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Human rights activists, including former sex slaves or "comfort women," protested in the U.S. on Wednesday, demanding reparations and an apology from the Japanese government for forcing women and girls into sexual slavery during World War II. The protest was a continuation of regular Wednesday protests which until now had been held only in Seoul.
During the protest in front of the Japanese Consulate in downtown L.A., the members of the 121 Coalition called on the Japanese government to issue an official apology and enact a law for the payment of reparations to the victims of Japan's wartime atrocities.
Comfort women and their supporters began regular Wednesday protests in Seoul on Jan. 8, 1992, when Japan's then prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa visited Korea. They have continued for 5,467 days or nearly 16 years, with last Wednesday's the 781st protest.
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121 Coalition protests in front of Japanese Consulate downtown in L.A. on Wednesday to call for Japanese government to issue an official apology and make reparations for victims of its wartime sex enslavement. / Yonhap
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The L.A. protest was attended by members of the 121 Coalition and its leader Prof. Lee Jong-hwa of Loyola Marymount University, members of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, human right activists from the Philippines, Japan and Germany, and members of Amnesty International. Korean victims of Japanese sex slavery including Lee Yong-soo also attended.
"Protests urging Japan to apologize for sexual slavery have spread across the world, and we have gathered here in the U.S. today," protesters said. "The Japanese government cannot delay its apology now that the U.S. congress has passed the resolution for victims of sexual enslavement, and we once again call on the Japanese government to make reparations and issue an official apology."
The protest was held before the start of an international conference on sexual enslavement of women and girls by the Japanese military at the University of California, Los Angeles from Thursday to Saturday. Many of the protesters will participate in the conference.
"This is my fifth visit to the U.S., and we achieved the passage of the resolution in the U.S. congress," said former comfort woman Lee Yong-soo. "World peace cannot be achieved unless we resolve the issues of Japan's sex slaves. The Japanese government must apologize and pay reparations."
Protesters also announced a statement demanding Japan admit that women and girls were coerced into brothels during wartime, apologize and pay reparations, educate Japan's next generation of its atrocities, punish guilty officials and build a museum for its wartime wrongdoings. Protesters also promised to gather again in L.A. for another Wednesday protest soon.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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