Activities of the Korean Council for Solving the Issue of the Korean Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

Prepared by The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

August 27, 2002

1. Problems of the Japanese military sexual slavery system and suffering of the victims

The Japanese military sexual slavery system is a systematic, organizational, and cruel war crime including forced draft, rape, torture, and massacre which was brought by Japan's imperial fascism and militaristic state power during the World War II. It is an inhumane crime that forced about 200,000 women to become sex slaves for the Japanese military.

From 1932 to 1945, Japanese imperialism extended its invasion through China-Japan War and Pacific War. During the period, Japan called out young girls from Chosun, Taiwan, and other occupied regions by force or under the guise of well-paying job. The young girls were forced to work as sex slaves of the Japanese military in military stationed areas and the foremost fronts. Japanese military claimed that this that they would prevent rape of the soldiers, spread of sexually-transmitted diseases, and disclosing of the classified military secrets.

The drafted women were forced to have sexual relations with at least 7-8 men and at most 40-50 men a day. When they denied to do so, they were beaten hard or even tortured. The period of forced sexual slavery varies from one year to 10 years depending on each girl. They were treated as military supplies and goods, and their human rights were completely lost.

After the war, those women were deserted in war calamities or forced to commit suicide and in some cases massacred without any proper measures of returning home.

Those who survived had to find their own ways to home by train or ship. For those who could come back home had to undergo severe hardships. For instance, some of them avoided to meet people due to the unfavorable experience as comfort women. There were many other side effects like that, and thus, they could not lead normal and decent lives.

Moreover, after the war, Japanese government and military, did not only take any legal responsibility for her military sexual slavery crime, but also tried to conceal the crime.  In the Tokyo tribunal of war criminals, the Japanese military sexual slavery problem was not addressed, and for the past 50 years, it has remained a pain for the victims.

Most of Korean victims could not get married, and some who got married, they could not give birth to baby as their wombs were severely impaired.

Besides, those women had to live unhappy lives, as they were not free from the past miserable memories as sex slaves.

Through the Japanese military sexual slavery victims' hot line which was opened by the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, on August 14, 1991, the late grandmother Kim Haksoon witnessed her sexual slavery experience for the first time. Her witness was a real shock to the nation and abroad. Ever since then, other surviving victims in Korea followed suit, and they came to join our movement through witness gathering and a press conference for disclosure of real state of the Japanese military sexual slavery.

Since then till now, June 15, 2002, total number of surviving victims in Korea was confirmed as 205 in all. As 65 grandmothers passed away during the past 10 years, now the number of surviving victims is 140. However, as the present survivors are mostly in their late 70s, 5-10 grandmothers pass away a year.

The number of victim’s death for each year

1993    1994    1995    1996    1997    1998    1999    2000    2001    7/2002  Total
3        3        9        5        11       6       10      10       8        11      76 

2. Domestic activity for solving the Japanese military sexual slavery problem

Korean Women's Movement Organizations grew during the course of Korean democratization movement. In 1990, they took the Japanese military sexual slavery problem as a main task of the women's movement.

They began to launch a movement to clarify characteristic of the crime regarding the international human rights regulations, supporting victims' courageous witnesses after a long period of silence and their resentful claims for legal compensations with investigation.

37 women's movement organizations which were actively involved in human rights movement for supporting women workers having been exploited since the 1970s, democratization and national reunification movement and peace movement organized the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (hereafter Korean Council) to solve the Japanese military sexual slavery problem. As the Korean council began to launch its activity, it demanded that the Japanese government carry out following 7 items.

1. Release materials related with the Japanese military sexual slavery and reveal the real state of the problem

2. Admit that the Japanese military sexual slavery system is a war crime

3. Make an official apology for the Japanese military sexual slavery problem to the victims

4. Bring the criminals who are related to the Japanese military sexual slavery system and punish them

5. Build a historical museum and a monument for the Japanese military sexual slavery victims

6. Make legal compensations for the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery

7. Record the Japanese military sexual slavery problem in the history textbook and educate on it

On January 8, 1992, the Korean council started Wednesday demonstration for solving the Japanese military sexual slavery problem at noon in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, Korea. Since then, the Wednesday demonstration has held every week, and on April 24, 2002, it was the 506th demonstration.

The Wednesday demonstration has continued for over 10 years with its 514th one held on June 19, 2002.  Victim grandmothers, of course, are playing an important role in this demonstration. With 10- 15 surviving victims participating in the demonstration, this Wednesday demonstration has become a place for meeting and history education.

Though many victim grandmothers were, at first, so shy as to stand behind the demonstration line, and lowered their heads in front of camera and bystanders. But through this activity they raised both women's and historical consciousness for themselves, as they got to be more actively involved in the movement for solving the Japanese military sexual slavery problem. Now they are no longer afraid of saying their names, bearing witness to humiliated experiences and atrocious crime, claiming for apology and compensation.

