ED. On Wednesday January 1, 2010, the wind was blowing vigorously, and the police were standing tensely in a line in front of the high wall of the Japanese embassy. In front of them, there were a lot of people. Why did they gather in that place? What did they want to insist?
A large number of people were assembling in front of the Japanese embassy because it was Wednesday's Demonstration for the woman who were taken for military sexual slavery by Japan. The first Wednesday Demonstration was held on January 8, 1992 when Japan's Prime Minister Miyazawa visited South Korea. This demonstration has become a weekly demonstration and it was the 902nd Wednesday Demonstration.
Upon arriving, you could receive a paper brochure about the demonstration from a woman. It did not appear that she was Korean from her accent and stammered greeting. She was Korea Japanese. Ms. Oh Woo-gyun has studied Korean history and language through Korean-Japanese meetings since she lived in Japan. She has worked on military sexual slavery issues for 5 years. In Japan there are large numbers of Japanese who are aware of and concerned about these problems. She said the sexual slavery issue was very shocking. In spite of the cold weather, she was very busy distributing paper brochures.
I could see one elderly gentleman who had a long white beard. Mr. Kim Pan-su, has taken part in the demonstration since 2005. He said, "The agony suffered by our ethnic group from our neighbor is not the affair of others. We have to make this `agony our concern and we have to clean up the vestiges of Japanese imperialism to Iive together peacefully."
This 902nd Wednesday Demonstration was organized by the Haetdam of Yangseo High School. Haetdam is a youth club that tries hard to address the Japanese slavery issue. At 12:00 am, the demonstration started with the address of the president of Haetdam. All participants sang 'Like a Stone'. This song is about how we lice firmly and strongly like a stone. After the song one member of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Japanese Military Sexual Slavery made a comment. She said, "This year is the centennial of our national humiliation by Japan. In 2010, we will try to liquidate the past and we have to work toward peace in East Asia." One person's powerful statement made all the participants become one. The singing performance continued, and then free speeches began. The first speakers were a father and his little daughter. The little daughter knew about this incident from a fairy tale and she asked her father to attend this demonstration. The little girl's interest and affection for history made me smile. The second speaker was a female college student majoring in history. When she was a high school student, she had a chance to learn about the 700th Wednesday Demonstration. In that class, she learned shocking facts not on the school textbooks. She said, "History cannot be concealed. The more people know about hidden history, the more we can live together peacefully." The speech ended with a victim, Gil Won-ok's comment. She said some appreciative words. When she arrived there, she felt very cold. However, she did not feel cold anymore since many people standing around had made her feel warm. She was especially pleased to see a lot of students, who represent Korea's bright future, in the demonstration. The demonstration came to a close with the reading of a statement.
Many foreigners from around the world also attended this demonstration. I had a chance to speak with Katy from Canada. She had a lot of concern for Japanese sexual slavery issues. She visited the House of Sharing where victims of Japanese sexual slavery still survived several times. She was very angry with the Japanese government. She said, "The Japanese government is ignoring woman rights. In spite of this situation, I think the victims are very strong and determines." Among the people there were five Japanese people. They are members of a Japanese theater company and visited Korea for a workshop. I talked with one member, Mr. Matura Takeo. He responded to some touchy questions. He said, "At that time powerful Japanese men abused innocent Korean women." as an actor, I want to show the victims a paly and take a load off their mind. These days many Japanese young people have a friendly attitude to Korea. Most Japanese people are ignorant about sexual slavery issues, since they have no chance to receive an education about it. If they knew about these incidents, they would feel very sorry." I was very surprised and touched that there are so many Japanese people who admit their mistakes and feel sorry for them. The last foreigner who I interviewed was Corinne Cooper from Australia. She got the inside story of the incident through some books. In Australia, there wes also military sexual slavery. She said "I strongly support victims of military sexual slavery. The Japanese government must make a polite apology to them." She was proud of the victims' continued demonstration and she planed to study about this incident. A lot of people participated in the demonstration regardless of their ideologies, races, gender or age.
Finally, I interviewed Ms. Gil Won-ok, who was the only victim who attended the demonstration. She said, "Do not hide. We have to let all the people know. Our descendants should not suffer from the past like this. I will participate in this demonstration until my life is over."
There is a proverb, "The people, who do not know humility, never know honor." It is obvious that Japan is an advanced country economically and culturally. However, they have made no apology for their past wrongdoings. Japan will never become an advanced country in the true sense without an official apology to war victims, legal compensation and proper historical education. We will look forward to the day when Japan enjoys real honor.
Also, Korea must try to address this problem with a positive attitude. We have to work towards the day when the demonstration will end. I hope the 1000th Wednesday Demonstration will not be held.
By Ahn Na-ri CP Reporter
ahn-nari@cnu.ac.kr