A Dunwoody state representative has been working behind the scenes trying to convince the city of Brookhaven to back off accepting a “comfort women” memorial set to be unveiled Friday, June 30.

State Rep. Tom Taylor (R-Dunwoody) said in an interview that he contacted Brookhaven city officials because he believed the memorial could hurt future business dealings with Japan. He also said that activists donating the memorial to the city are wanting to “drive a wedge” between Japan and Korea.

State Rep. Tom Taylor

“This is a small group of Korean-American activists pushing this [memorial] all across Georgia and finally got a city to take the bait,” Taylor said.

“This is a political group that basically wants to drive a wedge between Japan and Korea,” he said.

Helen Kim Ho of the Atlanta Comfort Women Memorial Task Force, which commissioned the statue, said Taylor’s comments about the group wanting to criticize the Japanese were a “slap in the face.”

“Tom Taylor’s insinuation that we’re a small group of Korean activists’ out to sully the current Japanese government is, to put it mildly, preposterous and deeply offensive to us,” she said. “Most of us have dedicated much of our lives to either promoting Asian and Asian American rights and issues, and-or been leaders in the fight against trafficking and violence against women.

“This is a real slap in the face,” she said.

“[Hearing from] trolls is one thing, but Tom Taylor is actually a local elected official, who represents Dunwoody, a very diverse part of our state,” Ho added. “He’s essentially attacking other local civic leaders, and clearly that is troublesome.”

Taylor said he contacted some members of the Brookhaven City Council – after they had already voted to accept the memorial — on behalf of the Japanese consul general in Atlanta. Taylor said he made that contact in his informal role in the state legislature as a liaison to the international consul community in promoting trade and cultural relations. He is also a member of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

Taylor also noted he lived in Japan for many years and speaks Japanese. He said he is a retired Navy intelligence officer and currently works for DynCorp International, a military contractor.

Taylor said the memorial would likely harm Japan’s relationship with Georgia.

“I’m looking at this from an economic development standpoint,” he said. “When we compete for business, we compete with all states.”

Tomoko Ohyama, a Japanese consul in Atlanta, said in email there are more than 600 Japanese companies in Georgia. No Japanese companies in the state have contacted the consulate to say they want to leave Georgia over the “comfort women” memorial, she said.

“Thanks to the strong ties that were built over these 40 years, we have not heard such statement yet,” she said. “On the other hand, the question should not just focus on existing businesses.Georgia may lose future business opportunities and the great relationship that the state could have had due to the comfort women memorial.”

Taylor said the “sins of the father” – the behavior of Japan in World War II — should not be passed down to succeeding generations, and said the memorial singles out the current Japanese government. He noted the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, located in Dunwoody, has a Holocaust memorial but that targets the Nazis, not the German government.

The Brookhaven memorial has “too narrow a focus” he said when “reprehensible things” happen around the world every day, Taylor said.

“Nobody is putting up a memorial to commemorate the people killed in Rwanda,” he said as an example, referring to the 1994 genocidal massacre of Tutsi people in the African nation by a government led by the Hutu majority.

State Rep. Scott Holcomb, a Democrat whose district includes portions of Brookhaven, said it is up to Brookhaven officials to decide if they want the install the memorial in the city.

“My role as a state representative is to represent my district at the state level,” he said. “This is the city’s choice, the city’s call.” Holcomb added he supported the memorial because it raises awareness about trafficking against and violence against women.

“I think it’s very important to honor the victims of a very dark period in world history,” he said.

State Rep. Meagan Hanson of Brookhaven, whose district includes the park where the memorial is installed, could not be reached for comment.

Taylor said a group of Korean American activists have looked to install the memorial since around 2012 and have asked approximately 11 or 12 cities to accept the memorial.

He said he became involved when he said a group of activists recently sought to have the memorial installed in Duluth. However, Alisa Williams, public information and marketing manager for the city of Duluth, said the city was never approached about the memorial.

Taylor also noted the Task Force sought to have the memorial installed at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. After first agreeing to accept the memorial, the Center rejected it, leading to Brookhaven City Council vote last month to accept the memorial.

