tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post2890342859499330226..comments2024-03-26T03:31:06.199-04:00Comments on Ask a Korean!: 1000th Wednesday Protest, and Lies about Comfort Women by Imperial Japan ApologistsT.K. (Ask a Korean!)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-69482558651392517072012-08-26T21:52:42.406-04:002012-08-26T21:52:42.406-04:00I am a Korean- American, grew up in the U.S. So I ...I am a Korean- American, grew up in the U.S. So I have studied history here and never in Korea but am very interested in these matters. Why this (apology not happening) bothers me the most is, if a government cannot accept and apologize for their past, what does this say about who they are now and what they will do in the future. I think it's crystal clear one of the important reasons why we learn about history, to help correct ourselves for a better future - is this not right? If I were only emotional, I would just be angry and have endless tears for what happened to those women (all of them not just Korean) and demand correction. However that aside, being on the side of human rights and being logical, I say any country not taking responsibility for crimes committed conveys a very strong stance of the present and possible future. Japan is overall an educated country, yet not properly acknowledging the past along with not having their people properly educated about their past is more than confusing... and wrong. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14973836774266379487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-23448537486714340682012-08-26T21:41:32.508-04:002012-08-26T21:41:32.508-04:00I am a Korean- American, grew up in the U.S. So I ...I am a Korean- American, grew up in the U.S. So I have studied history here and never in Korea but am very interested in these matters. Why this (apology not happening) bothers me the most is, if a government cannot accept and apologize for their past, what does this say about who they are now and what they will do in the future. I think it's crystal clear one of the important reasons why we learn about history, to help correct ourselves for a better future - is this not right? If I were only emotional, I would just be angry and have endless tears for what happened to those women (all of them not just Korean) and demand correction. However that aside, being on the side of human rights and being logical, I say any country not taking responsibility for crimes committed conveys a very strong stance of the present and possible future. Japan is overall an educated country, yet not properly acknowledging the past along with not having their people properly educated about their past is more than confusing... and Wrong. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-75298360488506782242012-05-25T06:09:47.266-04:002012-05-25T06:09:47.266-04:00TStrong,
Your response is not only factually inco...TStrong,<br /><br />Your response is not only factually incorrect, but racist.<br /><br />Kumabear,<br /><br />1. It would have been considerably more difficult to speak out prior to that time, back before South Korea had completely democracized.<br /><br />2. This is simply false. I'm hard pressed to see even a single individual false claimant here. If you have counterexamples, you should state them explictly with sources.<br /><br />3. Again, false. They exist. See page 29 of http://koreaverband.ahkorea.com/_file/trostfrauen/Testimonies_KoreanComfortWomen_english.pdf or http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/216313.htmFarFromKoreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04435256769410051796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-7419909539129339332012-03-18T12:11:35.489-04:002012-03-18T12:11:35.489-04:00Could anyone answer my following questions?
1. Why...Could anyone answer my following questions?<br />1. Why had Korean comfort women NEVER come out until 1991?<br />What did they not sue Japan during 1946-1991?<br />2. Why none of them could gave any sufficient evidences without contradiction or ambiguity?<br />Many of them have changed their stories each time when they have testified.<br />3. Why Japanese-mixed children have never found anywhere, if Japanese soldiers really raped tens of thousand women as Koreans claim?<br />"Rape of Berlin" gave birth to over 10,000 pregnancies.<br />Thousands of Lai Daihan(Korean-Vietnam mixed child) were born during the Vietnam War.Kumabearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09236342868189171080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-43886144674997059302012-03-15T23:57:39.046-04:002012-03-15T23:57:39.046-04:00Oops. I meant hyejsrsh68@hotmail.com! Thank you! :...Oops. I meant hyejsrsh68@hotmail.com! Thank you! :)IluvTL'sroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12559785506061940567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-89105480286688512992012-03-13T06:42:18.710-04:002012-03-13T06:42:18.710-04:00I'm very interested in what you've written...I'm very interested in what you've written. (and it's been what I've been looking for!) <br />I'm currently doing a school research paper upon this matter. <br />At first, I was going to write that Japan should apologize, but doing some research I found out that they did "apologize". So I was like : then why are the women so furious? Why do they keep protesting every week in front of the Japan embassy? You had the perfect answers! Thank you for the answers :)<br />If possible I would also like to know some sources that