Participants of this demonstration vary from housewives, elementary school students, middle and high school students, university students, civil organizations to religious people.

3. International solidarity activities for solving the Japanese military sexual slavery problem

a) Organization of Asia solidarity meeting and solidarity activity

In addition to the domestic activities, the Korean council attempted to deal with the problem in solidarity with other Asian organizations. That is, from 1992, the Korean council organized solidarity meeting with Japanese civil organizations and other Asian victim nations in order to solve the problem together.

At Asian solidarity meeting, the member nations: Japan, South and North Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Netherlands, Malaysia, and Viet Nam have their voices heard.

b) Solidarity activity with the U.S.A

As people got more interested in the Japanese military sexual slavery problem in the US, there appeared a positive activity such as suing those who are responsible for the Japanese military sexual slavery problem in the U.S. court.

In December, 1996, U.S. congress enacted a law banning war criminals of the Japanese military sexual slavery from entering the U.S. Also, this, Korean National Assembly amended immigration control law; so that Japanese war criminals might be forbidden to enter Korea.

c) Activities related with UN human rights committee and international organizations

As the Japanese government continued to avoid taking the responsibilities for the Japanese military sexual slavery system, the Korean council began solidarity activities with international women's movement and international non-governmental organizations for human rights and peace. It also began to put pressure on the Japanese government through the UN human rights committee.

The Korean council tried hard to push the UN human rights committee to participate in solving this problem by means of submitting a first claiming attachment in February 1992 demanding that the Japanese government make an apology and compensation, and officially attending the human rights subcommittee and posing the issue in the subcommittee.

In July, 2002, the Korean council has continued to launch activities related with the UN, taking a part in the UN human rights committee (April), the UN human rights subcommittee (August).

Through participating the UN activities, the Japanese military sexual slavery problem could be presented as an international agenda--the issue of violence against women and women's rights violation during a war--with much interest and support of non-governmental organizations of the world.

Above all, some influential organizations, such as WCC and ICJ, helped the Korean council to continuously participate in the movement with the UN.

In particular, ICJ appointed special investigators on the Japanese military sexual slavery problem in 1993 and made an investigation about the matter in victim nations and Japan. As a result of this investigation, they made a report and recommended the Japanese government to make an apology and compensation for the Japanese military sexual slavery problem.

Through such an active support of the international human rights movement, the movement to solve the Japanese military sexual slavery problem successfully came to a point. Finally, the Japanese military sexual slavery problem was recorded in the official papers of the UN by making a resolution and report of the special investigation passed the UN human rights committee and human rights subcommittee.

Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, special rapporteur of the sexual violence problem of the UN human rights committee, wrote a report called, ‘Investigating report on North Korea, South Korea and Japan in regards to the sexual slavery problem during the war' in the 52nd UN human rights committee in 1996. This offered a term definition of the Japanese military sexual slavery, historical background of the problem, and such important principles and rules to resolve the problems with all three governments, regarding their attitudes, moral responsibilities and recommendations.

In particular, it defined the Japanese military sexual slavery as a crime infringing on international law, demanding the Japanese government to admit her legal responsibility, and recommended that individual compensation to be made for each victim, that criminals be brought to justice and be punished. Also, for this, a special administrative court be established for that punishment.

In addition, the lawyer Gay J. Mcdougall, who is the Special Rapporteur of a 'subcommittee of prevention of discrimination against and protection of minority' which was under the UN human rights subcommittee, announced a special report on 'practices of systematic rape, sexual slavery, and slavery treatment in time of a war' on August 21, 1998. In the report, it was clear that the Japanese military sexual slavery was an obvious violation of international laws, that the Japanese government should make legal compensation for the victims, the Japanese government is obliged to indict those who are responsible for building the sexual slavery rooms, and that the UN should be actively involved to solve the sexual slavery problem.

That is, high judges of the UN human rights committee should indict people who worked on building sexual slavery rooms. In addition to this, it was demanded that they gather proofs with Japanese officials, that they listen to victims' witnesses, and that they prepare for a trial of Japanese war criminals. Also, it was recommended that the Japanese government to report in details on how the matter is going to be reported to the general secretary of the UN at least twice a year.

Codes of conduct, 'Vienna statement and conduct program' adopted at the world human rights conference in June, 1993, held in Vienna, Austria determined that in a section of 'women's equal role and human right' that 'women's human rights violation in time of?a war is an obvious infringement on basic principles of international human rights law and humanitarian law. All these violations include massacre, systematic rape, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy, and these should be punished and dealt efficiently.

