Monday, June 18, 2012

*2nd US memorial for "comfort women" set up in New York

http://view.koreaherald.com/kh/view.php?ud=20120617000282

2nd US memorial for "comfort women" set up in New York
2012-06-17 20:01 Text
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NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― Local governments from South Korea and the U.S. as well as members of the Korean-American community have jointly set up a monument here dedicated to the Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, community officials said Saturday.

The red granite monument at the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County is the second of its kind in the U.S. following the first one set up at Palisades Park, New Jersey, in 2010.

Japanese officials have lobbied local administrators to remove the New Jersey monument, a reminder of the continuing efforts to downplay the country’s wartime atrocities.

Historians say up to 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forced to serve as prostitutes at front-line Japanese military brothels during the closing years of the war. The Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony from 1910-45.

The issue of the aging victims, euphemistically called “comfort women,” is one of the most emotional and unresolved issues between South Korea and Japan.

The second monument in New York was jointly dedicated by Nassau County, the South Korean city of Gwangju and the Korean American Public Affairs Committee, committee officials said.

“While the Japanese government and lawmakers have requested the removal of the monument at Palisades Park, they will not dare to request this monument be removed because it is set up by our Korean-American community as well as local governments from Korea and the U.S.,” said the committee chairman Lee Cheol-woo.

The committee will hold a ceremony to officially set up the monument on Wednesday, when Gwangju City Mayor Kang Woon-tae visits the site, Lee said.


http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/06/18/2012061800584.html


'Comfort Women' Memorial Set Up in New York State
The newly erected monument dedicated to the memory of Korean "comfort women" forced into sexual slavery during World War II at the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park in Westbury, New York /Courtesy of the Korean American Public Affairs Committee
A monument dedicated to the memory of Korean "comfort women" forced into sexual slavery during World War II was set up Saturday at the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park in Westbury, New York.

The red granite monument symbolizes the hardship and blood of the comfort women, the Korean American Public Affairs Committee announced. Nassau County, which manages the memorial park, will also be in charge of maintaining the monument.

This is the second memorial of its kind in the U.S. following one in Palisades Park, a borough with a large Korean American population in New Jersey, in October 2010.

Korean-American organizations had talked with Nassau County for two weeks to set up the monument. Construction was carried out in secret for fear of resistance from the Japanese.

The Japanese Consulate-General in New York has called for the removal of the New Jersey monument and Japanese lawmakers have blamed pro-North Korean organizations for setting it up.

Petitions were posted on the White House's "We the People" petition website on May 10, calling for removing the monument and not supporting "any international harassment related to this issue against the people of Japan." A total of 32,075 signatures had been gathered on as of last Saturday. The White House must give an official response to any petition with more than 25,000 signatures.

englishnews@chosun.com / Jun. 18, 2012 12:20 KST


http://www.nktoday.com/index.php/contents/view_content/20187/2nd-us-memorial-for-comfort-women-set-up-in-new-york-north-korea-news-on-north-korea-websites-on-north-korea-latest-on-north-korea
The korea times


06-17-2012 13:27
2nd US memorial for 'comfort women' set up in New York
NEW YORK (Yonhap) -- Local governments from South Korea and the U.S. as well as members of the Korean-American community have jointly set up a monument here dedicated to the Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, community officials said Saturday.

The red granite monument at the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County is the second of its kind in the U.S. following the first one set up at Palisades Park, New Jersey, in 2010.

Japanese officials have lobbied local administrators to remove the New Jersey monument, a reminder of the continuing efforts to downplay the country's wartime atrocities.

Historians say up to 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forced to serve as prostitutes at front-line Japanese military brothels during the closing years of the war. The Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony from 1910-45.

The issue of the aging victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional and unresolved issues between South Korea and Japan.