support your point. (preferably books)? Could you help? <br />email: hyejsrsh68@gmail.com<br />Thanks again :DIluvTL'sroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12559785506061940567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-19694191359414206672012-03-08T09:32:19.450-05:002012-03-08T09:32:19.450-05:00people are so brain washed and take any informatio...people are so brain washed and take any information as fact, comfort women..were taken by their own people, koreans were doing sex trade, read korean newspapers from the time, they continue to blatantly ignore the truth, comfort women is a korean culture, the same thing happened during the korean war, please do proper research rather than sulking in pathetic resentment about war. japanese police were helping liberate sex traffic victims in korea by their own people. they ignore this fact, they refuse to believe this fact, yet it is widely published in their newspapers. comfort women were paid a lot of money, because it was their occupation, it was not any sort of slavery, this is an obvious reactionary attitude towards their own disgust in their own behavior, and try to blame it off as something forced on them. <br />http://tonchamon.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2011/10/the-reasons-why.htmlTStronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00563944433098312210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-31474242819052956142012-01-06T12:19:10.110-05:002012-01-06T12:19:10.110-05:00TheKorean, I in no way doubt Japan could easily fu...TheKorean, I in no way doubt Japan could easily fund some sort of compensation package in the sense they are resourced. My doubts are more of a political nature. If the goal is to resolve this issue to the point it satisfies the Korean government and Koreans in general, it seems to me the threshold proof needed to prove up someone was a comfort woman or the child of a comfort woman would have to be so low, merely showing a woman was Korean and of an appropriate age would suffice. Anything else would risk people being left out for the advocates to rally around. Again, I suspect Japan could handle the funding of even this, but could a Japanese government approve it with risking collapse? I seriously doubt it. Even if they did, they now get pressured to provide the same program to other people in East Asia. I have my doubts Japan could afford that!<br /><br />Two other matters:<br /><br />1. I keep hearing "Germany compensated the Jews". Yes, they did. But my guess is their programs were all initiated before gaining full soveriegnty (1957) or the Allies had hefty leverage over them (certainly late 60s and arguably into the 90s). Its nice they did it, but I wonder how relevant it is here.<br /><br />2. Here is an interesting item which may partially explain the Japanese mindset on this. There were Japanese comfort women! Occupation Forces didn't physically reach the Home Islands until 2 weeks to a month after the surrender yet there were whorehouses ready for business. There is some evidence Imperial Japanese officials rounded up lower class girls and sent them into clubs to both shield "respectable" women from the Gaijin and to provide a source of hard cash for the economy. I've never heard of these women being compensated. If they're not of a mind to anty up for their own sex slaves, I doubt they're likely to do so for outsiders (though they should).Chris In Dallashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02178140632315599482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-88578376721341635102012-01-03T19:15:17.741-05:002012-01-03T19:15:17.741-05:00TheKorean, please don't think I am questioning...<b>TheKorean, please don't think I am questioning your sincerity.</b><br /><br />No worries. I also hope you don't misinterpret my comment as hostility.<br /><br /><b>There are almost certainly NOT only 63 comfort women left around. There are 63 registered women. . . . In the end, not everyone will make the cut. . . . I think if TheKorean's plan were put in place, the advocates running the show on this will just regroup around the ladies left in the cold. They may also start pushing for compensation for comfort womens' immediate family members (spouses, children, siblings, etc).</b><br /><br />I think it is a legitimate point, but I doubt that it changes the fact that the cost for Japan would be minimal. Recall that these women are very old. Anyone who claims for compensation must be at least over 80 years old to make a plausible claim -- in other words, there is a natural barrier as to borderline claims. Even if there are 10 times more surviving Comfort Women who are not registered with Korean government, so what? Even if we suppose the worst possible scenario of, say, compensating pretty much anyone with a claim and the children of the claim-holders, how high could that number possibly be? Even the worst possible scenario cannot possibly present more than 1,000 claim-holders (=surviving Comfort Women.) Even if Japan were to pay the claim-holders' children, the total number cannot go above 5,000. And for Japan, paying 5,000 people a lifetime pension is de minimis.<br /><br />Or, stated differently: last year, there was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/10/42-million-stolen-from-holocaust-survivor-fund_n_781689.html" rel="nofollow">a fraud</a> that swindled $42 million from the pension fund for Holocaust survivors, funded by Germany. But no one is questioning that it was the right thing for German government to compensate Holocaust survivors, right?T.K. (Ask a Korean!