South Korea’s Minister Of Gender Equality And Family Says One-Hour Lessons On ‘Comfort Women’ Aims To Educate Students On Government’s Efforts To Solve The Issue

by Diana Tomale / Nov 25, 2015 05:53 AM EST

Minister of Gender Equality and Family says one-hour lessons on "comfort women" will accurately teach students on the government's efforts to resolve the issue.(Photo by Claire Solery)

An official of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in South Korea says the objective of the one-hour program to teach about "comfort women" is to accurately teach the students on the government's efforts to resolve the matter.

"Students only know the word "comfort women" and don't know exactly what the women experienced," said Kim Hee Jung, as forecasted by The Wall Street Journal.

She went on, "Through this one-hour special class, we are trying to accurately educate students on how we are trying to solve the "comfort women" issue and deliver a message about women and human rights."

Kim revealed that they will utilize the 70th anniversary of Korea's freedom from Japanese colonization this year as a chance to develop.

"In order to be future-oriented, we thought we should clearly classify facts. Also, there are not many 'comfort women' left; 238 were registered but now only 47 are alive. This is something we should address while these women are still alive," Kim said.

The minister of gender equality and family also clarified that the program is not a political or a diplomatic matter.

"It's a human rights issue. An examination of past facts has to be done clearly so there won't be any more women and children suffering from the same damage in the future."

Last month, the South Korean government launched "Accurate Understanding of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery," which is an educational program that will be locally implemented.

On September 22, students from Yonhi Middle School underwent a special class wherein they were taught about the "comfort women" during the World War II, as reported by Korea Times on the same day.

Some 32 ninth graders participated during the special history class conducted by the ministry of gender equality and family.

"It is important for students like you to know what happened and understand this terrible part of our history. Sexual slavery is an ongoing issue related to rights of women around the world, and your role will be important in solving it," Kim said.