Rules that were regulated at the conference became a basis that would be included in resolutions addressing the issue of women's human rights violation in time of a war at almost every UN meeting such as human rights committee and Peking World Women's Conference.

Additionally, codes of conduct adopted at the World Women's Conference in Peking in August, 1995 also included the issue of the Japanese military sexual slavery problem.

2000 Women's International War Crime Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery ruled that Japan's king Hirohito was an offender, and thus to make an apology and compensation for the victims.

d) Activities related with ILO

It was Korean Federation of Korean Trade Unions (hereafter, FKTU) that first reported the Japanese military sexual slavery problem to the ILO.  On February 9, 1995, the FKTU held a seminar in preparation for suing the military sexual slavery problem to the ILO. In addition, the FKTU took a part at a symposium on the military sexual slavery problem held by Japanese Bar Association in Tokyo from March 10th to 12th, and made a presentation that the military sexual slavery problem was an obvious violation of an article of ban on forced labor.

On March 20, on the basis of article 24 of the ILO board, the FKTU submitted a formal representation to the ILO office demanding that a committee be set up and that this problem be investigated and proved to be an infringement on the ILO convention 29, that is the ban on forced labor.

As the ILO did not make a response to this, FKTU sent a letter once again on July 5, and was able to get a reply from the general secretary on August 11, saying that they would address the matter at the board meeting in November.

According to a report of the FKTU (FKTU, 1995b), the board of the ILO had a subcommittee meeting composed of three representatives respectfully of labor, entrepreneur, and government in order to discuss the Japanese military sexual slavery problem, and it was decided that 'after legal experts examine the matter, main point of the lawsuit and legally complicated items should be dealt with at the next board meeting in March with the help of follow-up materials from the FKTU.

However, the board of the ILO did not deal with this matter at the board meeting in March, and had a general assembly of the ILO in June without any more action.

In a report of 1997, experts' committee said that, with respect to the claim of the FKTU in 1995, the board of the ILO neither investigated the matter nor decided receivability whether it would address the matter until the FKTU withdrew its representation in a letter on May 30, 1996. (ILO, 1997.a:83 )

Meanwhile, OFSET (Osaka Fu Special English Teachers’ Union) propelled by civil movement of Japan sent a letter to the ILO on February 24, 1995. The letter demanded the investigation of the military sexual slavery problem and forced labor by the Japanese government during the war, as violations of article of ban on forced labor.

While the board was delaying dealing with the claim (representation) of the FKTU, the letter of the OFSET was received by the experts' committee on June 12, 1995. With respect to this letter, the experts' committee held in November of the year, decided that the military sexual slavery problem was a violation of article of ban on forced labor, and concluded that, they hoped, the Japanese government would make a compensation for this as soon as possible. This report was published in March 1996. (ILO, 1996.a)

Afterwards, through reports in March, 1997, and 1999, the experts' committee of the ILO recommended that the Japanese military sexual slavery problem was a violation of article of ban on forced labor, and the needs of victims should meet as soon as possible.

The report in March 1997 made a more specified legal construction about the military sexual slavery problem according to concrete clauses of the article of ban on forced labor.

The report made it clear that compensations should be made according to clauses 2, 14, 15 of article 1, and the exceptional conditions of ban on forced labor stipulated in a and d of clause 2 of article 2 do not apply to the military sexual slavery problem.

In addition, the report manifested that, on the basis of article 25, this illegal practice of forced labor should be punished as a penal offence, and it is possible to punish it according to Japan's penal codes 176, 177.

One more important thing is that, regarding an assertion of the Japanese government and Lengo (Japanese Federation of Trade Unions) that the Japanese government already made an apology and replaced compensation by the 'Asia peace national fund for women' (hereafter, national fund), the experts' committee urged for continuous steps meeting expectations of the victims. This means that if victims do not want to get the national fund, it should be stopped, and other forms of compensations should be substituted.

The report of the experts' committee published in March, 1999, deserves an attention for the following reasons.

First, the report made it clear that the national fund contended by the Japanese government and Lengo (Japanese Federation of Trade Unions) to replace compensation does not meet the expectations of most victims.

Second, it has requested that the Japanese government take an appropriate responsibility as soon as possible, as the victims are in their old ages.

Third, for the first time, the forced labor draft problem was addressed. As this forced labor problem is a violation of ban on forced labor, it also demanded that the Japanese government take a proper responsibility and report on it (ILO, 1999.a)

As the result, the range of the problem is expanded from the military sexual slavery problem to the forced draft (or taking) in general, as labor unions in Japan and pacific war victims' compensation committee in Korea.