The second monument in New York was jointly dedicated by Nassau County, the South Korean city of Gwangju and the Korean American Public Affairs Committee, committee officials said.


http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2012/06/17/4/0301000000AEN20120617000800315F.HTML
2012/06/17 11:22 KST

2nd U.S. memorial for 'comfort women' set up in New York
NEW YORK, June 16 (Yonhap) -- Local governments from South Korea and the U.S. as well as members of the Korean-American community have jointly set up a monument here dedicated to the Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, community officials said Saturday.

The red granite monument at the Veterans Memorial at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County is the second of its kind in the U.S. following the first one set up at Palisades Park, New Jersey, in 2010.

Japanese officials have lobbied local administrators to remove the New Jersey monument, a reminder of the continuing efforts to downplay the country's wartime atrocities.

Historians say up to 200,000 Asian women, mostly Koreans, were forced to serve as prostitutes at front-line Japanese military brothels during the closing years of the war. The Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony from 1910-45.

The issue of the aging victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," is one of the most emotional and unresolved issues between South Korea and Japan.

The second monument in New York was jointly dedicated by Nassau County, the South Korean city of Gwangju and the Korean American Public Affairs Committee, committee officials said.

"While the Japanese government and lawmakers have requested the removal of the monument at Palisades Park, they will not dare to request this monument be removed because it is set up by our Korean-American community as well as local governments from Korea and the U.S.," said the committee chairman Lee Cheol-woo.

The committee will hold a ceremony to officially set up the monument on Wednesday, when Gwangju City Mayor Kang Woon-tae visits the site, Lee said.

The New York monument recounts that Japan's wartime military kidnapped about 200,000 women and girls for its "sexual slavery" and the world will not forget the "heinous crime."

Most of those former sex slaves have died, and the few remaining survivors, all in their 80 and 90s, are pressing Japan to apologize and pay compensation.
The Tokyo government maintains that the issue has been resolved under a 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries.

(END)


http://www.chosunonline.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/06/18/2012061800390.html

記事入力 : 2012/06/18 08:12
慰安婦:米ニューヨーク州に追悼碑建立



韓米公共政策委員会が16日、米国ニューヨーク州ナッソー郡の顕忠院に慰安婦追悼碑を建立した。/写真提供=韓米公共政策委員会
在米韓国人団体の韓米公共政策委員会は16日、米国ニューヨーク州南部・ナッソー郡の顕忠院(墓地公園)に旧日本軍従軍慰安婦の追悼碑を建立したと発表した。

追悼碑には、慰安婦の苦痛と血を象徴する赤い花こう岩が使われた。管理と補修は、顕忠院を管理するナッソー郡が行う。

米国での慰安婦追悼碑の建立は2例目。昨年10月には、韓国系の多いニュージャージー州パリセイズパーク市の図書館前に建立された。韓米公共政策委員会など米国の韓国人団体は今回、ナッソー郡側と建立について2週間ほど協議を行った。日本政府や日本人の反発を懸念し、作業は秘密裏に進められた。

委員会のイ・チョルウ会長は「顕忠院への追悼碑建立は通常2年以上かかるが、これまでナッソー郡の参戦勇士会や公園局関係者とのパイプを築き、さまざまな地域の行事に出席してネットワークを作ってきたおかげで、早期に設置を終えることができた」と話している。

追悼碑には英語で「日本帝国が1930年代から1945年まで、性的奴隷として使うために拉致した女性と少女20万人余りをたたえる。彼女たちが耐えなければならなかった、人間の尊厳に対する冒瀆(ぼうとく)が忘れられてはならない」と刻まれている。

パリセイズパーク市の慰安婦追悼碑をめぐっては、ニューヨークの日本総領事館が市に撤去を要請したほか、日本の議員たちも自ら追悼碑を訪れ「従北(北朝鮮に追従する)団体が建立した」と言い掛かりをつけるなど、日本側から反発が起きた。

