South Korea 'comfort women' in diplomatic tussle over statue

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Korean former 'comfort women' hold 1,000th protest

AFP Updated December 14, 2011, 8:42 pm

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SEOUL (AFP) - Elderly South Korean women forced into Japan's wartime military brothels held their 1,000th weekly protest on Wednesday, placing a statue of a sex slave outside its embassy despite protests from Tokyo.

"Apologise!" shouted five women in their 80s or 90s and an estimated 500 supporters, waving banners reading "Compensate" and "Admit the war crime".

Demonstrators have rallied since 1992 outside Japan's mission in Seoul to demand an apology and compensation for the Japanese military's use of so-called "comfort women" before and during World War II.

To mark Wednesday's landmark protest they unveiled a "peace monument" across the street from the embassy -- a statue of a seated teenage Korean girl in traditional costume.

The five former sex slaves hugged the statue as Japan demanded its removal.

"Young girls were dragged to other countries as slaves of the Japanese military," said a frail Kim Bok-Dong, 85. "I demand that the ambassador of Japan tell the Japanese government to apologise before we all die."

The oldest of the Korean former "comfort women" died aged 94 earlier this month and another aged 87 died Tuesday, leaving just 63 survivors out of 234 who had registered with the Seoul government.

In a rare move, a North Korean association for former comfort women sent a letter of support.

"The Wednesday demonstration that has lasted for 20 years is an unbearable blaze of anger against sexual slavery crimes committed by Japan that have trampled on national pride," the group said in a faxed message.

Historians say that during World War II, about 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines and other countries were drafted to work in Japanese army brothels.

The issue came to widespread notice in the early 1990s after some victims found the courage to go public.

Japan has apologised for the military's crimes against the women but denies official responsibility for running the brothels. It has rejected South Korea's proposal of bilateral talks about the women's demands.

Tokyo, which ruled Korea from 1910-45, says all claims for colonial-era suffering were settled in a 1965 compensation agreement with Seoul.

"It is very regrettable that they went ahead with constructing the comfort woman statue," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura in Tokyo.

"We repeatedly called on the South Korean government to stop the construction until today."

Japan's ambassador Masatoshi Muto met South Korea's first vice foreign minister Park Suk-Hwan and insisted on the early removal of the statue, a foreign ministry official told AFP.

In response, Park said Tokyo should "sincerely" respond to Seoul's proposal for talks over wartime sex slaves, she said.

Seoul says the placing of the statue does not require permission from its government.

The diplomatic friction arose days before a weekend summit in Kyoto between President Lee Myung-Bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Seoul's presidential office said they are scheduled to discuss bilateral relations, North Korea and other issues of cooperation during Sunday's summit, but made no mention of the comfort women issue.

In the southern South Korean coastal city of Tongyeong, where comfort women were shipped to Japan in 1930, hundreds of activists formed a human chain with placards and candles.

Events marking the 1,000th weekly protest were also staged in five other cities, Yonhap news agency reported.

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South Korea 'comfort women' in diplomatic tussle over statue

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14 December 2011 Last updated at 16:33 GMT Help

South Korean women who were forced to work as sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II have sparked a diplomatic tussle by unveiling a statue outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

The statue was erected to mark the 1,000th rally in support for their cause.

More than 60 years after the war ended, many say they have not been adequately acknowledged or compensated.

The BBC's Seoul correspondent Lucy Williamson reports.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16176575