Fifteen Taiwanese young people are to visit South Korea this month to learn more about the issue of “comfort women,” the term used to describe women forced to provide sexual services by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, one of the groups organizing the trip said.
The 15 participants were selected out of 59 applicants aged 16 to 18, according to the Ama Museum in Taipei.
During a visit to South Korea from Aug. 17 to Aug. 19, they are to visit the Museum of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and call on surviving Korean comfort women, the museum said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
The Taiwanese teenagers are also to watch documentaries and attend group discussions on human rights in Asia with 30 South Korean high-school students, it added.
Lin Wei-tung, a Taiwanese high-school student and one of the participants, said at a press conference on Thursday that she learned much about the issue during a visit to the Ama Museum.
“I was moved by their courage in coming forward,” Lin said, adding that she hoped to learn more about that part of history.
Lin said she would share with her classmates what she learns during the trip, adding that the issue needs greater attention.
Lu Yi-sheng, another participant, said the documentary Song of the Reed (蘆葦之歌) triggered his interest in the comfort women issue.
“History should not be forgotten,” Lu said.
The trip is being organized by the Ama Museum and the Masan Changwon Jinhae Civil Assembly for Japanese Military Sexual Slaves, a South Korean group dedicated to representing comfort women.
It is estimated that during World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army forced more than 200,000 women into sexual slavery throughout Asia, including in Taiwan, China, Korea and the Philippines.
The Ama Museum, the first in Taiwan dedicated to “comfort women,” opened in December last year on the initiative of the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation.
Since 1992, the foundation has worked to help comfort women cope with the mental and emotional distress caused by their experiences, while seeking justice and compensation from Japan. It has also documented the women’s stories.
More than 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced by the Japanese Imperial Army to work as “comfort women” during World War II and only two who have publicly spoken about their experiences are still alive, according to the foundation.
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