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-68454936938284481182012-01-03T18:55:47.634-05:002012-01-03T18:55:47.634-05:00Got caught up in the holidays, and haven't had...Got caught up in the holidays, and haven't had a chance to respond. Here it goes!<br /><br />I'm just going to it on #4, TheKorean's claim Japan can satisfy everyone and a method of doing so.<br /><br />Comfort Women advocates remind me a lot of Slavery Reparation proponents other than interest in comfort women seems to lessen with each passing generation of Koreans. Ask someone advocating monetary compensation for slavery will "let it go" and they almost all give a response which is more or less "no". While I've never asked anyone point blank whether compensating comfort women will clear the matter up, the comments I've seen around the internet lead me to believe an apology with monetary redress lead me to believe it won't go away.<br /><br />Here is how I think Japan will not get off the hook if it were to follow TheKorean's path to redemption. There are almost certainly NOT only 63 comfort women left around. There are 63 registered women. Given the Japanese government's record destruction after the surrender along with the probability of surviving comfort women destroying their own documents, there are likely more out there who just can't meet the standards to be certified. Add to that I suspect there are a number of women impressed into slave labor who more or less became comfort women at their work sites. Once this ball were to get rolling, other claims will need to be reviewed and probably entry standards lowered. <br /><br />In the end, not everyone will make the cut. And that is just for the Republic of Korea. What about comfort women north of the Military Demarcation Line? No, I think if TheKorean's plan were put in place, the advocates running the show on this will just regroup around the ladies left in the cold. They may also start pushing for compensation for comfort womens' immediate family members (spouses, children, siblings, etc). Either way I just don't see this going away with cash + a sumimasen.<br /><br />One last point. TheKorean, please don't think I am questioning your sincerity. I think you would be satisfied if Japan were to do this. But you are but one person in this tale.Chris In Dallashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02178140632315599482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-44923514952621273832011-12-23T17:09:16.763-05:002011-12-23T17:09:16.763-05:00This reminds me of Turkey's denial of the Arme...This reminds me of Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide. Let's just hope that the plight of the comfort women won't die once the last survivors passes...Which is what the Japanese gov. wants it to be...To have it just go away!<br /><br />Issuing words of apology while whitewashing its own history books is not exactly a sincere apology!Marcus75https://www.blogger.com/profile/05797127907819406961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-1991245087658404112011-12-23T09:02:30.921-05:002011-12-23T09:02:30.921-05:00vb,
As TK said, the Korean government does pay ou...vb,<br /><br />As TK said, the Korean government does pay out a pension and other benefits to the survivors. I don't know if it has officially apologized for what Bak Jeonghui did, though.FarFromKoreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04435256769410051796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-17645709719587966142011-12-23T03:47:59.127-05:002011-12-23T03:47:59.127-05:00As a Wikipedia article states, the South Korean go...As a Wikipedia article states, the South Korean government was paid $800 million in order to settle all the claims. Instead of distributing the money to the individuals, they chose to invest them in economic development. <br />Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Basic_Relations_between_Japan_and_the_Republic_of_Korea#Compensation<br />Of course, the comfort women have the right (and by all means should) to go after the Japanese government, but the Korean government owes them an apology (and compensation) as well for selling them out and pocketing their money, unless there were some payments made that I am not aware of.<br /><br />I also think that the issue of comfort women should be exposed to Western public more. It will forever stain Japanese history and may possibly prevent those things from happening in the future. They have to pay for their war crimes, for the crimes against humanity just like everybody else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-57108491899320456052011-12-23T02:22:27.750-05:002011-12-23T02:22:27.750-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-20445530580632680142011-12-21T18:45:45.019-05:002011-12-21T18:45:45.019-05:00"NO. He was a dictator who sold out his own c..."NO. He was a dictator who sold out his own country." Wow, this is the most controversial statement that I have seen in your blog.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143730092002481972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-60110368694893419462011-12-21T10:34:50.907-05:002011-12-21T10:34:50.907-05:00APB,