The local “comfort women” memorial is identical to this one shown the Facebook page of the Atlanta Comfort Women Memorial Task Force. (Special)

The statue, of a young girl seated on a chair next to an empty chair, is designed to honor the up to 200,000 girls and women who were sexually enslaved during World War II by Imperial Japan. An unveiling ceremony at what the city calls Blackburn Park II on Blair Circle is set for Friday, June 30, at 10 a.m.

Brookhaven officials said they are accepting the memorial to honor the women as well as to raise awareness about sex trafficking in metro Atlanta.

Many of the women and girls sexually trafficked by the Japanese military during WW II were Korean, but the Task Force members said that women from many other countries, including Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Australia, were also trafficked.

Ho is the founder and former executive director of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta, an organization with the mission of promoting civil and economic equality for Asian Americans in Georgia and the Southeast. She was hired last year by Roger Baik Kyu Kim, president of the Georgia Korean Grocers Association Inc., to form the Task Force. She said the Task Force is made up of 27 members, including many Asian American civic leaders.

“More than half are Asian American … who have done decades of work on Asian government, policy, civic work, activism. These are very diverse members,” she said.

Some other members of the Task Force include: Statewide Advisor, Timothy Echols of the Georgia Public Service Commission, who has worked on eliminating human trafficking in Georgia; Monica Khant, an Indian American and the executive director of the Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network; and Satyam Barakoti, Georgia director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.

Dyana Bagby is a staff writer for Rough Draft Atlanta, Reporter Newspapers, and Atlanta Intown.

51 replies on “State rep. urged Brookhaven to reject ‘comfort women’ memorial”

  2. Taylor, 54, a Dunwoody Republican, had a blood-alcohol content of .225, nearly three times the legal limit of .08, according to a Clayton Police Department incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Taylor’s arrest was first reported Thursday by The Clayton Tribune….

    It was just last year this happened. He should keep his personal view all by himself. It is shame that we have such a short sighted person as our representative!!!

      1. +Blue Bear Bernie,

        Did you know that USA’s military did same thing during the Korean war? (or Vietnam war)

        The women were trafficked by Korean mafia for the US military comfort station. Do you feel sorry about that?
        This was exactly same situation occurred at ww2.

        If you feel sorry, you have to carve United States name into the statue’s inscription. Not only Japan name.

        Don’t use this statue as a means of bashing-japan. We must fight together against human trafficking present day.

        1. MOMO1333,

          Nothing to do with what US Army did to Koreans. Those issues are not what we discussing. I don’t like people trying to going their way to dilute the issue on hand by talking other issue.

          Japanese should face the fact that their ancestors and some of their grandfathers did horrific things to Korean women.

          Japanese been famous for their sick sexual culture even today. That sickening culture is influencing their minds and people how they think about the issue. No matter how they perceiving their own sick sexual culture, it is NEVER RIGHT to force women and make them sex slaves.

          1. I know that you are bashing Japan only. Your intention is clearly defaming Japna.

            THIS IS WHY MANY JAPANESE ARE ANGRY. Japanese not angry about comfort women and human right things.

            You have to face to the fact and history. Many women were trafficked (by Koreans) for the US military against their will. American ancestors and some of their grandfathers did horrific things to Korean women just like Japan did.

            This is why Japan apologized for comfort women many many times.

            You said that “It does not matter if they were paid – or were not paid – to determine consent.” Comfort women of US military were exactly same situation. I don’t understand why you don’t feel sorry about them.

            Or do you say that they were trafficked by Korean (mafia), so this was Korean crime, nothing to do with US military?

      2. Where is your concern for the women forced by South Korean troops to serve USA troops from around 1950 through 1990? Or about the Vietnamese women forced to be Comfort Women for South Korean troops by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War? Why no concern for these women?

        1. What a shameless hack. Everyone take note of tony marano. He makes his living by saying things and writing books that the right wing nationalists of Japan love to hear. He’s basically the Trump advocating for nationalist Japanese and he’s making a good living at it.

    1. You do not understand the meaning of consent and without consent it is rape. A prisoner, by definition, cannot consent. It does not matter if they were paid – or were not paid – to determine consent.

      Consent must be given willingly and knowingly. It must be free of coercion, threat, or duress.

