The Real Moral Bankruptcy of the Comfort Women Issue
The Chosun Ilbo today has an editorial about a phone call placed between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President George Bush. Here is what the reportedly discussed:
According to Japanese media reports, Abe said in the 20-minute phone call that he had apologized to women forced into sexual slavery during World War II and his remarks on the issue hadn’t been accurately conveyed.
This apology would be consistent with the prior Japanese policy of apologizing for war time sex slavery in 1993. Abe was also correct to point out that the New York Times had intentionally misquoted him in order to manufacture a scandal. .
The editorial complains that the 1993 policy for apologizing for the war time sex slaves is not genuine for these reasons:
It says it apologizes, but it neither admits to its forced mobilization of women to serve as sex slaves nor does it take responsibility for such actions. If he truly wishes to apologize for Japan’s use of military brothels during World War II, he must express such intentions publicly to Korea, China and other Asian countries who suffered under Japanese aggression, as well as to the women who were forcibly mobilized into sexual slavery.
This where the big argument ensues. The Japanese side states that evidence points to Koreans being complicit in the sex trade with Korean pimps hiring prostitutes to work for the Japanese Army. Any forced prostitution was in isolated cases and not a matter of military policy. The Korean side wants everyone to believe that the women were stolen from their homes and forced into prostitution. I will leave you all to do your own research and see which side to believe, but this is where I have a problem with everyone in Korea and abroad that takes a holier than thou attitude towards Japan:
While continuing to ignore the pains and calls for an apology by fellow Asians who suffered, Japan has trembled with fear every time the United States, Canada, Germany or other Western nation began criticizing it. Japan may be an economic powerhouse. But when it comes to a sense of morality and ethics, Japan is probably one of the world’s poorest nations.
If the Chosun wants to discuss morality and ethics let’s look at South Korea. If Japan is one of the world’s poorest nations in morality than South Korea must be bankrupt in this department and here is why. First of all, let’s start with sexual slavery. If South Korea is so concerned about sexual slavery than why do they do nothing about the current mass sexual slavery of North Korean women going in China today? For a matter of fact, why doesn’t any international government say or do anything about modern day sexual slavery in China? Where are all the so call international human rights organizations like Amnesty International at? The only ones doing anything to aid NK defectors are primarily Christian groups and grass roots NK human rights groups who face arrest by Chinese authorities if caught. The rest of the world including South Korea is AWOL.
Secondly, Japan has been vigorously fighting diplomatically with the North Koreans in order to secure the release of and information on the where abouts of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea. South Korea on the other hand has hundreds to thousands of their citizens, which are either left over prisoners from the Korean War or kidnapped by the North Koreans over the decades, that remain in North Korea. The South Korean government has done next to nothing to free them. In fact in one of the most incredible examples of devotion to a spouse I have ever seen, this Korean woman after 31 years of separation was able to smuggle out her fisherman husband who was kidnapped on the high seas by the North Koreans, from North Korea with no help from the South Korean government. If anything the South Korean government tried to stop her from getting her husband back. Stopping the return of these hostages in North Korea has become a quasi governmental policy for the South Korean government.
Here is a very recent example of more South Korean moral bankruptcy. This week, Thai government has decided to send back NK refugees to North Korea where they are sure to face either execution or a life in the gulag. What has been the South Korean response to this news? Nothing. For that matter what has the world done about not only these NK refugees but the problem of NK refugees as a whole? Nothing.
If you want to talk about moral bankruptcy I could go on and on and it is not just South Korea either; there is more than enough of it to go around. However, for these countries to single out Japan as being morally inferior to themselves I find to be highly hypocritical with the two chief protagonists South Korea and China to be the greatest examples. Heck China even dwarfs South Korea in the moral bankruptcy department. Japan was long a vibrant democracy with world renowned human rights standards for its people while South Korea was still wallowing in military dictatorships and poor human rights conditions. China is by far even worse. While China was busy militarily invading and occupying Tibet and East Turkestan the Japanese have been following a path of military pacifism for the past 60 years. If people want to discuss moral bankruptcy, who is the most bankrupt?
