Seoul, South Korea – For the last 25 years, Koreans both young and old have gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in central Seoul every Wednesday – 1,
Seoul, South Korea – For the last 25 years, Koreans both young and old have gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in central Seoul every Wednesday – 1,300 times – making it the world’s longest-running protest.
South Koreans demand the Japanese government apologise and compensate the estimated 200,000 female victims – known euphemistically as “comfort women” – forced into sexual slavery by imperial Japan.
When leaders realised this would never happen, many decided asking for these elderly women, known as “halmonies” or grandmothers in Korean, be honoured and remembered with a national memorial day in South Korea. President Moon Jae-in agrees.
“It could be a great step forward if the new [South] Korean government adopts this as official policy, ” said Sunghee Oh, general-secretary of the Foundation for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, an advocacy group based in the capital.
“The government is trying to support them, but these women are old and dying, ” Oh told Al Jazeera.
A presidential spokesperson was unavailable for comment. But an official stated the matter is now in the hands of the National Assembly, South Korea’s parliament. A spokesperson for the National Assembly was unavailable for comment.
In 2015, the Korean government announced it reached an agreement with Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered compensation to South Korea’s former president Park Guen-hye. According to the Japanese, this would resolve the comfort women issue “finally and irreversibly”.
But they misjudged how deeply ingrained the issue is in South Korean society. And some Japanese were outraged at Tokyo’s concessions.
At the centre of this controversy is a bronze statue of a young Korean girl. It sits in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, where protesters have gathered every Wednesday since 1992.
“This statue symbolises innocence. It offends the Japanese because it’s a constant reminder and they want to forget what happened.