      Prisoners lack the ability to refuse. Paying rape victims afterwards does not magically transform rape into something else. It’s shameful that those people complaining can’t be bothered to understand.

      All you are accomplishing is bringing shame to modern day Japan.

    2. Please do more research.

      I know you have no capacity in your heart to see the fact that there are victims. That is not your fault but your ancestors and government made you think that way. But, forcing people for sex and giving them money makes it ok? Because many sick Japanese men, even today, certain poor nation’s young girls forced to sell their body.

      Please don’t argue with those stupid documents. It just make you and Japan look sick and stupid.

      Prostitution is not ok. No matter how you want to sugarcoated the prostitution,

  4. As for the compensation for the ex-comfort women, “the Asian Women’s Fund” for the surviving ex-comfort women of several countries was fouded in 1994 by the goverment of Japan, and it afforded compensation money and supported medical expenses for more than ten years since its foundation (untill 2007) in several countries including South Korea (For 285 women from Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea. 79 from Netherland. Not personally specified projects in Indonesia as Indoensian government did not accept personal compensation). 60 Korean ex-comfort women received the compensation money and the medical support but some denied it(The reason was that the 40% of the compensation money and medical support-about 45 thousand US$ each) was from the fund raising among the Japanese citizens and not totally governmental). So for the final solution, in December, 2015, Japan and Korea reached the agreement for those ex-comfort women support expressing the apology from the prime minister of Japan.
    In 2015 “Comfort Women” agreement, it is stated that “The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. As Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.”
    It also says, “While stating the above, the Government of Japan confirms that this issue is resolved finally and irreversibly with this announcement, on the premise that the Government will steadily implement the measures specified in (ii) above. In addition, together with the Government of the ROK, the Government of Japan will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other regarding this issue in the international community, including at the United Nations.”(Also in Korean part: “(i) The Government of the ROK values the GOJ’s announcement and efforts made by the Government of Japan in the lead-up to the issuance of the announcement and confirms, together with the GOJ, that the issue is resolved finally and irreversibly with this announcement, on the premise that the Government of Japan will steadily implement the measures specified in 1. (1) (ii)above. The Government of the ROK will cooperate in the implementation of the Government of Japan’s measures.
    (ii) The Government of the ROK acknowledges the fact that the Government of Japan is concerned about the statue built in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul from the viewpoint of preventing any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity, and will strive to solve this issue in an appropriate manner through taking measures such as consulting with related organizations about possible ways of addressing this issue.
    (iii) The Government of the ROK, together with the Government of Japan, will refrain from accusing or criticizing each other regarding this issue in the international community, including at the United Nations, on the premise that the Government of Japan will steadily implement the measures it announced.”)
    http://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/na/kr/page4e_000365.html

    After this agreement 34 out of 40 surviving Korean ex-comfort women received the compensation money-about 90 thousand US$ each.

    The comfort women statue is quite biased for the political utilization by the Korean people. I am sure it is not based on the facts found by the scholars and it implies to insult Japan for the political purpose.
    So I have to conclude again that the erection of that statue is utterly inappropriate as a monument for a city park of Brookhaven. I hope it should not be erected.

      1. First you had better refer to the primary sources.
        “A “comfort girl” is nothing more than a prostitute or “professional camp follower” attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. The word “comfort girl” is peculiar to the Japanese. Other reports show the “comfort girls” have been found wherever it was necessary for the Japanese Army to fight. This report however deals only with the Korean “comfort girls” recruited by the Japanese and attached to their Army in Burma. The Japanese are reported to have shipped some 703 of these girls to Burma in 1942.”
        Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49 (1944)
        by UNITED STATES OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION Psychological Warfare Team　Attached to U.S. Army Forces India-Burma Theater
        https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Japanese_Prisoner_of_War_Interrogation_Report_49

    1. Tom had a blood alcohol level nearly 3x the legal limit while he was driving around in the middle of the day with four kids in his vehicle!

      Clearly he does not understand the meaning of proprietary. He can’t be expected to recognize when he excuses rape and revictimizes survivors.

        1. Actually Tony – the character of somebody who excuses rape does matter.

          It matters because it helps us understand their intent: is Tom Taylor somebody who has a pattern of doing and saying the right thing? or is Tom Taylor somebody who has already shown himself to be one who disregards the law and behaves in selfish ways?

