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Monday, September 3, 2012

Hillary Clinton and Japan Are in a Tiff Over 'Sex Slaves' and 'Comfort Women'

http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/07/09/2012070900167.html?Dep0=twitter


[단독] "일본군 위안부 명칭은 잘못 '일본군 성노예'로 표현하라"
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中文日文EN 크게 작게
입력 : 2012.07.09 03:29 | 수정 : 2012.07.09 10:24
클린턴 美국무 이례적 지적


힐러리 클린턴<사진> 미 국무장관이 한일 과거사 문제와 관련, '일본군 위안부(comfort women)'라는 표현 대신 '강제적인 일본군 성 노예(enforced sex slaves)'라는 명칭을 써야 한다고 말한 것으로 8일 확인됐다.

서울의 외교 소식통에 따르면 클린턴 장관은 최근 미 국무부의 고위 관계자로부터 한일(韓日) 과거사와 관련된 보고를 받는 자리에서 이 고위 관계자가 '일본군 위안부'라는 표현을 쓰자 "'일본군 위안부'라는 표현은 잘못된 것"이라며 "(일본에 의해 동원된)그들은 '강제적인 일본군 성 노예'였다"고 말했다는 것이다. 국무부 고위 관계자는 이후 일본군 위안부 대신 성 노예라는 표현을 사용해서 보고를 마쳤다고 한다. 미국은 지금껏 한일 과거사 문제에 끼어들지 않는다는 입장을 지켜 왔다. 비록 비공개 석상에서 나온 것이긴 하나 클린턴 장관의 이번 언급은 일본군 성 노예 문제를 다루는 일본 정부의 자세가 바뀌어야 한다고 지적한 것으로 보인다.



http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/07/09/2012070900793.html


Clinton Says 'Comfort Women' Is Incorrect Term
Hillary Clinton
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton has said the term "comfort women," a euphemism for Asian women who were forced to serve as prostitutes for the Japanese military during World War II, is wrong and that they should be referred to as "enforced sex slaves."

According to a diplomatic source in Seoul, Clinton was being briefed on the Japanese occupation of Korea and corrected a U.S. State Department official who referred to the victims as "comfort women."

So far Washington has avoided getting involved in the painful history dividing Korea and Japan. Although Clinton made the comments behind closed doors, they appear to reflect her view that the Japanese government must change the way it handles the issue.

englishnews@chosun.com / Jul. 09, 2012 10:08 KST


http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/07/hillary-clinton-and-japan-are-tiff-over-sex-slaves-and-comfort-women/54502/



Hillary Clinton and Japan Are in a Tiff Over 'Sex Slaves' and 'Comfort Women'

Reuters
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ERIC RANDALL 9,372 ViewsJUL 12, 2012
There's a fascinating tiff brewing between Japanese and U.S. diplomats after Hillary Clinton reportedly corrected a State Department official who referred to women drafted into prostitution by the Japanese during World War II by the widely used term "comfort women," asking that the Department instead call it like it is and say "enforced sex slaves."

The State Department neither confirmed nor denied the report that the Secretary of State had corrected the State Department official, which allegedly happened at a closed-door meeting, first reported Monday by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper. No wonder at their reticence. The treatment of many, many thousands of women abducted from their homes and forced to serve at "comfort stations" in other countries through the war remains a sore point between Japan and countries like South Korea, China, the Philippines, and others whose women were drafted. The U.S., the paper noted, historically "has avoided getting involved in the painful history dividing Korea and Japan."

Japan wasn't exactly happy to hear about the potential new terminology. Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters Tuesday, "If that is confirmed, I will tell her that it is an incorrect expression and explain to her the steps that we have taken, including an apology by the prime minister and the creation of a fund to support women in Asia in order to help comfort women."

There have indeed been apologies and reparations from the Japanese, though pointing that out doesn't exactly address the language we should use to describe these women. Language nerds could liken that question to a descriptive vs. prescriptive debate. Should we use the term that's been prescribed to them, "comfort women," or one that describes their experience, "enforced sex slave"?

Korean officials quoted in a Korea Herald report seem to walk the line, or at least lean slightly toward the prescribers. "[Comfort women] is an established term in Korea and is also used in laws. But if victims and their supporters want it to be changed, we will consider it," says "an official in Seoul" to the paper. In other words, "comfort women" is undoubtedly a euphemism, but it's one upon which we've heaped decades of debate, historical research, and apparently law titles, so people aren't really confused about its meaning. For an admittedly imperfect comparison, consider the feelings evoked by the euphemism "Final Solution." They're not happy ones.

