New Statue Representing South Korean ‘Comfort Women’ Stands In Front Of Franciscan Education Center In Seoul
A new "Peace Monument" representing the South Korean "comfort women," who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during the Second World War, now stands erect in front of the Franciscan Education Center in Seoul, reported Korea JoongAng Daily on Saturday.
The bronze statue of a short-haired young Asian girl wearing the traditional Korean dress called a hanbok was created through the fund-raising efforts of two 18-year-old Ewha Girls' High School students, Kwon Yeong Seo and Yoon So Jeong.
"Last year, by chance I attended the weekly comfort women demonstration outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and heard the stories of the elderly victims in person, which felt like a blow to the stomach," said Kwon. "We thought that if young people like us take action, adults may also be moved to become more involved as well, so we started the comfort women statue project."
"These grandmothers endured a terrible thing when they were our age," Yoon added, "so our hearts were struck by the deep pain and sadness that they must have felt."
Last month, another "Peace Monument" was reportedly erected in a small park in Seoul.
According to New York Times on Oct. 28, the bronze statue of a South Korean girl sits beside another statue of a Chinese girl, both unsmiling and staring forward. The statues were created to represent not only South Korean and Chinese "comfort women," but all the other Asian women who were victims of sexual slavery.
Organizers of the statue are hopeful that a third statue will eventually fill the third empty seat, which was also created next to the two bronze statues.
Meanwhile, NDTV reported on Wednesday that South Korean President Park Geun Hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held their first talks on Wednesday regarding the "comfort women" issue, which Park considers as the "biggest stumbling block" to put both nations' relations back to normal.
"Our government's position is constant and firm," noted foreign ministry spokesman Cho June Hyuck. "The comfort women issue should be resolved urgently."
Abe did not give out specific commitment during the summit talks, but recognizes that both South Korea and Japan had an obligation to "not leave obstacles for future generations."