps necessary for a survivor-centered resolution. The delegation is headed by National Assemblyman Chung Jin-suk, and was formed by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol. Report in Korean: https://www.joongang.co.kr/
AP report: S. Korean slavery victim seeks UN justice as time runs out (http://apne.ws/h3OAlrl)
Ms. Lee and the ICJ Committee also delivered to the delegation the results of a public survey on Japan’s wartime military sexual slavery. The survey confirms that, within South Korea, there continues to be overwhelming public support for a survivor- or victim-centered resolution (83.2%) and for resolution through a UN body, such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or the Committee Against Torture (CAT) (78.5%). 68.5% support re-negotiation of the so-called “2015 Joint Announcement.”
However, ignoring the objections of Ms. Lee and other survivors, as well as South Korean public opinion and will, Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin said in a press briefing yesterday that the so-called “2015 Joint Announcement” is an official inter-government agreement. (https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/04/d339e55f4de9-s-koreas-next-top-diplomat-calls-2015-comfort-women-pact-official.html)
Publicly, Japan continues to deny that “comfort women” were sexually enslaved and to pressure textbook publishers to censor and diminish the sexual and gender-based war crimes and mass atrocities committed by Japan’s Imperial Armed Forces during the Asia-Pacific War.
Survey results are available here: https://sites.google.com/view/openlettercomfortwomenicj/resources#h.t5wp16sxj2o0
