“Recently, representatives from the Japanese government and others have reached out to McGraw-Hill Education asking the company to change the description of ‘comfort women’ in one of our publications.”“Scholars are aligned behind the historical fact of ‘comfort women’ and we unequivocally stand behind the writing, research and presentation of our authors”– McGraw-Hill, the publisher in the U.S.
College students raised funds to make this statue of comfort women, called the ‘Girl of Peace.’ The butterfly wings on the statue symbolize college students themselves who said they were committed to helping out the victims. (photo courtesy of Yonhap)
‘Comfort women’ is a euphemistic term for sex slaves.
“Scholars are aligned behind the historical fact of ‘comfort women’ and we unequivocally stand behind the writing, research and presentation of our authors,” it said.
Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary meeting that he was surprised to learn how the McGraw-Hill book describes the sexual slavery issue, and pledged government efforts to continue to push for changes.
The sexual slavery issue has been the biggest thorn in frayed relations between Japan and South Korea, with Seoul demanding Japan take steps to address the grievances of elderly Korean victims of the atrocity and Japan refusing to do so.
Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea, which was a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. But Japan has been accused of attempting to whitewash the atrocity.
Former “comfort women,” including Kim Bok-dong (left) and others, were stroking the statue of comfort women that was created by undergraduate students. (photo courtesy of Yonhap)
(Yonhap)