I have maintained that once a nation actually shows any interest in combating the modern day sexual slavery of Korean women in China today than maybe they would have a moral leg stand on to condemn Japan over the comfort women issue. However, there is not one country doing anything substantial to stop the mistreatment of NK defectors in China much less stopping sexual slavery occurring there.
That is why I believe that if Japanese Prime Minister Abe was really clever (which I have my doubts) he could turn the tables on all the holier than thou demagogues and apologize for war time sexual slavery again, but this time in a large public speech to draw maximum media attention. During this speech then announce that Japan to atone for its past sins would become a champion of women’s rights beginning with the plight of modern day sexual slavery of North Korean women in China that both the South Korean and Chinese governments choose to ignore. Than announce that Japan would then start accepting North Korean defectors into Japan and become an outspoken advocate of NK defectors. Then make sure to have a translation of the speech in English to hand out to reporters so the New York Times can’t intentionally misquote translations again. Such a change in rhetoric and policy would instantly shine a spotlight on the moral bankruptcy of both China and South Korea while simultaneously aiding the plight of the NK defectors.
Would governments and the media go after China like they are currently attacking Japan? Probably not because China consistently gets a pass from the media and international governments, but it should be enough to silence them about the comfort women issue. As it stands now Abe’s approach of fighting over definitions of “coercion” only plays into the hands of the demagogues who have no intention of letting this issue go . Prime Minister Abe could apologize for everything from the comfort women issue and the Nanjing Massacre to the Hideyoshi invasions of Korea starting in 1592 and the Japanese piracy of Shilla and Tang dynasty shipping even before then, followed by committing seppuku on top of Namsan mountain in Seoul for everyone to see and it would still not be enough for these governments because it provides them with a great domestic political weapon to disguise their own government failures by encouraging anti-Japanese sentiment. The only way to combat these demagogues is by making it embarrassing for these nations to bring up more demands for apologies when it would reflect negatively on their own current human rights failures to do so. It would no doubt be a bold measure, but I see no other way of ending the comfort women issue.
However, I think national pride is going to win out on each side and ten years from now we will still be discussing the comfort women issue even if Japan has made ten more apologies in that timeframe.
I can't agree with you more. Well said.
Japanese media interviewed two North Korean defectors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h83cJHT3zis
When asked why they came to Japan, they said "Because it seems people in South Korea care much less about NK human rights issue than Japanese people do."
I'd love to see Japan accepting North Korean defectors, however, Abe will have hard time explaining why Japan has to accept more North Koreans.
Many North Koreans already live in Japan and unfortunately they still worship Kim Jon-ill causing all sorts of trouble.
For Japanese, probably it sounds like US accepting Iraqi people or Talibans. Very sad though.
[…] Comments Abe & Bush Discuss Sex Slave Issue at ROK Drop on Congress backstabs US ally; Times lie trashes Abetomohisa on Comfort Women from the Japanese […]
Great post!
I support you 100% on this.
The most intelligent post that I have read which explains everything and everybodys intention involved in this matters in very objective words.
Realy great post. Thanks.
[…] [GI Korea] The Real Moral Bankruptcy of the Comfort Women Issue Published: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:49:50 +0000 The Chosun Ilbo today has an editorial about a phone call placed between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President George Bush. Here is what the reportedly discussed: According to Japanese media reports, Abe said in the 20-minute phone call that he had apologized to women forced into sexual slavery during World War II […] Read More… […]
South Koreans long-ago filed for moral bankruptcy… all moral debt is now discharged. Your continued collection activities against Korea, however, is illegal… and makes you the moral law breaker.
Yet, I think your gentle use of civil-law metaphor to hide Korean wickedness — instead of seeking charges for hate crime — reveals a true soft-spot for the US/ROK alliance.
I think that's sweet of you.
"Love the Alliance"
General Leon LaPorte
toru,
Accepting North Korean defectors would be a way to counter balance the Kim Jong-il stooges already in Japan. NK defectors will have no love for Kim Jong-il and those who worship him. I think it could be sold to the Japanese people but I'm really not impressed with Abe's charisma to pull it off.