          By pointing out the history of bad decisions and selfish actions it helps us to see his position on the “Comfort Women” memorial for exactly what it is: more self-aggrandizing behavior which discounts the impact his behavior has on others.

          Much like your history Tony Marano – who likewise has engaged in offensive rhetoric to excuse the shameful rapes in Japan’s past. We don’t really need a know-nothing from Dallas telling us (or telling others) their opinion on human rights abuses.

          The good people of Japan should know better than to deal with the likes of Tom Taylor or Tony Marano – two people who (1) don’t understand the meaning of consent and (2) re-victimize the many rape and sexual assault victims.

          We don’t need either of you dirtying the already polluted waters of these war crimes.

          1. Hmmm, I don’t recall asking you what you need. But thanks for telling me what “we” don’t need. I would ask you what you or “we” do need, but sorry I am not playing Santa Claus this year.

  8. For those who are curious about the truth of the comfort women and this little known part of WWII history, please note these sources as the history deniers will keep posting blogs made by extreme right-wing groups.

    United Nations 1996 Special Report, Commission on Human Rights (holds that the practice of “comfort women” should be considered a clear case of sexual slavery and a slavery-like practice in accordance with the approach adopted by relevant international human rights bodies and mechanisms): http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/commission/country52/53-add1.htm

    United Nations 1998 Report for UN Economic and Social Council, “Contemporary Forms of Slavery” (Report done specifically on comfort women issue and what legal issues are available, emphasizes that practices such as the detention of women in “rape camps” or “comfort stations;” forced, temporary “marriages” to solders; and other practices involving the treatment of women as chattel, are both in fact and in law forms of slavery, and, as such, violations of the peremptory norm prohibiting slavery):
    http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/demo/ContemporaryformsofSlavery_McDougall.pdf

    Congressional Research Service (CRS) 2007 report, this is a nonpartisan, public policy research org which works exclusively for the Congress and their staff (The evidence is clear that the Japanese government and military directly created the comfort women system; no doubt from the available evidence that most comfort women were in the system involuntarily): http://apjjf.org/-Congressional-Research-Service-/2405/article.html (summary) and http://japanfocus.org/data/CRS%20Comfort%20Women%203%20Apr%2007.pdf

    The American Historical Society, Leading Historians stand with Truth of WWII history/ comfort women (“As historians, we express our dismay at recent attempts by the Japanese government to suppress statements in history textbooks both in Japan and elsewhere about the euphemistically named “comfort women” who suffered under a brutal system of sexual exploitation in the service of the Japanese imperial army during World War II.”): https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/march-2015/letter-to-the-editor-standing-with-historians-of-japan

    So many more, but the overwhelming consensus among respected historians, governmental bodies and the international rights community is that hundreds of thousands of girls and women were victims of one of the largest known sex trafficking rings in modern history, and unfortunately the Japanese government never formally apologized and made reparations in keeping with international norms.

    1. Just refer to the first-hand primary sources.

      Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49 (1944)
      by UNITED STATES OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION Psychological Warfare Team　Attached to U.S. Army Forces India-Burma Theater
      https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Japanese_Prisoner_of_War_Interrogation_Report_49

      …A “comfort girl” is nothing more than a prostitute or “professional camp follower” attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. The word “comfort girl” is peculiar to the Japanese. Other reports show the “comfort girls” have been found wherever it was necessary for the Japanese Army to fight. This report however deals only with the Korean “comfort girls” recruited by the Japanese and attached to their Army in Burma. The Japanese are reported to have shipped some 703 of these girls to Burma in 1942.
      …The majority of the girls were ignorant and uneducated, although a few had been connected with “oldest profession on earth” before. The contract they signed bound them to Army regulations and to war for the “house master ” for a period of from six months to a year depending on the family debt for which they were advanced …
      …They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places…They lived well because…they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles. They were able to buy cloth, shoes, cigarettes, and cosmetics to supplement the many gifts given to them by soldiers who had received “comfort bags” from home.
      …While in Burma they amused themselves by participating in sports events with both officers and men, and attended picnics, entertainments, and social dinners. They had a phonograph and in the towns they were allowed to go shopping.
      …Soldiers would come to the house, pay the price and get tickets of cardboard…The girls were allowed the prerogative of refusing a customer. This was often done if the person were too drunk.
      …In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thus allowed to return to Korea.
      …the health of these girls was good. They were well supplied with all types of contraceptives, and often soldiers would bring their own which had been supplied by the army. They were well trained in looking after both themselves and customers in the matter of hygiene. A regular Japanese Army doctor visited the houses once a week and any girl found diseased was given treatment, secluded, and eventually sent to a hospital.

