SEOUL (UCAN): Catholics in South Korea have urged the Japanese government to offer a sincere apology to the comfort women forced into sexual slavery by its imperial army during World War II.
The National Catholic Action for the Annulment and Justice of the Japanese Comfort Women Agreement [NCCA] organised a Mass and rally supporting the cause of comfort women in Seoul, on March 1.
Father Justino Ha Sung-yong, chairperson of the Justice and Peace Committee of the Archdiocese of Seoul, pointed out that the issue was not political or diplomatic but a matter of “universal human rights and human decency.”
During the Mass Father Ha said, “The government should no longer turn a blind eye to the pain of the people [comfort women], and our people should not close their ears to the cries of their fellow countrymen.”
Priests and laity from nine Catholic dioceses in South Korea attended a rally after the Mass near the Statue of Peace in Junghak-dong, located opposite the Japanese embassy.
The statue, installed in 2011, depicts a girl dressed in a chima jeogori, a modified form of hanbok from the late 19th to early 20th century, with small hands and short hair, sitting and staring at the embassy of Japan in central Seoul.
The participants wore yellow butterflies to symbolize hope and solidarity towards comfort women. The rally participants also held signs that read “Japan must recognise war crimes and take legal responsibility.”
The issue of comfort women and the agreement related to their compensation has been a cause of contention between Japan and South Korea.
In 2015, a Comfort Women Agreement was created, a foundation was set up, and Japan provided one billion yen [US$6.6 million] to distribute as compensation. The agreement was cancelled by the South Korean government under Moon Jae-in in 2018 after victims and their families protested the agreement and the compensation.
Reportedly, the protestors wanted the Japanese government to take legal responsibility for the atrocities.
The Catholic Church in South Korea established the NCCA on 17 February 2016, to stand with the victims and help them seek a just resolution.
According to historians, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 women were forced into sexual slavery in countries occupied by the Japanese army during World War II.
This is a translated and edited version of the report originally published by the Catholic Times of Korea on March 3.
