Comments on: Former comfort women want another apology from Japan

By: Hinomaru

Hinomaru — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:27:42 +0000

First of all, this issue is a done deal, as Japan and Korea signed a contract saying that it is done. They need to ask Korea and not Japan for money.

According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
they answered to the ads and the testimony made by Japanese were lies, as admitted by Japanese.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupied_Japan
there were over 1000 rapes in Kanagawa prefecture alone and British forces participated in rapes. Japan had to set up brothels or (RRA) so local women do not get raped.

If prostitution, forced sex and human traficing is so evil (of course it is bad when forced), full resolution is required for credibility and the acts by the Allied forces would require an apology and compensation.

Korea has no leg to stand on when it has not done its part in resolving what they did during Vietnam war.

There are supposedly at least 30,000 Korean prostitute in Japan rignt now, which they openly advertise on fuuzoku magazines sold at your locan konbini or via web. If they are selling their bodies now ‘willingly’, what makes you think they were ‘forced’ then. There was such a demand that they did not need to use force.

Having a brothel is no different than having a fast food restaurant on US bases. They are just tennants and the gouvenment has no responsibility. If you got sick eating at the fast food restaurant on base, do you think you can sue the US gouvenment.
That would be a joke.

The USA really has nothing to do with WW2 comfort women, only to the extent that they set up brothels (RRA). If USA continues to make it an issue, the Allied forces action would require apologies and compenstation, especially when you preach democracy and human rights (failed in Iraq and Afganistan may be next).

Korea will scream their exaggerated victomhood such as Nogunri and Jeju-do massacre and demand USA to pay compensation. Is the USA willing to listen to nonsense and stomach that?

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By: SWater

SWater — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:58 +0000

> Because ignoring the past means that you’re doomed to repeat it.

Is that why South Korea exports hundreds of thousands of prostitutes to major developed countries like the U.S. and Japan?

“The number of South Korean prostitutes abroad is estimated to reach 100,000” KBS News, October 25, 2009.
http://news.kbs.co.kr/article/society/200910/20091025/1871998.html

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By: SWater

SWater — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:36:04 +0000

Which specific part of my comment do you disagree and why?

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By: ponta

ponta — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:31:31 +0000

“Because Japan can do no wrong during World War 2, right?”
Who said that?

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By: helical

helical — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:31:16 +0000

So how many times does Japan have to officially admit that it fucked up until it actually counts?
Right now, I think we’re approaching the 50 mark.

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By: ponta

ponta — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:30:42 +0000

Right. So far only sex slaves exploited by Japan have been compensated and the rest of sex slaves exploited by Korea, the U.S. Germany etc in a similar way have been ignored. That is why it is important to set up the similar criteria for compensation and apology for the similar exploitation of the women during the war.

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By: Nanashi

Nanashi — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:24:57 +0000

Because ignoring the past means that you’re doomed to repeat it. The first step towards a better future is admitting you fucked up somewhere in the past.

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By: Nanashi

Nanashi — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:22:11 +0000

Because Japan can do no wrong during World War 2, right? So the heinous war crimes committed by Imperial Japan like Unit 731 must have been staged. You’re f*cking delusional.

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By: Vonskippy

Vonskippy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:24:51 +0000

So will the apology magically travel thru time and right all wrongs?

No?

Then what difference does it make.

Unbelievable how some people are stuck obsessing about the past.

No wonder the future is so dim, too many people are looking in the wrong direction.

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By: ponta

ponta — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:05:18 +0000

How many of women do you think you should interview to be so sure that the Japanese. government at didn’t　abduct women to make them work as sex slaves during World War Ⅱ？
Does that make it easier for you to understand the relevancy?

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By: leitmotiv

leitmotiv — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:40:08 +0000

Interesting but wholly irrelevant point (as usual). I suggest you post your question somewhere on USA-Probe.com so it might actually be relevant.

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By: ponta

ponta — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:21:07 +0000

How many of women do you think you should interview to be so sure that the U.S. government and Korean government didn’t　abduct women to make them work as sex slaves during Korean War and Vietnam War?

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By: helical

helical — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:03:03 +0000

I’m sure this has been pointed out before as well, but the Government of Japan decided to indirectly compensate through the Asian Women’s Fund because it’s already been agreed upon in a treaty between Japan and South Korea in 1965 that all monetary compensations between governments has been concluded.