    2. +Atlantans for Historic Truth

      Your intension is clear. Bashing-Japan. The statue has only meaning of bashing-japan not for the human right.

      Japan doesn’t deny Japanese crimes at WW2. That is why Japan had apologized for involved Asian countries and United States. But history still has a lot of controversy. (History is always written by the victors. But we didn’t deny it, accept it.)

      But there are still many women suffering from (not Japanese involvement) sexual slavery experience.
      * (Former sex workers who serviced US troops get day in court)
      http://www.stripes.com/news/former-sex-workers-who-serviced-us-troops-get-day-in-court-1.319931
      We have to stand against crime of human trafficking across the World together.

      Please replace appropriate memorial statue or inscription for the human right. Do not use the statue as a tool of basing-Japan.

      If you continue bashing-japan, I fear more and more Japanese anger arise. This anger is not from “Comfort Women” things, but from “Bashing Japan”. That is not good for both Japan and United States.

  9. Is Meagan Hanson going to be there on Friday? Where is she,and what has she done for our area???? I quess Tom Taylor will not be there. Only people I see in this park are dog walkers,I thought it was a private park.Remember to vote in upcoming elections,we need progressive leaders.

  10. Tom Taylor’s lies and collusion are on full display in this article. Taylor was rumored to be the lynchpin in successfully influencing our Georgia government and local community on behalf of the current Japanese government. Following their M.O., he is an excellent mouthpiece for telling lies and making economic threats.

  11. First, let me clarify I am not a Japanese national. I am a retired US Army career officer. Those interested in historical evidence should read my compilation of extracts from WWII military documents re comfort women. It neither defends nor accuses Japan. It explains the comfort women system and the status of the women. These original documents speak for themselves. It is available a an Ebook on Amazon.

    Archie Miyamoto

  12. Hmm, I’m thinking that Dunwoody Georgia Republican Representative Tom Taylor, who thought it prudent to drive four exchange student teenagers at 72 MPH in a 45 MPH zone while being so sloppy drunk that he blew a .225 blood alcohol content with a loaded Glock strapped to his hip, might not be the go-to guy for international relations.

  13. Wow, seems a number of people have a new “cause” over a statue. So, why not a statue for every injustice throughout history? And then you all can argue about that, and then have even more sudden causes to fight over.

    After all, most reasonable people do realize that human trafficking is a bad thing. And, your griping and arguing in this article over the subject probably does little or nothing other than make you feel good about your opinion on the subject.

    Instead, how about spending the time doing something worthwhile and constructive like maybe volunteering or donating to your favorite charity?

    1. How about no? How about this statue that we want bc it talks abt an issue that no one in America seems to care about? Keep in mind we are only two to three generations removed from imperial Japanese rule and the Korean War. Intergenerational trauma is very real and affects Korean Americans still today. I now this bc of the things I had to endure in my life right here in Atlanta. So no, this isn’t just some high and mighty cause that we want to feel superior about. It’s about actual recognition of the things my ancestors and me myself, personally had to endure bc of what happened then.

  14. Korean Sex-Scammers descend on Georgia
    The scammers are trying to put up another statue. Will be interesting to see what happens to property prices of this statue again brings violence.

  16. Safe to say his position carries forward to confederate statues and they go as well?

    How much is DUI Taylor getting paid by his client? #sad

  17. I live in Yokohama where the US 8th Army comprised of 230,000 men landed after WWII. You can easily surmise what have happened after the landing, when a victorious army of so many men, at their peak of reproductive capability, occupied the war-torn city crippled by B29 air-raids.