ニューヨーク= キム・シンヨン特派員

朝鮮日報/朝鮮日報日本語版


http://japanese.joins.com/article/844/153844.html?servcode=A00&sectcode=A10

米ニューヨークに第2の慰安婦碑 日本の反発必至
2012年06月17日11時32分
[ⓒ聯合ニュース] comment91mixihatena1
【ニューヨーク聯合ニュース】旧日本軍の従軍慰安婦問題をめぐり韓日間で対立が続く中、米国内に二つ目の慰安婦碑が16日、建立された。

旧日本軍従軍慰安婦の碑は米ニュージャージー州パラセイズ・パーク市の公立図書館に設置されているが、今回はニューヨーク近郊、ナッソー郡のアイゼンハワーパーク内に新たに建てられた。

慰安婦碑の管理や補修などはナッソー郡の責任の下で行われる。慰安婦碑の委員会はナッソー郡とは別途に、元軍人らの団体などで構成されており、ナッソー郡も単独で撤去を決められない。

碑文には、日本軍が「性的奴隷(Sexual Slavery)」にするため、20万人を超える少女らを強制動員したと指摘。これらの犯罪は必ず、認められるべきで、絶対に忘れられないとの強いメッセージを盛り込んでいる。

慰安婦碑の建立を進めた米国の韓国人団体は日本側の反発や妨害工作などを懸念し、水面下でナッソー郡と緊密に協議を行ってきた。その結果、通常2年ほどがかかる設置許可、場所選定、碑の委員会承認など全過程が2週間半で完了した。

日本政府などは米ニュージャージー州にある慰安婦碑の撤去に向け、外交活動や署名運動を展開しており、第2の慰安婦碑の設立に反発するのは必至とみられる。


http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2012061890558


2nd memorial stone honoring `comfort women` erected in NY

JUNE 18, 2012 01:50
A second memorial stone honoring Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II has been erected at a memorial for Korean War veterans in the state of New York.
As New York City Council members and ethnic Koreans are also acting to erect memorial stones, the third and fourth memorial stones for the victims will likely be built in the U.S.

A memorial stone honoring "comfort women" prepared by the ethnic Korean community in New York was unveiled Saturday at Veterans Memorial in Eisenhower Park of Nassau County, New York. The stone, which is the result of an initiative spearheaded by the Korean-American Public Affairs Committee, is the second of its kind in the U.S. after the first at Palisades Park in New Jersey.

Veterans Memorial, where the new stone has been placed, is similar to a national ceremony in Korea, where memorial stones honoring war dead and people who went missing stand. Since the memorial is visited by tens of thousands of people, including students and residents as well as government officials and politicians, the new stone is expected to raise awareness of the comfort women.

The stone has been at the center stage of the memorial to enable more people to pay their respects. Korean singer Kim Jang-hoon and Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-deok, an expert in promoting Korea overseas, contributed to the production of paintings installed at the stone.

The stone reads, "The Japanese military kidnapped more than 200,000 girls for use in sexual slavery. Atrocities committed by the Japanese military should be recognized without fail and will never be forgotten."

After seeing Japanese government leaders and politicians visit Palisades Park to demand the removal of the stone in May, the Korean-American committee decided to erect a second stone.

Committee president David C. Lee said, "Since the memorial stone will be managed jointly by the county government and memorial stone committee, it will be difficult to remove the stone even if the Japanese government strongly demands it."

Since the committee is comprised of the county government, the park bureau, the veterans affairs agency and the war veterans council, the county cannot unilaterally remove the stone.

More memorial stones for comfort women will likely be erected in the U.S., as the committee plans to build more in other areas in New York, including Suffolk County, and in Maryland. New York City Council member Peter Koo, a Chinese American, and the Korean American Association of Greater New York are also helping to erect more stones.

http://www.awid.org/Library/In-New-Jersey-Memorial-for-Comfort-Women-Deepens-Old-Animosity

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2012/23/koocomfortrally_ne_2012_06_07_q.html


JUNE 7, 2012 / NEWS / GOVERNMENT / FLUSHING
Koo persists in quest for comfort women memorial

Photo by Joe Anuta
Members of the Korean community and lawmakers, including Peter Koo (second from r.) and Mark Weprin (fifth from r.), say the pledge of allegiance before a program honoring comfort women.
By Joe Anuta

A group of Korean-American civic organizations and city lawmakers gathered Monday night to remember the Asian women who they contend were forced into sex slavery during World War II, a topic that has also heated up tensions between the group and Japan.

