South Korean ‘comfort women’ protest against deal with Japan

Hundreds of South Korean protesters joined two surviving former “comfort women” on Wednesday to denounce an agreement with Japan to resolve an issue stemming from Japan’s wartime past that has long plagued ties between neighbors. The two “comfort women”, as those who were forced to work at Japan’s wartime military brothels are euphemistically known, criticized the government for agreeing with Japan on Monday to “finally and irreversibly” settle the issue. “The government cannot be trusted,” said one of the women, Lee Yong-su, 88.

Japan took us to be comfort women and still tries to deny its crime.

Lee Yong-su, 88

The protesters spilled on to the street in front of Japan’s embassy in Seoul and milled around a bronze statue of a barefoot teenage girl, symbolizing the women forced to work in the Japanese brothels. Weekly rallies have been held outside the embassy since 1992 to demand a sincere Japanese government apology and reparations for victims. "We did nothing wrong,“ Lee said. "Japan took us to be comfort women and still tries to deny its crime." Under the agreement, Japan will establish a fund to help surviving victims and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe renewed an apology.

Politics comfort women