The surviving 'comfort women' have declared the recent Japan-Korea agreement as null and demanded a proper solution from the Korean government.
Six members from The Korean Council for the Women for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan declared during a press conference held on January 13 that they "absolutely oppose" the settlement reached by Japan and Korea last month.
90-year-old Kim Bok Dong said, "We asked for the government to solve the problem but we didn't know that they would do such a poor job. We will not accept that [compensation] money [from Japan]," and emphasized, "The girl statue is history made by the citizens who saved up every penny to erect it and neither the Japanese nor the Korean government can tell us to tear it down."
89-year-old Lee Ok Sun declared, "They're deceiving the victims and silencing us. They can't do this. Japan must officially offer an apology [to us] and legally compensate us."
16 female activists of Ewha Woman's University's Global Empowerment Program (EGEP) were also present at the press conference, siding with the comfort women and stating that "the Japanese government must officially apologize to these women."
Earlier the same day at 10am (KST), students from sixteen universities including Seoul National University and Yonsei University held a press conference in front of The Foreign Ministry, insisting that the Japan-Korea agreement is unacceptable, that the girl statues cannot be removed, and that they demand a meeting with foreign minister Yoon Byung Se.
30 women's rights organizations such as Korean Women's Associations United (KWAU), Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, and Womenlink also made their voice heard on this day, unanimously declaring, "The 'comfort women' agreement excluded the party directly involved and entirely ignored the truth and preventative measures requested by the surviving victims and the organizations. Therefore, the Japan-Korea agreement is null."
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