Halmoni Weekly Protest

During WWII, the Japanese government systematically kidnapped and held young girls between 13 and 24 years old to use them as sexual slaves. They referred to them as “comfort women” because they were supposed to “comfort” the soldiers so that they would be ready for battle. Unfortunately, that euphemism is still widely used, but the correct way they should be referred to, that is the way the survivors want to be referred to, is as forced sexual slaves. These girls came from all over eastern Asia, with the majority being from Korea and China.

After the war ended, the ones who were able to survive the atrocities which they were forced to endure, were shunned from their families because it was considered extremely shameful to be raped, even though it was obviously not the girls fault. As a result of that stigma, the survivors who did come forward – many were unwilling to due to the fear of being ostracized and shunned by their family and society – managed to get a house together and every Wednesday since the war ended these halmonis, which is what they are called in Korean, go out in front of the Japanese embassy in South Korea and protest. 

Watching these incredibly old women protest was heart wrenching. They seemed like such sweet, nice ladies who only wanted an apology and for the Japanese government to tell the truth. In my opinion, that is nothing to ask for after what they were forced to endure. It was even sadder when I thought about how it seems that the Japanese government is just waiting for these women to die of old age. They have been peacefully protesting for a long time and I think it would be a tragedy for the Japanese government not to do what is right and apologize to these women before it is too late.

In my opinion, I think the government's idea of justice for these women is similar to that of a spoiled rich guy who always gets his way. All they want to do is pay the halmonis and call it even so that they don't have to humiliate themselves by publicly stating that the whole thing was set up and run by the Japanese government and so they can avoid having to provide a sincere apology.

The halmonis' idea of justice is rather simple and straight forward, not to mention the true form of justice rather than the Japanese governments paltry attempt at justice by buying them off. All they want is a sincere apology from the Japanese government and for them to admit that the whole thing was systematically set-up and run by them, which they still have not done after over 60 years.