You said, "If you insist that Park Chun...APB,<br /><br />You said, "If you insist that Park Chung-Hee - who wasn't democratically elected - <br /> cannot represent the Korean people, then how can you claim that the <br /> Japanese people should be responsible for the actions of a government that <br /> they did not democratically elect. By your reasoning the Japanese people <br /> were not represented by their government and thus are not responsible for <br /> their actions."<br /><br />I think you mean that today's modern democratically elected Japanese government should not be responsible for the actions of the unelected Imperial Japan anymore than today's modern democratically elected Korea should be responsible for the actions of Park Chung Hee's government. (If you really did mean the Japanese people as a whole, not just the government - then TK has already addressed this.)<br /><br />This argument is really easy to refute. Morally, what Park did to betray the comfort women was wrong, and the modern Korean government has inherited the responsibility to fix this. Likewise, what the Imperial Japanese government did to the comfort women was morally wrong (or at least its failure to prevent serious wrongdoings by its own employees/soldiers under its control was wrong), and the modern Japanese government has inherited the responsibility to fix this.<br /><br />Finally, legally, regardless of fault (for the responsibility of the illegal provisions in the Basic Treaty), the agreement to end individual compensation claims is null and void under international law as TK states. This would be the case even if Park Chung Hee was democratically elected in a fair election and had 100% support from every member of his electorate, the Korean People.<br /><br />Your argument is a false dichotomy, that either the actions of both Imperial Japan and Park Chung Hee were valid and should be honored (thus eliminating the claims by the comfort women by the agreement made under Park Chung Hee) or that both were invalid and should be ignored as if they never happened (thus preventing the claims from being allowed to exist). But a third option exists: both actions were wrong, and need to be dealt with in as fair a manner as possible. Park Chung Hee's action (the treaty) is reversible in theory, whereas Imperial Japan's is not (short of history altering time travel), hence the disparity in resolving their outcomes. One can be completely undone, the other can only be compensated for.<br /><br />Based on inflation data at http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=200%201965%20dollars%20in%202011&lk=2 the $800 million, if in USD, would today be worth $5,704,520,000 today - or nearly $6 billion. I haven't calculated the cost of TK's compensation plan for comfort women (including lifetime pensions and etc) or the current overall running lifetime cost of the Korean government's payments to comfort women today (including pensions) or its projected future cost, but I suspect that Korea would come out ahead if it demanded a reversal of the treaty and paid Japan back $6 billion.<br /><br />Even if Korea had a financial loss, I think this is acceptable if it gets the modern Japanese government to reverse course and attempt to make up for their war crimes.<br /><br />The Korean,<br /><br />I feel horrified that the Japanese Court system would rule that way, in defiance of existing international law.<br /><br />Another thing I want to say is that it seems like you've gotten some flak for using emotional arguments (in addition to your logical ones). In fact, emotional appeals can be more persuasive than logical ones: e.g. http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/01/slowly-ive-watc.html and http://www.smsu.edu/Academics/Collegenow/Speech%20110/Persuasive%20Lecture.doc<br /><br />I believe that you balance ethos, logos, and pathos very well in your posts, and especially in this post.FarFromKoreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04435256769410051796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-15509475803268679502011-12-21T09:47:25.323-05:002011-12-21T09:47:25.323-05:00APB,
As TK stated, there is a lot of evidence tha...APB,<br /><br />As TK stated, there is a lot of evidence that this was planned and carried out by the Imperial Japanese government. Even if it true that the Prime Minister of the time and his subordinates had nothing to do with it and were unaware of it, the Imperial Japanese government as a whole entity is responsible for the actions of lowest level subordinates in the civil government and the military.<br /><br />This is the same principle under which TEPCO has to pay out compensation for those who had to abandon their homes over the Fukushima crisis. (BTW, I have not seen any evidence that directly states that the highest level of the Imperial Japanese government was unaware of the sexual slavery under the Japanese Military.)<br /><br />Still, I admit that this argument would be strengthened considerably - at least in terms of moral culpability - if the Japanese government had publicly disavowed the actions of those directly responsible for the suffering of the comfort women. It hasn't.<br /><br />You also ask "how do you calculate the appropriate amount of contrition that will satisfy everyone", and claim that TK has not answered this. You are wrong, as TK states in his post:<br /><br />"There are only 63 surviving Comfort Women left. <br />Logistically, it is not difficult at all for the Japanese Prime Minister to pay <br />each one of them a visit, hand-deliver a sincere letter of apology, and vow to <br />provide them with a lifetime pension, identify and punish any surviving <br />Japanese who was responsible, fund a museum and a scholarship dedicated to <br />chronicling the ordeals that they went through, and ensure that Japan's history <br />textbooks accurately depict what happened."FarFromKoreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04435256769410051796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-64071869187638478582011-12-19T18:08:20.759-05:002011-12-19T18:08:20.759-05:00It makes me so sad to hear constant denials. I rea...It makes me so sad to hear constant denials. I really wish this is something that could be worked out. My friend is Japanese, but I side with Korea on this particular issue. I don't dare bring the topic up or even put 1 of 2 cents in.