South Korean protestors yesterday clashed with police as they tried to disrupt the opening in Seoul of a Tokyo-funded foundation for women forced to work in Japanese wartime brothels.
The plight of the so-called “comfort women” is a hugely emotional issue that has marred relations between Seoul and Japan for decades and which, for many South Koreans, symbolizes the abuses of Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
In December last year, the two countries said they reached a “final and irreversible” agreement, under which Tokyo offered an apology and ¥1 billion (US$8.5 million) to open the foundation for the dwindling number of comfort women who are still alive.
Photo: AP
However, the deal was condemned by some of the women and South Korean activists, who took issue with Japan’s refusal to accept formal legal responsibility.
“You can’t silence the victims with money,” scores of protestors chanted at yesterday’s opening, which they picketed with banners reading: “This is not what the comfort women want.”
Several college students forced their way into the venue, where foundation officials were due to hold a news conference, and were forcibly removed by police.
“Listen to the voices of the victims,” one protestor shouted tearfully as police carried her and other activists out by their arms and legs.
The Reconciliation and Healing Foundation tried to play down the protests, saying opposition to the deal with Tokyo was limited to a vocal minority.
“Some victims I met expressed gratitude for reaching the deal while they are alive,” the foundation’s head, Kim Tae-hyun, told reporters.
She said she had talked with 37 of the 40 surviving South Korean comfort women and claimed many of them supported the foundation.
“The deal is not completely satisfactory ... but we shouldn’t let these controversies put out this small light of hope that we managed to find,” she added.
Her comments did little to mollify the protestors, one of whom threw liquid pepper spray in Kim’s face as she left the venue, forcing her to go to hospital for treatment to her eyes.
Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, but also other parts of Asia, including Taiwan and China, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number