It's also a debate that obviously loses some nuance in translation. The Korean Herald reports:

Kim Dong-hee, secretary general for a Seoul-based civic group Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sex Slavery by Japan, said that in Korean, the euphemism carries the connotation that they are the victims of forced sex slavery.
That's obviously not necessarily the case in English, except for those who are familiar with the history. The U.S. has remained sort of removed from this debate between their many Asian allies, so if it's true that Clinton is making a push for an official terminology change at the risk of annoying Japan, it shows a lot about how far she's willing to change things, even subtle things, to focus on her "signature issue" of women's rights worldwide. She is "interested in the issue and considers the treatment of the victims a serious human rights violation," Chosun Ilbo reported. On the other hand, if victims rights organizations aren't making a unified case that the term should be changed, perhaps she'd needlessly be creating a diplomatic headache, in which case, don't expect the State Department to go much further than they have in addressing the story.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at erandall@theatlantic.com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Topics: South Korea, The State Department, World War II, Hillary Clinton, comfort women, Japan






MrRFox 1 month ago
Finally, something me and Hilly the famous cattle-futures trader agree on. Never though I'd see it happen.
.
OBTW: She one plump hefer now, idn't she. Bet she has to get her duds from a tent maker.

jbdarby liked this Like Reply

beaglemaro 1 month ago
The term 'Comfort Women' has been used from the beginning. There is no intention of hiding any historical facts. It is just an euphemism to avoid calling those women prostitutes.

Didn't Hillary know that Japan had to set up similar facilities to provide sex for U.S. troops under its occupation?

U.S. troops used Japanese brothels after WWII American military ignored Japan’s sex slave abuses, new records show
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18...

Like Reply

moonjo 1 month ago in reply to beaglemaro
Difference being Japanese volunteered while Korean and other Asian women were forced.
Nice try though.

jbdarby and 3 more liked this Like Reply

Gerry Bevers 1 month ago
First, "comfort woman" was once used in both Japan and Korea to mean "prostitute. To make it "military prostitute," you would need to add to the word a Chinese character meaning "military," which in Korean would me pronounce "gun." However, the name "comfort woman" alone usually implied "military comfort woman."

Second, the Japanese military did not "abduct" Korean comfort women; it used Korean agents (pimps) to recruit and manage them. Prostitution was legal in Korea at the time, and there were ads in Korean newspapers recruiting "military comfort women." Many of the women may have been "forced" into prostitution by economic hardship. For example, poor families sometimes sold their daughters to pimps to work essentially as indentured servants, which was also legal at the time. The women worked until they paid off their debt.

Third, Korean newspaper articles at the time reported that Japanese authorities were arresting pimps in Korea for kidnapping women, so if any women in Korea were kidnapped, it was most likely done by Korean pimps and, possibly, Japanese pimps, but not by the Japanese military. Nevertheless, there were instances in newly conquered territories, such as Philippines and other places, where some Japanese military were reported to have kidnapped some women, but that was not the case in countries like Korea and Taiwan, which had long since been integrated into the Japanese Empire.

Forth, after the Japanese were defeated and left Korea, the South Korean Government set up its own "comfort women" stations for Korean and UN soldiers. An October 19, 1959 article in the South Korean newspaper "Donga Ilbo" reported that there were 261,089 "comfort women" registered in South Korea in 1959 and that 66% of them had a veneral disease. Maybe that fact is why South Korea seems a little reluctant to change from the name "comfort woman" to "enforced sex slave." If the Japanese comfort women system was so terrible, why did the South Korean government adopted a similar one after the Japanese left and wait until the 1990s to complain about Japan's old comfort women system?

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jbdarby 1 month ago in reply to Gerry Bevers
Gerry, you are a notorious anti-Korean expat. You record is very well known as well, among the expat. You used to a livelihood teaching English at a Korean University. You got fired for holding some twisted anti-Korean ideology and pro-Japanese stances. Now, you're making career of posting hateful anti-Korean comments through out the internet.

You have an agenda and it's clear for those in the know. Get lost and have a decency to have a purposeful life besides some tiresome anti-Korean propaganda.

former expat.

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Ben Silver 1 month ago
Bit of a sexist title, calling if a "tiff," don't you think? Is that the word you would have used if, say, Colin Powell had made a similar remark?

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Scott Finkelstein 1 month ago in reply to Ben Silver
Probably, as I've seen it used in various contexts to describe these sorts of things, or really any diplomatic dispute where there's no risk of escalation past passive aggressive press releases.

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dutchs 1 month ago
I'm with Hillary on this one, but if we want to walk the diplomatic tightrope, use the Japanese term jugun ianfu.

jbdarby liked this Like Reply

Guest 1 month ago
Comment removed.

Eddie Francis 1 month ago in reply to Guest
I'm sure your post means something to you, dear.