    Local history records show that there were many cases of blatant intrusion into civilian houses in search of women, kidnappings of girls on streets, violent raids upon hospital dormitories for nurses, rapes on sick women on beds and all or any other crimes you can imagine in horror. Japanese men got so angry that they resorted to fist fights on streets.

    American generals such as R. Eichelberger and D. MacArthur were so shocked that they demanded the Japanese government to create RAA (Recreation and Amusement Association) houses, which were exactly the same as Comfort Stations. At the peak period, 50,000 Japanese prostitutes (called pan-pan girls) provided sex services for 500,000 U.S. military men.

    Jesus Christ said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. (Gospel of John 8:7)”

    You Americans are no clean. Koreans are no clean. I do not say that Japanese are entirely clean, but we have our own story to say to the holier than thou, arrogant and hypocritical people who try to look to be saints by defaming other races.

    1. What a horrible story. It deeply saddens me to hear that. Didn’t know such things also happened in Japan too. People can’t really fully understand other people’s pain until they are put in their shoes..But you would, cause Japanese women became the victims of the war the Japanese gov had initiated.
      Hope that such a horrible history never repeats itself.

    2. Anyone who is saying Japanese are bad and US/Korea are goood are missing the point entirely. That was NEVER the point.

      I don’t hate Japanese people, even though the things I suffered thru in my life today are a direct result of the Japanese occupation and what was done to my ancestors, but history should be remembered. Crimes against humanity should be acknowledged no matter the perpetrator, no mattter the victim. To me this statue is for all the women who suffered during that time period regardlesss of race. What should be remembered is the inhumanity that all humans are capable of and those who suffered bc of it.

  18. At first, I couldn’t understand why anyone with a sane mind would say such stupid things. I googled him cause I didn’t know who he was. And most results were about this guy being arrested for DUI…and..things began to make sense to me finally..

  19. This statues is built all over the US country, but Many Americans not know their true purpose that statues. Please investigate these and protect USA.

    The real purpose of setting this statue is the destruction work of the US, Korea, and the Military alliance of communist forces aiming for Japan isolation. This is on clever camouflaged by human rights issues and war crime damage.
    The fact that comfort women were prostitutes also knows the US Army Information Department in 1944, and its materials are also made public.
    Being a Korean comfort women’s group related to North Korea is widely known to those who are investigating this case already. Also, this statue was produced by a parent North Korean artist, and the girl who became a model of this statue was made with a motif of a girl who passed away due to a car accident in the US Forces Korea, they diverted it and used it for alliance destroying activity doing.

    Why many statues were set up in Korea and the United States?
    Why it is installed in high density in the area close to North Korea in South Korea?
    Why will this problem continue even if a comfort women agreement is done?

    Knowing the case of the Senkaku, Spratly, the North Korean nuclear issue,
    and , in 2014~16 the negotiations for the next -Australia submarines in Japan-Australia submarine technology supply, the disturbance work of the by Chinese and Koreans installed the comfort women’s statues in Australia.
    By examining these incidents, you will be able to solve those many mysteries you have.

  20. A Korean comments that they suffer from generational trauma over the comfort women issue. I wonder if that is the reason the Korean government kept the massacre of Cheju island where an estimated 30,000 were massacred in 1948 and the massacre at Daejon and other locations where an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 were massacred in 1950 a secret from Koreans Mrz5for over fifty years. Survivors are even afraid to talk about it today.

  21. Even to such simple questions, you can not answer one.

    We want to remove that statue because the statue is built on fiction.
    Even as a cause of ignorance, many Japanese are angry about Brookhaven.

    I am not an expert on the problem of comfort women just like you, but I can correctly point out the lies current Koreans are saying.
    Most of these information are clear from the then detailed statistical data (Korea Governor General Statistics Yearbook 1908-1941)
    which is the primary material that many Korean historians are using.
    You can access the following address of the National Diet Library of Japan.

    http://dl.ndl.go.jp/search/searchResult?searchWord=% E6% 9C% 9D% E 9% AE% AE% E 7% B 7% 8 F% E 7% 9 D% A 3% E 5% B A% 9 C% E 7 % B 5% B 1% E 8% A 8% 88% E 5% B 9% B 4% E 5% A 0% B 1 & facetOpenedNodeIds = & featureCode = all & viewRestrictedList = 0 & pageNo = 1

    Koreans can not answer such a simple question, either. The reason why they can not answer is that their argument is wrong.
    I wonder that Americans in Brookhaven do not feel such simple doubt.
    People on the Korean Peninsula before 1945 were legally equal as Korean-Japanese who also got voting rights.