日韓請求権並びに経済協力協定（財産及び請求権に関する問題の解決並びに経済協力に関する日本国と大韓民国との間の協定）
http://www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~worldjpn/documents/texts/JPKR/19650622.T9J.html

Agreement on the Settlement of Problem concerning Property and Claims and the Economic Cooperation between the Japan and Republic of Korea
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Agreement_Between_Japan_and_the_Republic_of_Korea_Concerning_the_Settlement_of_Problems_in_Regard_to_Property_and_Claims_and_Economic_Cooperation

대한민국과 일본국간의 재산 및 청구권에 관한 문제의 경제협력에 관한 협정
http://www.geocities.jp/nobuo_shoudoshima/kihonjouyaku1.html

第二条

１　両締約国は、両締約国及びその国民（法人を含む。）の財産、権利及び利益並びに両締約国及びその国民の間の請求権に関する問題が、千九百五十一年九月八日にサン・フランシスコ市で署名された日本国との平和条約第四条（ａ）に規定されたものを含めて、完全かつ最終的に解決されたこととなることを確認する。

Article II

1 The High Contracting Parties confirm that the problems concerning property, rights, and interests of the two High Contracting Parties and their peoples (including juridical persons) and the claims between the High Contracting Parties and between their peoples, including those stipulated in Article IV(a) of the Peace Treaty with Japan signed at the city of San Francisco on September 8, 1951, have been settled completely and finally.

제2조

1. 양 체약국은 양 체약국 및 그 국민(법인을 포함함)의 재산, 권리 및 이익과 양 체약국 및 그 국민간의 청구권에 관한 문제가 1951년 9월 8일에 샌프런시스코에서 서명된 일본국과의 평화조약 제4조 (a)에 규정된 것을 포함하여 완전히 그리고 최종적으로 해결된 것이 된다는 것을 확신한다.

Even though it was an official governmental agreement between the two countries that no more compensation was needed, I personally think it’s nothing but good will that the government of Japan would still try to find a way to continue to compensate without contradicting its already established position.

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By: James

James — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:40:43 +0000

In Molding Japanese Minds, there is a chapter about the prostitution system in pre-war Japan that states the practice of poor rural Japanese women “selling themselves” into prostitution was not at all uncommon. Women were legally allowed to quit at any time, but their guarantors (usually family members) would be required to pay back any money owed to brothel owners.

The author argues that the Home Ministry had a screening process for licensed prostitutes that made sure most women who became prostitutes were doing it because of poverty. Allowing farmers to sell their daughters in time of crop failure saved the government the trouble of having to provide social services to the rural poor.

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By: leitmotiv

leitmotiv — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:32:48 +0000

It is not surprising that these wartime prostitutes lie about their past that they are not fully proud of, get attention and sympathy, and try to receive compensation from the “evil” Japanese.

How many of them have you interviewed to be so sure of what you allege?

I have to say journalists, researchers (especially historians), and politicians in South Korea do not have any professional/academic integrity.

Its good that you avoid hyperbole and generalizations. Doing so lends strength to your…um….”argument”.

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By: LB

LB — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:28:23 +0000

Because there is no political hay to be made from it?

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By: LB

LB — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:27:41 +0000

“By the way, that estimate of 40 percent of comfort women were Japanese women themselves I find shocking.”

Why? As many troops as Japan had overseas during the war, even more were sitting here on the home front. They needed “comforting” as well, and it is well documented that back then poor families would sell a daughter to help the household out. I would be willing to wager that if there was some way of counting up all the prostitutes who “serviced” Japanese military personnel, on all fronts, whether in whorehouses targeting at the military, “normal” whorehouses or “privateers” on street corners, you would find that the overwhelming majority were, brace for it, Japanese women.

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By: ponta

ponta — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:36:42 +0000

I wonder why I’ve never heard of Korean government offering compensation to the Korean comfort women it exploited in the same way after the colonization.
And I wonder why Korean journalists largely turn blind eye on that.

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By: SWater

SWater — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:26:39 +0000

People lie in every society. It is not surprising that these wartime prostitutes lie about their past that they are not fully proud of, get attention and sympathy, and try to receive compensation from the “evil” Japanese. However, what makes South Korea very special is nobody in South Korea can publicly criticize (even question) their false accusations against the Japanese military.

One of the economics professors at Seoul National University, who specialized in economic history, once commented that “comfort women” were paid prostitutes, but he was soon forced to apologize to these women with dogeza (土下座) for his comment. I have to say journalists, researchers (especially historians), and politicians in South Korea do not have any professional/academic integrity.

By the way, the following blog discussed the “comfort women” issue in plain English. The blogger is a former NHK reporter. If interested, check the articles in 2007.
http://ianfu.blogspot.com/

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By: HamachiMan

HamachiMan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:51:48 +0000

This is why I found Hatoyama and the party to be good news in terms of Japan’s future and its relations with its asian neighbors.

I hope this bill does go through, and it has never had a better chance than now for an apology and compensation to comfort women.

By the way, that estimate of 40 percent of comfort women were Japanese women themselves I find shocking.

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