As was mentioned above, the experts' committee of the ILO included judgments on the military sexual slavery and forced labor draft in its reports in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2001.(included in 1999 and 2001 reports)?Legal judgment of the ILO, as it is a judgment of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations made up of labor law experts, is definite in itself and has an authority.

At the general assembly in 2001, worker's group meeting decided that a main agenda list already made by ICFTU would be modified so that the issue of Japan's violation of article of ban on forced labor might be included. Even though the issue, after all, failed to be included in the main agenda, as it was objected at entrepreneurs' meeting, it was a tremendously encouraging incident for the future activity of the ILO.

And at the ILO meeting in 2002, spokespersons of worker and entrepreneur groups under a rule application committee reached an agreement, when they had an unofficial contact on June 5, 2002, that the Japanese military sexual slavery problem related with Japan's violation of article 29 of ban on forced labor would be included in an agenda of next year's general assembly.

The spokespersons made this consensus clear through an oral report at a plenary meeting in June , and demanded that the military sexual slavery problem to be addressed in the report of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations ; so that it may be included in an agenda

In case that the military sexual slavery problem is addressed as an agenda at the rule application committee of the ILO general assembly next year as was agreed by both workers and entrepreneurs, it will be an important breakthrough in that it will make setting up of an investigating team and recommendations possible so that they could have more legal forces on the Japanese government.

4. Attitude and response of the Japanese government

However, the Japanese government is still disregarding the recommendations of the international society such as the UN, and avoiding the obligations of investigating the real state of the problem, apologizing, compensating and punishing those who are responsible.

In 1995, the Japanese government tried to set up a 'Asia peace national fund for women' (hereafter, national fund) to soothe the international sentiment regarding the Japanese military sexual slavery and avoid legal responsibility. So, it attempted to evade legal compensations, investigation of real state of the problem, and reflection on history, instead it tried to pay comforting money to the victims, and thus conceal the matter with money.

On August 15, 1994, Murayama, the prime minister of Japan, announced a statement in commemoration of 50 years since the end of the war.

This was a general framework of showing the Japanese government's attitude toward the problem, whose main contents were obscure apology and reflection without any clear mention of victims and responsibility. After all, Murayama statement clearly indicated that the Japanese government had no intention for specific apology and compensation.

However, the victims and the related organizations rejected to take the 'national fund' because the fund excluded the important elements, such as official apology and legal compensation. Thus, Japanese officials were concerned and used every means to convince them to take the money. Meanwhile, the Japanese government advertised that the national fund was the best compensation available, prepared by Japanese government and people. Also, Japan tried to make a self-image that Japan is a charitable nation having nothing to do with the war crime. To convince the victims to take the money, they used inappropriate and illegal methods which dishonored the grandmothers.

In addition to this, on last July, 2002, Japan's Asia peace national fund for women announced that it paid fund to Japan's sexual slavery victims, meaning that it was wrapped up its project of future paying.

The 285 victims who were given the fund can be compared to a tip of the iceberg, regarding the total number of Asian victims.

This result proves that the Japanese military sexual slavery problem can never be resolved by money, so-called, the comforting money. Also, it is clear that the national fund project failed, because it was carried out in the interests of Japan regardless of the will of victims, both the individuals and nations.

Notwithstanding, neither they are reflecting the cause of failure of their fund project, nor they are trying to make an apology and compensation in the right ways that are requested by the victims. Rather, they are mentioning medical and welfare projects, which do not care about what the victims really want for compensation, to make up for their failure.

Korean victims, the related organizations, and numerous other civil organizations are in coalition with each other. They are strongly demanding the Japanese government to immediately withdraw the national fund. and make an apology and legal compensation as recommended by the international institutions such as the UN human rights committee.

5. For solving the Japanese military sexual slavery problem

It has passed 12 years since the movement of the Korean council began, and 10 years since it attempted to solve the problem through international institutions, such as the UN human rights committee. This movement is not simply to resolve the over a half-century sticky issue of 'comfort women', the Japanese military sexual slavery problem, but it will pave the way for solving such problems as women's rights violation and sexual violence against women in a war which still takes place around the world.

Thus, we should clearly record in history how the atrocious crime of women's rights violation during the WWII was, and how we tried to solve the problem of the Japanese military sexual slavery.

For this, the truth of the Japanese military sexual slavery should be thoroughly investigated and disclosed, and Japanese government's apology and legal compensation should be made. In doing so, it should be recorded as a precedent of restoration of victim women's rights and honor.

Therefore, it is an issue that not only Korean victim women and related women's organizations or activists, but also many other people around the world advocating and fighting for peace, justice, and human rights should deal with in solidarity.

We strongly urge the conscience of the world to join us, so that the Japanese government may no longer deny illegality of the Japanese military sexual slavery problem, and that it may take legal steps to resolve this problem as soon as possible.