1 person liked this. Like Reply

Strom 1 month ago
Hillary

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pashley 1 month ago
A woman's varied experiences through time, different cultures, and historical episodes, probably doesn't translate well into 21st century feminist-speak.

I'm not saying that the WWII Japanese didn't operate in often oppressive and sometimes horrific manner. Also, the Japanese right have been famously slow to acknowledge Japan's responsibility for the conduct of their armed forces. So what else is new, ask modern Democratic party about that party's role with the KKK, equivocation is universal.

However, the State Department is ill-suited to act as provocator-in-chief with close allies on 3-generations-ago history. For what purpose? To what end?

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Makabit 1 week ago in reply to pashley
"A woman's varied experiences through time, different cultures, and historical episodes, probably doesn't translate well into 21st century feminist-speak."

Gosh, that sounds erudite. It doesn't mean a damn thing, but it sure does sound spiffy.

Like Reply

Brh75 1 month ago in reply to pashley
Well, if there is a place for Pashley to explain, it is here. What do you mean by the role of the modern Democratic part in the KKK, and please begin by explaining your term: "modern Democratic party". Specifically, please use dates in your explanation of this claim. It will be very interesting to hear your explanation of "role" in particular. Thanks.

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dutchs 1 month ago in reply to pashley
The story of how the Democrats and Republicans came to switch positions on the issues is too complex to retell here, but saying the Democrats supported slavery and segregation is like saying you hate Ikea because the Vikings plundered your ancestral village. It may be true, but utterly irrelevant to the present.

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Eddie Francis 1 month ago in reply to pashley
Oh, so it wasn't sex slavery, the women wanted it -- is that what you are saying?

And while we're at it, "sex slave" is "feminist" speak is it?

7 people liked this. Like Reply

pashley 1 month ago in reply to Eddie Francis
I can see the nuance of my post was a little beyond you.

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RexTalionis 1 month ago
Good for her. There are few governments which can give the Nazis a run for their money when it comes to war atrocities, but Japan's WWII actions are reprehensible beyond belief. Japan's Unit 731 makes Josef Mengele look like a pediatrician. Good for Mrs. Clinton for calling a spade a spade instead of dancing around the issue with euphemism.

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Laura Hayes 1 month ago
Hillary's wild side is finally showing. According to a report in the Daily Rash, during a conference for women's rights last week at the U.N. Secretary of State Clinton performed her infamous stroke victim impersonation for the U. N. delegates and received a rousing ten minute standing ovation when she finished. http://www.thedailyrash.com/hi...

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lobotomy42 1 month ago
Uh...that's not what descriptivism/prescriptivism means.

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Eric Randall 1 month ago in reply to lobotomy42
Maybe the reference was sloppily made, but I was really just punning on the "descriptive vs. prescriptive" debate's name

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Reactions

CastIronBalcony 1 month ago
From Twitter 4 more retweets from 3ich3 fuddlemark cristyclark Show all
RT @DeekyMD: Hillary Clinton Changes Term "Comfort Women" To More Accurate "Sex Slaves," Japan Pissed http://t.co/Ov7qXgg5 Good on Clinton!
MIISCCS 1 month ago
From Twitter
Hillary Clinton and Japan Are in a Tiff Over 'Sex Slaves' and 'Comfort Women' - Global http://t.co/3D0vpMg7
TinfoilHattie 1 month ago
From Twitter
Surprised it doesnt say "catfight" ... Tiff Over 'Sex Slaves' and 'Comfort Women' - Global - The Atlantic Wire http://t.co/wtTGrt0f
paapus 1 month ago
From Twitter
RT @DeekyMD: Hillary Clinton Changes Term "Comfort Women" To More Accurate "Sex Slaves," Japan Pissed http://t.co/j93wpoGR Good on Clinton!
SliveredEpitome 1 month ago
From Twitter 2 more retweets from drjudithw verticalblank
RT @LetaHong: Good for her RT @Boriss Hillary Clinton sparks friction with Japan by replacing term "comfort women" with "sex slaves" http://t.co/8oyINx11

http://tonchamon.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2012/07/clinton-says-co.html

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/world/news/120709/amr12070912340000-n1.htm

慰安婦ではなく「日本軍の性奴隷」 クリントン米国務長官が指摘 韓国紙報道
2012.7.9 12:33 [韓国]
9日付の韓国紙、朝鮮日報は、クリントン米国務長官が最近、国務省高官から日韓両国の歴史について報告を受けた際、旧日本軍の従軍慰安婦について「性奴隷」との名称を使うべきだと指摘したと報じた。ソウルの外交筋の話としている。