“We are asking everyone here to support constructing more monuments for comfort women,” said Chang Han, president of The Korean American Association of Greater New York.

Han spoke to a crowd of about 100 people in the auditorium of JHS 189, at 144-80 Barclay Ave. in Flushing, where he and other speakers referred to a New Jersey plaque that was erected in 2009 as the first monument in the country to commemorate comfort women, who they said came primarily from Korea, China and the Philippines and were used as sex slaves by the Japanese military.

City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) also spoke, recalling the fact that he met comfort women at an event held at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College in Bayside.

“We cannot go back in time and stop the barbaric acts against innocent women perpetrated by Japanese soldiers. We cannot change history,” Koo said, adding that the best he can do is to try to honor the women’s memory with a memorial and street renaming in Flushing through the Council, although no time frame has been set.

But vocal Japanese opponents of the proposal denied that the comfort women even existed, instead portraying them as willing prostitutes seeking cash.

On the White House website, more than 25,000 people have signed a petition asking “President Obama to remove the [New Jersey] monument and not to support any international harassment related to this issue against the people of Japan.”

The petition drew more than 25,000 signatures in 30 days, which means according to its policy, the White House is required to respond to the request.

Government officials from the island nation also flew to New Jersey to request in person that the plaque be taken down, and Japanese citizens bombarded the mailboxes of Koo’s colleagues in the Council with letters suggesting that the Shanghai native is pandering to his Korean base in an election year, a charge Koo denies.

Other speakers at the event explicitly said plans for comfort women memorials were not designed simply as barbs at Japan.

“Some people believe we are doing this because we have anti-Japanese sentiments,” said Chae No of the Flushing-based nonprofit Korean American Civic Empowerment.

But No argued that the reason for the memorials is to preserve history and make sure it does not happen again.

Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.

©2012 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER GROUP


2002年2月24日 朝日新聞 「韓国軍に慰安婦制度」


東亜日報 1961年9月14日 「UN軍相対慰安婦13日から登録実施」


http://www.worldtimes.co.jp/kansok/kan/shakai/120616-4.html
米「人身売買巣窟…韓国人風俗業者を撤去させよ」

米テキサスのある都市が退廃営業をしている韓国人業者を撤去させてくれという請願を起した。
13日(現地時間)、テキサス州ヒューストンのヘリス郡当局は裁判所に、「売春と人身売買の巣窟である韓国人運営業者らを退出させなければならない」として、韓国人退廃マッサージ業者3カ所とナイトクラブ1カ所を告発した。

ヘリス郡当局は請願書で事業主が韓国からきた若い女性を雇用して、事実上、売春をさせていると主張した。

続いて、これら業者に対して、1年間の営業停止とともに永久不法行為禁止命令を下してくれと促した。米国の都市が特定韓国業者らを指定して、退出要求を求めたことは異例なことだ。

これまで該当地域では売春に対する住民たちの抗議が絶えず、当局がいくら取り締まりをしても、退廃行為がなくならず、このように極端な措置を下したという。

ヘリス郡法務局は、「2009年以後、これら業者周辺で人身売買と売春などがなされているという抗議電話が数百本かかってきて、問題業者らを57回調査した」と話した。

先月警察はこれら業者を急襲して、売春女性7人を逮捕し、そのうち6人が韓国人女性だった。警察がこれらを逮捕する映像は現地放送でそのまま放映された。

マッサージ業者など韓国人退廃営業問題は昨日今日のことでないとの指摘が多い。米テキサスだけでなく、ロサンゼルス、アトランタなど韓国人密集地域がある大部分の州当局はこの問題で頭を痛めている。

韓国速報 12/6/16

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