[…] jumphttp://rokdrop.com/2007/04/06/abe-bush-discuss-sex-slave-issue/•Ê‚̃TƒCƒg‚ɃWƒƒƒ“ƒv‚µ‚悤‚Æ‚µ‚Ä‚¢‚Ü‚·B‹X‚µ‚¯‚ê‚Îã‹L‚̃Šƒ“ƒN‚ðƒNƒŠƒbƒN‚µ‚Ä‚‚¾‚³‚¢ […]
[…] Recommended reading for those even moderately interested in international relations in Asia is this piece by GI Korea on the moral bankruptcy of those who point the finger of shame at the Japanese for deplorable […]
Somebody has to do something about this. http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/20070…
Japanese Edition of Chosunilbo has more coverage about letters from the kids to Hiroshi Kato, the head of Japanese activist group Life Funds for North Korean Refugees. It's heart breaking.
[…] South Korean government does nothing? They must be to preoccupied with more pressing matters like demanding apologies from Japan for the 15th time about the Korean "comfort women" of 60 years ago while ignoring the […]
[…] 2 article, it sure make me look and think about the recent talk that I had had with my students.Comfort WomenKoreans Responsible?and then when a person from Japan, whose opinion I respect, posted this..Japan’s […]
The real moral banckruptcy comes from USA first. See below in Amnesty International site:
http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/usaindigenous-…
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR510022…
Stop pointing the finger to others. USA has no moral or ethic credibility to accuse Korea of moral banckruptcy. Settle your problems first, than we will talk about "ours".
Also don´t use the north korean problems for political reasons. There are millions of people suffering problems around the world but you just talk about the korean problems. Please save the prisoners in guantanamo and starving people in african countries, afterall you are the "good" guys and we the "bad" guys, right?
It´s always the same, Japan & USA, the 2 big allies, against the "tirany" of north korea and the "ignorance" of south korea.
I think we can expect more from this two "partners" such as saving the world from starvation, war, corruption, tirany and maybe finding the solution for baldness and impotence. Batman & Robin.
I wonder where america´s moral authority does come from? from these issues?:
1) Amnesty International says: "One in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives. Most do not seek justice because they know they will be met with inaction or indifference." I think USA has it´s own "comfort women" problem.
2) Amnesty International also says: "Would the USA tolerate this treatment of its citizens by another government? Would the international community accept this threat to the rule of law and human rights? Surely not, and yet the USA continues to perpetrate just such abuses in the far from hypothetical Guantánamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, where almost 550 detainees of more than 30 nationalities remain detained without charge or trial. On 11 January 2005, the Guantánamo prison will enter its fourth year. In its more than 1,000 days of executive detentions, Guantánamo has become a symbol of a government’s attempt to put itself above the law. The example it sets is of a world where basic human rights are negotiable rather than universal. Such a world, although built in the name of national security, is dangerous to us all."
Don´t talk about thinks you don´t know. You all here are hypocrites. Stop ponting the finger to others. You are all cowards !!!
[…] arrest by Chinese authorities if caught. The rest of the world including South Korea is AWOL. http://rokdrop.com/2007/04/06/abe-bush-discuss-sex-slave-issue/_________________Korea has great potential, but Korean nationalism is killing Korea and wasting […]
[…] attitudes about the comfort women issue and will only inflame passions on each side. I have laid out before what I think the Japanese government should do on this issue and I will explain it here […]
[…] day sexual slavery in China of Korean women as they do on the sexual slavery of World War II "comfort women" for the Imperial Japanese Army which happened over 60 years […]
[…] The Real Moral Bankruptcy of the Comfort Women Issue […]
[…] sold their daughter/MarmotAnd from the Japanese right/Marmotjournalism about Japan/anpontanabe/bush disucuss sex slave issue/rok dropsThe Dangers of Politically Correct History/Scribblings of the Metropoliticianbackgrouond of comort […]
You blame South Koreans for their moral outrage against Japan because it's not directed at other people? That seems both unreasonable and patently hypocritical. For one thing, people tend to react more viscerally to things that they percieve as happening to them, either individually or as part of a family or group. It's natural, its human, and it's not restricted to Koreans. I'm against crime on the abstract level, but I would be far more personally pissed if I myself got robbed. I'm against rape on principle, but I'ver never actually done anything over it except when it happened to a close friend. Look at all the organizations that exist to help people by dealing with anything from cancer to child abduction–how many of them were founded by people whose lives were personally touched by that problem? Does it make them morally bankrupt, to be more aware of and concerned over something that happened to someone they knew personally than any of the countless other problems in the world? What's next, are you going to condemn WWII Jews for being so preoccupied with their own whining that they didn't do enough protesting over the Rape of Nanjing?