慰安婦の名称をめぐっては、韓国の市民団体や国際人権団体などが、実態を反映していないとして「性奴隷」を使うよう求めている。

高官が報告で「慰安婦」という言葉を使ったのに対し、クリントン氏は「慰安婦という表現は間違っている。強制的な日本軍の性奴隷だった」と述べたという。(共同)



http://blog.livedoor.jp/newskorea/archives/1700822.html

2012年07月10日19:24

韓国紙 「クリントン国務長官が『“慰安婦”ではなく“強制された性奴隷”』の言葉を使うよう指示した」→米国務省、発言を確認せず
1 ◆TOFU/XEczQ @甘味処「冷奴」φφ ★ 2012/07/10(火) 13:01:29.09 ID:???
【ワシントン=犬塚陽介】
米国務省のベントレル報道部長は9日の記者会見で、クリントン国務長官が「慰安婦」ではなく「強制された性奴隷」との言葉を使うよう高官に指示したとする韓国紙報道について、発言を確認しなかった。
国務省は通常、非公式会議に関する報道内容には言及しない。

長官発言をめぐっては朝鮮日報(9日付)がソウルの外交筋の話として、クリントン長官が「慰安婦」の言葉は誤りで、「強制された性奴隷」と呼ばれるべきだと非公式会合の席で国務省高官に語ったなどと報じていた。

ソース YAHOOニュース(転載元 産経新聞)  7月10日(火)11時28分配信
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120710-00000525-san-int


http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2011/04/139_76094.html


Obama to be given Korean name O Han-ma

The Korean name of U.S. President Barack Obama has become a talk of the town as a Korea-U.S. friendship body plans to give when he visits Seoul for the two-day G20 summit, which will open Thursday.

Suh Jin-hup, head of the ROK-US Alliance Friendship Association, has named the U.S. president “Oh Han-ma” in Korean. O meaning nation, Han means Korea and Ma is a horse.

“ ‘O(吳)’ from the first letter of Obama has been chosen as his family name, Han (韓) from ‘H’ pronunciation of Obama’s middle name Hussein as his middle name and Ma (馬) which is a symbol of the United States has been chosen as his last name,” Suh said. “Gangnam(southern Seoul) has been selected as family clan as the G20 summit is held in the southern part, or Gangnam-gu of Seoul.”

“The full name means our hope that the Korean and U.S. leaders will exert their efforts to strengthen Korea-U.S. solid alliance made during the Korean War, to iron out the negotiation of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and to reactivate the sagging world economy by actively galloping like horses at the bilateral summit on the sideline of G20 summit,” Suh said.

The friendship body is seeking to give the Korean name plate along with the naming reasons to President Obama via the United States Forces Korea.

The friendship association has named State Secretary Hillary Clinton Han Hee-sook (한희숙: 韓熙淑), former State Secretary Condoleezza Rice Ra Hee-soo (라희수:羅梨秀), Gen. Burwell B. Bell, former commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), Baek Bo-guk (백보국: 白保國) and former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Alexander Vershbow Park Bo-woo (박보우: 朴寶友).



강남 '오'씨 美 오바마 대통령, 한국이름'오한마' 받을까?

11일 열리는 G20정상회의 때 전달할 버락 오바마 미국 대통령의 한국 이름이 화제다.

한미동맹친선협회의 서진헙 회장은 버락 오바마 미국 대통령의 이름을 "오한마"라는 한국 이름으로 작명한 것.

서 회장은 "오바마의 'O' 발음을 참작해 성씨를 '나라 오(吳)씨'로 했고 후세인(중간 이름)의 'H' 발음을 따 '나라 한(韓)'으로 했고 마지막 '마'는 미국의 상징인 '말 마(馬)'로 정했다"며 "G20 정상회의가 서울 강남구에서 열리는 점을 참작해 강남 오씨로 했다"고 설명했다.

이어 서 회장은 "6.25전쟁의 혈맹으로 한미동맹을 더욱 강화하고 양국의 한미 FTA 협상타결, 그리고 G20 정상회의에서 한미 정상이 말처럼 활발히 뛰어 세계경제를 살리는데 전력해달라는 것"이라며 작명의 뜻을 전했다.

친선협회는 오바마 대통령의 한국 이름을 '오한마(吳韓馬)'로 짓고 작명 이유 등이 담긴 작명패를 주한미군사령부를 통해 전달하는 방안을 추진하고 있다.

그동안 친선협회는 힐러리 클린턴 미 국무장관에게 '한희숙(韓熙淑)', 콘돌리자 라이스 전 미 국무장관에게 '라이수(羅梨秀)', 버웰 벨 전 주한미군사령관에게 '백보국(白保國), 알렉산더 버시바우 전 미국대사에게 '박보우(朴寶友)'라는 한국 이름을 지어준 바 있다.

(mochi thinking)

its just forced to rename,So-shi Kaimei (create family name,rename) as same as imperial japan's crime,korean people....

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