Seoul: Surviving sexual slavery victims will receive $90,000
ASSOCIATED PRESS / OCT. 2015
Lee Yong-soo, left, who was forced by the Japanese government to serve as a sexual slave during World War II, shouts slogans with students near the statue symbolizing “a wartime sex slave” during a rally demanding full compensation and apology for wartime sex slaves from Japanese government near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Oct. 28.
SEOUL » South Korea says surviving South Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s military in World War II will be eligible to receive 100 million won (about $90,000) each from a foundation that will be funded by the Japanese government.
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the families of deceased victims will be able to receive 20 million won ($18,000), and added it expects the Japanese government to soon transfer a promised 1 billion yen ($9.9 million) to a foundation formally launched in Seoul last month.
South Korea and Japan agreed to set up the foundation in December as they settled a decades-long dispute over South Korean sex slave victims. Seoul then said there were 46 surviving South Korean victims and 196 victims who had died.
7 responses to “Seoul: Surviving sexual slavery victims will receive $90,000”
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Ironic that they got compensated (paid) 🙂
Incredible that it took that long to get this restitution done—and by the way, the amount is far from adequate. Someone should gather up the Japanese politicians who resisted this reparation, make them someone’s sex slave, then 60 years later pay them a small amount after 3/4 of the victims have already died.
Yes, I agree. It has taken a very long time and the compensation does seem paltry.
Wow…$90K for getting raped. Yeah, that’s fair. NOT! Let someone rape your daughters Japan and then give them $90K.
I do not doubt that many Korean women provided sex services for the Japanese military nor do I doubt that many of them may have been abused by the Japanese military. What I doubt is that they all were forced into prostitution by the Japanese military and held involuntarily as sex slaves. My doubt is based on the fact that following World War II the U.S. and its allies conducted exhaustive investigations into the activities of the Japanese military for evidence of war crimes, and not one alleged sex slave came forward to report being forced into prostitution, not one. That allegation was not made until the mid-1990s, 45 years after the war ended, which should make anyone suspicious. Why did it take so long? Was it because they saw an opportunity to get some compensation from the Japanese? Yes, it would have been embarrassing for alleged sex slaves to say so sooner, but with an estimated 90,000 women who allegedly were sex slaves to the Japanese military, surely hundreds or thousands of them would have been screaming about it immediately after the war ended, but they did not. Military camp followers have existed for thousands of years. Many women resort to prostitution during wars, even with the enemy, just to survive. It occurred in Korea and elsewhere in Asia during WW II. It also occurred in Korea and Japan immediately following WW II when the U.S. and its allies began their occupation of these countries. It occurred in Korea during the Korean War in which the U.S. was the major allied participant. It also occurred in Vietnam during the many years of that war. Are we also to consider the women who engaged in prostitution with foreign troops as sex slaves? Should they also be compensated by the U.S. and its allies as Japan is now doing for the alleged WW II Korean sex slaves? And lets us not forget the numerous brothels that sprung up in Honolulu during World War II to provide sex services to U.S. military personnel. Were the women who became prostitutes sex slaves? I believe the Japanese agreed to pay the compensation not as an admission of guilt but to get the Korean government of its back and put the matter behind them.
seriously?
Yes, seriously. Do a little research and see for yourself.