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15106101439732235545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-12616207263584120472011-12-19T17:02:56.986-05:002011-12-19T17:02:56.986-05:00It is difficult to confront the details of an atro...It is difficult to confront the details of an atrocity. But it can be far more painful to confront the instigator in a peaceful manner. Yet when the goal is not to defeat your adversary, but to bring them to your way of thinking, the latter is your only option.<br /><br />Given AAK's convictions on this issue, I encourage him to invite voices from Japan to help explore the subject more deeply, and to better understand why progress has been so slow.MLWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11501483710006076616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-88179840971932410122011-12-19T16:43:54.336-05:002011-12-19T16:43:54.336-05:00This statue is awesome. Public art at its best.This statue is awesome. Public art at its best.phthophthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11702693546384276355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-58964481016949797762011-12-19T14:25:45.349-05:002011-12-19T14:25:45.349-05:00Incredible. Surely APB and Piosza's view on th...Incredible. Surely APB and Piosza's view on the comfort women issue do not represent the popular views in Japan. Because if that's what it is, that is... rather troubling.Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06269549432361052829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-73695041365688026232011-12-19T10:12:12.904-05:002011-12-19T10:12:12.904-05:00While there majority of comfort women were from Ko...While there majority of comfort women were from Korea and China, there were also others from throughout Asia and even some Dutch women.<br /><br />Just a quick glance at the wikipedia page on comfort women shows examples from many world governments urging Japan to make a formal apology and take responsibility for its actions.<br /><br />If this were just a Korea issue, and if it were just Koreans being "emotional", I doubt that so many nations would make such statements.<br /><br />The Japanese wikipedia on comfort women opens by defining comfort women as: women that provided sexual services to Japanese, American, Korean and UN forces in places set up in war areas or around American military bases. And the issue is tied to military prostitution...which I see as different from the comfort women issue.<br /><br />Even if we were to give Japan "props" for addressing the issue after WW2, that doesn't give people in Japan the right to demand comfort women from protesting or speaking about what happened to them. An "apology" doesn't erase history...special_khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02834744712370431401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-45775864338277082752011-12-18T20:59:21.773-05:002011-12-18T20:59:21.773-05:00Chav, I think you're confusing me with the Kor...Chav, I think you're confusing me with the Korean because of the similarity of our IDs. And if you're going to criticize my argument, please read it as a whole.<br /><br />I said, "where is your sense of decency" not to make a personal attack but to criticize APM's method of purely seeking emotionless, "realistic" solutions that do little to satisfy emotionally charged situations like the Comfort women.<br /><br />ABM said, "my position is that if you want to successfully convince people to take your side then it's best not to go at them pointing the finger of moral outrage"<br /><br />Generally, moral outrage is unlikely to convince your opponent to join you. However moral outrage is sometimes necessary. How else should we respond to statements from Japanese top tier leaders equating brothels to cafeterias? Former Japanese Minister of Education Nakayama said that the Comfort Women should have been proud of their profession (read 1B).<br /><br />The Japanese may have made previous apologies, but statements like this from such high level ministers make a mockery of the sincerity of their apology. The solution is not to figure out how to convince obstinate nationalist figures how to give yet another "apology", but to show moral outrage over the insincerity of previous apologies and demand a true change of heart. <br /><br />It's not too difficult. The Japanese government should officially apologize on behalf of the previous imperial government to each Comfort Woman and top politicians should comply with the official apology by not backtracking in future statements or trying to erase the crime from the historical record. Like you, that's my beef too.Korean Justicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16310324050115755477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-63172061614482480632011-12-18T18:17:38.286-05:002011-12-18T18:17:38.286-05:00I hope you know how depraved you sound.