    1) When the comfort women were forcibly taken away, did the Korean-Japanese tremble and hiding?
    in spite of that many korean-Japanese were working for police,militaly,administration.

    2) Have the comfort women taken back to Korea afterwards?

    3) some koreans people assert that they were killed, why do not you collect the remains?
    This is about the atrocity by the Japanese Army, why did not it become a problem at the conclusion of Japan-Korea Basic Treaty(1965)?
    However the return of savings of several comfort women was on the topic.

    4) Who took women forcibly?
    At that time, 100% of the village mayor, 80% of the county council members and 60% of the police officers were Korean-Japanese,
    and Japanese soldiers composed of Korean-Japanese were over 240,000.
    On the other hand the population ratio of archipelago-Japanese population in the Korean Peninsula was between 1.5% and 3.0%.
    From the problem of words, the administration near the residents (village office) and security (police) were in charge of Korean-Japanese

    The Koreans themselves forced them to take sexual women into sexual slavery?

    5)As you kinow,the issue of comfort women is triggered by the Asahi Shimbun’s Comfort women forcibly taking report in 1991.
    (Later, the Asahi Shimbun apologized for misinformation, and the verification committee at that time has verified that the search frequency of the newspaper was the starting point of 1991)

    In the meantime, Korea is seeking apology and compensation for Japan, but Korea did not try to catch the comfort station manager and the abductee’s culprit.
    In the newspaper at that time the information of the abduction remained as evidence.They were mostly korean-japanese.
    Why does not Korea try to catch direct culprits?

  22. Dear Dyana,

    I would like to know your reply.

    Do you think who took women forcibly?
    Korean-japanese soldier/native-japanese soldier?
    Korean-japanese police/native-japanese police?

    followings are simple social background of Korean peninsula before 1945(WWⅡ)

    First of all koreans were Japanese legally equal who had the right to vote.
    100% of the village mayor, 80% of the county council members and 60% of the police officers were Korean-Japanese,
    and Japanese soldiers composed of Korean-Japanese were over 240,000.
    On the other hand the population ratio of native-Japanese population in the Korean Peninsula was between 1.5% and 3.0%.
    From the problem of words, the administration near the residents (village office) and security (police) were in charge of Korean-Japanese

  23. Professor Jun BongGwan’s review of the book “Comfort Women of the Empire.” Jun BongGwan is a professor of Korean Literature at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
    http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/comfort-women-of-empire-reviewed-by.html

    “We all knew that Korean comfort women were not coercively taken away by the Japanese military. Korean comfort station owners recruited women in the Korean Peninsula and operated comfort stations in the battlefields. The Japanese military was busy fighting all over Asia, and it certainly didn’t have time to be in Korea recruiting women.

    Although Professor Park Yuha recognizes that Japan’s imperialism was the root cause of women’s suffering, she claims that Korean comfort station owners were legally responsible as well. I disagree with her logic because the Japanese military did allow Korean owners to recruit women. So the Japanese military was the one legally responsible in my opinion.

    Korean fathers and brothers who sold their daughters and sisters, Korean comfort station owners who deceived women, Korean town chiefs who encouraged those acts. They all should be held accountable someday. But now is not the time. We must make Japan apologize and compensate again before we admit our responsibility.”

  24. Pingback: Comfort Women memorial commemorates victims of sex trafficking

  25. –“I disagree with her logic because the Japanese military did allow Korean owners to recruit women. So, the Japanese military was the one legally responsible in my opinion. “–

    I think that is rather naive reasoning. Korean brothel owners did not require special permission from the Japanese military to recruit women to be sex workers for their business! That is what they are in business to do! Whether the brothel owners set up shop in a military garrison in Burma as part of the “comfort system” or had stayed on the Korean peninsula, either way they would have had to recruit sex workers.

