Families of comfort women hold a rally in front of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on March 2, 2021. (Yonhap)
SUWON, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The families of comfort women are urging the government to enact a special law to prevent historical distortion and absurd statements.
Comfort women is a euphemism used to refer to those who suffered under Japan’s military brothel system before and during World War II.
On Tuesday, the families of comfort women held a press conference in front of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly in Suwon, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul where the statue of a girl symbolizing Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery is installed.
During the press conference, the families pointed out that the term ‘comfort women’ was created by Japan to conceal its wrongdoing, adding that some scholars are still making absurd statements and insults against human rights by insisting that the victims were voluntary prostitutes.
The families claimed that the National Assembly should take the initiative to enact a special law to prevent such historical distortions and absurd statements, aimed at protecting the dignity of the victims.
They explained that after the awareness of the comfort women issue was raised in the international community, the 1996 report of the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the 1998 U.N. special rapporteur used the term ‘Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.’
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
