Last year, the Japan First Party, known for its far-right politics in Japan, held the 'Tokyo Triennale 2022' event for two days from May 21st to 22nd, 2022. In the Triennale, Sakurai Makoto, the leader of the Japan First Party, sparked controversy with his behavior and comments mocking sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army. He inflated the balloon shaped like the Statue of Peace (which is reminiscent of prostitution). He also stated that "the victims of sexual slavery for the Japanese imperial army are not truly victims." He said, “They did that because they wanted it, and at that time, it wasn't compulsory; they received a fair price for doing that." Comments like these, mocking and distorting our painful history, make us raise our eyebrows.

 We must respond to Japanese mocking and distorting history with historical facts. In 1991, starting with the testimony of grandmother Kim Hak Soon, a sexual slavery victim of the Japanese imperial army, many brave victim’s testimonies continued to come out, followed by an international research report and U.S. Congress Resolution to Demand Apology, all various historic proof about the tragedy. According to the evidence, sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery, serving the Japanese army during World War II. Afterward, they were still forced to do sexual acts and other inhumane acts for the Japanese army. However, the Japanese government is denying that it was compulsory, stating that an official document wasn’t discovered. The reason for the Japanese government’s continuous historical denial is to reduce the responsibility about sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army. 

-International Reporter’s Response: The Difference Between Germany and Japan Regarding How to Deal with Past Misdeeds-

 When I first arrived in Korea in August, something I wasn’t aware of as a German and had me flinching the first few times were the countless Buddhist swastikas I would see. Even though it looks a bit different from the Nazi symbol, the resemblance makes me feel a bit uneasy. In Germany, students are taught all about World War II in school. There are detailed history lessons on every important historical event. I picked history as my major in high school, which means I was taught an even more detailed timeline of Nazi Germany and its history with other countries. The most vivid memory I have is going to Neuengamme, a former concentration camp that is located just about one hour away from where I graduated. Our teacher offered a handful of students from our class to go there first and learn what happened at this place from a historian and then guide a tour to teach the rest of the class. I volunteered and went to Neuengamme, silently preparing myself for the unimaginable things I would learn and then have to repeat in front of my whole class. When I think about these two days we spent at the site learning about its history, I still tear up almost six years later. It is so incredibly important to teach every generation the history of its country and not leave out any details, especially the cruel and unimaginably horrible ones so history doesn’t repeat itself. In the German Protection of the Constitution there is a list 86 pages long of forbidden organizations, words, and symbols that if used or shown can and will lead to an arrest, like lifting your right hand to do the Nazi salute or using the Nazi swastika.

 In the German Presidential Statement on December 22, 1999, the German President Johannes Rau said, “They want their pain to be recognized as a pain, and the fault of what the Nazis' did to them to be referred to as a fault. Today, I lament the deceased victims who needed to do slave labor and forced labor under the Nazis’ domination, and I beg for forgiveness on behalf of the German people.” In this way, the thing that sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army really want isn’t money; they just want to hear sincere apologies from Japan, instead of leaders mocking or distorting history. If Japan doesn’t solve the complex and tangled history with us, the past will catch up with them and there might not be a bright future. However, even now there has been no clear apology from Japan. According to the Korean government, only nine victims are still alive. There is a saying, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” As this saying indicates, history is an important fact that correlates significantly with our future. Therefore, when the sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army are alive, there’s a chance to make it right. I hope that Japan apologizes immediately to the victims and hopes for a better future. Lastly, in addition to Japan's efforts, we also need to remember our history and keep an eye on it.

79th Reporter • NAM HYE SEUNG • namhyeseung50@gmail.com