If you do...<b>I hope you know how depraved you sound.</b><br /><b> If you do not feel moral outrage on this issue, you are dead inside.</b><br /><b>where's your sense of decency?</b><br /><br />Just because you're discussion an ethical dilemma doesn't mean ad hominem arguments are justified, in fact it just dilutes your point. <br /><br />Personally I don't really care if Japan takes responsibility for it's past or apologizes. What bothers me is historical revisionism, where Japan flat out denies it ever happened. Acknowledgement seems more important than apologies and compensations to me.Chavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08671447461040963932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-45166717842536584952011-12-18T16:50:40.629-05:002011-12-18T16:50:40.629-05:00Ask a Korean, thank you for your comprehensive res...Ask a Korean, thank you for your comprehensive research on the issue of these abused women. Your post highlighted the importance of their plight on me on many levels.<br /><br />APB, I think it's a good thing that you are trying to seek a solution by looking for practical ways to convince the people of Japan to apologize to the victims of their forefathers and previous government.<br /><br />You said that you agree in spirit with what The Korean said. What the Comfort Women suffered is beyond words. If you agree with this, you should really take a long look at the dry, unsympathetic tone of your points which seem to focus merely on solving the legal rather than moral problem of the crime against comfort women.<br /><br />The heart of your argument seems to be that heartfelt apologies by any national government for past wrongs are both rare and unlikely, regardless of the severity of the moral crime. Hence, the lack of apologies from Western colonial powers, et al. Hence, "s--t happens."<br /><br />Truth is, it is unlikely that there will be any reparations in the near future about Allied atrocities against Asians during WWII. It would be "unrealistic" per your argument to demand compensation. In fact, considering the fact that they won the war, it might be hard to find meticulous historical records documenting their crimes.<br /><br />Does that mean that the nations and peoples of the aggrieved party should remain silent or just accept whatever "settlements" they manage to get? This seems to be your proposed solution. <br /><br />Japan is not ready, per your argument, to take the suggestions the Korean offers to reconcile with Korea on this volatile issue. I'm saying, there's no need to water down the Korean's justifiable moral arguments in order to convince the Japanese to comply. <br /><br />Perhaps, as you imply, Holocaust survivors were helped by the "good luck" of Allied Powers' intentional pressure on Germany leading to reparations and recognition of the gravity of the crime committed against them. If the cards hadn't been stacked in their favor, would you tell them to be more realistic and take whatever Germany offered? <br /><br />If we follow this analogy, we would see major German politicians denying existence of the Holocaust, the German chancellor visiting historical war memorials which include war criminals Hitler, Himmler, et al. Would you expect the Jewish people to accept monetary compensation while the German government's main leaders continue to deny historical guilt (yes, of course, of their predecessors)? I hope not.<br /><br />Lack of emotion is not always good in a moral discussion. You miss the point by ignoring the gravity of crimes committed and the need to confront them, regardless of chances of success.<br /><br />By condescendingly lecturing the Korean on being emotional (angry) about Comfort Women, you show no respect and you are being disingenuous if you don't realize how provocative your demand for emotionless discussion is over what is rightfully a moral question.<br /><br />You sound like you're able to string an argument, but where's your sense of decency?Korean Justicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16310324050115755477noreply@blogger.com