    The difference between a brothel that signed up to travel with the army and one that did not is that those associated with the army were more closely scrutinized to make sure the brothel recruiters were NOT tricking or coercing their female recruits into doing sex work! A few former comfort women claim they were told by a recruiter that they’d be doing something other than sex work and were tricked. If that is true, then those women were victims of an unscrupulous brothel recruiter clever enough to escape the Japanese law enforcement dragnet 70-80 years ago.

    Prostitution was legal in Japan, the Korean peninsula, Taiwan, and most if not all of Asia. But in Japan it was NOT legal to force women into prostitution, and the Japanese army made that clear to any brothel owner who wanted a license to travel with the Army. The Japanese law enforcement made efforts to track down unscrupulous brothel owners, but some managed to stay under the radar. The responsibility for tricking women into any brothel, traveling or at home on the Korean peninsula, rested solely on the brothel recruiter. And sorry to say that recruiters and owners on the peninsula were mainly Korean men and women.

    Japan has apologized a number of times about and to the Korean comfort women. Japan’s apology was not an admission that the army had kidnapped the women, but merely an expression of sympathy for any hardship the women had suffered while working the comfort stations. In mid-1990s Japan offered each a written apology for any hardship suffered, 2 million yen in sympathy stipend, plus 2 million yen toward health and welfare to each Korean comfort woman.

    BUT GUESS WHAT? The NGO that represented the comfort women – known as CHONG DAE HYUP — told the Korean comfort women not to accept the offer until Japan admits that the military kidnapped and coerced them into prostitution. (Well, Hell will freeze over before Japan will admit to something that it did not do! And the Korean comfort women know very well they were not kidnapped by Japanese!) So, seven accepted anyway, and Chong Dae Hyup immediately publicized their names in the Korean newspaper, labeling them prostitutes and traitors to Korea. These were fear tactics in service of Chong Dae Hyup’s “human rights” hustle! Korean Professor Park Yu-ha of Sejong Univ. reports that around 57 more Korean comfort women accepted Japan’s apology and money under the table. Unbelievable!

    As part of the 2015 Agreement, Japan offered yet another apology and one billion yen to set up a foundation to care for the women in their old age. So, Japan has atoned for the hardship that some of the comfort women had experienced. (I say SOME, because others became quite wealthy from the high pay and bought houses for their parents and themselves, saved enough to lend money with interest to Japanese soldiers (including those of Korean or Taiwanese ethnicity), some became brothel owners and hired their own sex workers, a few married Japanese soldiers. So, as you see, the experiences of the comfort woman varied.

    Japan has done its part to atone for its moral responsibility and has pledged never again to solicit brothels to provide their services to the military. This is a lot more than can be said for most countries that still attempt in some way to accommodate soldiers’ sexual urges.

    Now it time for Korea to face the facts and clear its own guilty conscience. South Korea should admit to itself:

    (1) That if some comfort women were tricked or coerced into brothel work, the recruiters were most likely Koreans themselves.

    (2) That the South Korean government was directly responsible for setting up “comfort stations” for Korean, US, and other allied forces during the Korean War. Women who signed up were praised as “patriots” who were helping increase South Korea’s GDP.

    (3) That South Korea created “comfort stations” for Korean and US soldiers during the Vietnam War.

    (4) That the South Korean government has ensured that American troops stationed in Korea since 1945 have had their sexual needs taken care of in brothels and juicy bars.

    (5) And that the South Korean sex industry today continues to traffic willing and unwilling sex workers into Korea from Southeast Asia, Philippines, and elsewhere. And it traffics Koreans to the US, Australia, Japan and all over the world.

    The United States is crawling with South Korean prostitutes, some of whom tell the police that they are doing prostitution to pay off the advance payment (AKA a loan) the brothel owner gave to her parents! (Sound familiar?)

    Don’t be the Pot calling the Kettle black!

  26. let us see the facts.
    excerpt from Michael Yon

    I found the “Final Report to the US Congress on Nazi War Crimes & Japanese Imperial Government Records” authored by the Interagency Working Group (IWG). The US government, under the Clinton and Bush administrations, spent 7 years and 30 million dollars to look into Nazi and Japanese war crimes.

    The report was published in the spring of 2007. Out of millions of pages of newly declassified material, much of it related to Japan, and they were unable to find evidence of forced prostitution.

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