Besides that, as Americans it would be hypocritical for us to call them morally bankrupt for focusing on one problem when there are bigger fish to fry. Look at the Taliban–we've known they were a bunch of turban wearing assholes since the day they took power, but we didn't do anything about it till they gave us a black eye. We attack Iraq, something they were thoroughly asking for, but not North Korean or Iran, two countries who if anything hate us more, and have bigger weapons. I expected that sort of bitching from a liberal hippy type, but not from someone in active service. You should know as well as I do that in the real world, people don't have infinite time and resources, and sometimes your only choices are to attack one problem and ignore the rest for a while, and do a little good, or to try to take on everything at once and accomplish nothing. So the guys trying to stop crime in Compton might seem like they're doing nothing when you think about genocide in Darfur, but they're still a lot less useless than the jerks on the sideline deriding their work.
And whatever the real facts are–I don't presume to have done the investigative legwork to know with any certainty, any more than you have–how does the complicity of a few Koreans matter? When slavery was allowed in this country, we got our slaves from two sources–white slavers who'd capture people in Africa to sell, and black slavers who would capture people from other tribes and sell them to foreign traders who didn't want to do their own dirty work? Whether they were kidnapped by "evil foreigners" or "fellow Africans" seems like a ridiculous detail for you to fixate, because the slaves themselves didn't consent, and either way they ended up being forced to work, beaten, raped, possibly killed, and at our hands.
My biggest problem with this post is the implicit assumption of collective responsibility and acceptance of stereotyping. You say that 50 years ago, a few Koreans decided to line their own pockets and help the Japanese, therefore no Korean today is allowed to condemn anything the Japanese might have done, ever. It's like saying that the U.S. has no right to go fight the terrorists because a few white kids decided to go convert to the Osama fan club.
I mean, look at your own post: You, an American GI, attack the NY Times, and American paper, for its glaring problems, yet you don't see yourself as a hypocrit. In this case, you're smart enough realize that even though you're both Americans, you're not morally responsible for the crap the NY Times spews, yet when you're talking about Koreans, you seem to believe that if some Korean girl is grabbed off the streets and sold by a fellow Korean, it somehow implies her personal consent, no matter how much she protests or tries to get away when the Japanese use her. Hrm, judging other races by different standards than your own, treating them as a collective instead of individuals, that sounds familiar…
You obviously cannot read very closely. It might help if you re-read the posting. I clearly recommended everyone to do their own research on the comfort women issue and draw their own conclusions. The point of the posting wasn't to argue about the comfort women issue anyway if you bothered to read it closely.
The point of the posting was to say it absurd for South Korea to claim some kind of moral superiority over Japan because of the comfort women issue. Both South Korea and China have no room to talk when it comes to moral superiority for the various reasons I mentioned.
Your attempts to bring up America is typical of unobjective Korea apologists. If you want to defend Korea's moral superiority over Japan as claimed then please give examples because I would love to hear them?
Part of the issue concerns Koreans that helped the Japanese acquire these women. More than likely some of these folks did so because of fear of being killed. Some however, likely aided the Japanese to make life better for them or their families and some likely didn't really care one way or the other.
The Japanese at the time treated non Japanese like vermin and did what ever they wanted to do with them. This behavior has been documented many times. Using the local female populace as sex slaves would fall into their way of treating the people.
The main issue here is one of face, you looses and who wins. As long as the Koreans can bring this up and get the Japanese government to give them something, this will never stop.
One thing I did learn in Korea, is that if they feel they have been wronged, they will keep it up until a person looses face and rub their noses in it every chance they get. This usually applies if the opponet is not a Korean. We all have seen this happen many times over the years.
Over all a good article.
…..who looses and who wins…..
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