Purpose of the Statue
Purpose of the Statue
What is the real purpose of building the statue?
Why do Koreans want to build comfort women memorial statues everywhere around the world? What is the real meaning of the statue?
As Japanese, I care about the reputation of our country and donft want it to be damaged by false accusations. If the forced recruitment of a large number of girls and women actually took place, I will accept all criticism and accusations as the descendants of the wrongdoers. However, we know that Koreans are falsely accusing us with baseless rumors and just hearsay. All we want is a fair trial and fair judgment. Recently, I came across the following writings in the Star Advertiser Newspaper site.
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gThe Japanese governmentfs denial tactic has proven a failure in the United States and other parts of the world. People in the U.S. view the comfort women issue as a universal human rights issue that everyone needs to know and care about," said Phyllis Kim, executive director of the Korean American Forum of California, who played a major role in convincing San Francisco to establish the memorial, in an emailed statement.
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If the statue is truly the symbol of universal human rights issue, why do they single out Japanfs case?
Where is the comfort women memorial of Korean women who were forced to become comfort women for the United States Army during the Korean War and thereafter? Also where is the memorial addressing the Vietnamese women forced to provide sex services for South Korean troops during the Vietnam War?
We know that the inscription does not describe the true history and donft want it be fixed on the stone or metal plaques. Therefore, I support the decision of Osaka Mayor to dissolve its sister city relationships with San Francisco made in response to the SF city's acceptance of the statue as part of the public property.
SFAC San Francisco Arts CommissionSteven Whyte
American b. England 1969gComfort Womenh Column of Strength
gOur worst fear is that our painful history during World War II will be forgotten.h
---------- former gComfort WomenhThis monument bears witness to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of women and girls, euphemistically called gComfort Women,h who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces in thirteen Asia-Pacific countries from 1931 to 1945. Most of these women died during their wartime captivity. This dark history was hidden for decades until the 1990s when the survivors courageously broke their silence. They helped move the world to declare that sexual violence as a strategy of war is a crime against humanity for which governments must be held accountable.
This memorial is dedicated to the memory of these women, and to eradicating sexual violence and sex trafficking throughout the world.
Gift of the gComfort Womenh Justice Coalition
Collection of the City and County of San Francisco
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