On the 25th, Comfort Woman Victim Grandmother Lee Yong-soo Raises Allegations Again of Yoon Mi-hyang and Justice Network's Misuse of Donations
After the Press Conference, Excessive Criticism Toward Grandmother Lee Continues... "Senile Old Woman"
Expert: "Harsh Criticism Should Be Avoided on Issues Whose Truthfulness Has Not Been Determined"
Grandmother Lee Yong-soo holds up a document as she begins a press conference on the afternoon of the 25th at the Inter-Burgo Hotel in Manchon-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu. [Photo by Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy reporters Seunggon Han and intern Yeonju Kim] "How can you shamelessly demand money while living with a shameful past?", "People might think you saved the country or something."
On the 25th, grandmother Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, held a press conference at the Inter-Burgo Hotel in Daegu, claiming that the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeokdae), its predecessor the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop), and Yoon Mee-hyang, the elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea (former director of Jeonguiyeokdae), exploited the victims of sexual slavery. In response, harsh criticism has been pouring in against grandmother Lee.
Experts pointed out that if divisive criticism continues on an issue whose truth has not yet been determined, the essence of the matter could become obscured.
At the press conference, grandmother Lee raised her voice, saying, "Comfort women and women who were sent to factories as labor corps are very different. I was taken as a Japanese military comfort woman at the age of 14. What I endured after being taken is beyond words," and "Jeongdaehyeop is an organization for labor corps women, so what right do they have to exploit comfort women victims?"
She added, "When I went to church, (Jeongdaehyeop) gave me money, but I didn't even know what the money was for," and explained, "I followed fundraising events like basketball games without knowing why they were raising money."
She continued, "(Yoon, the elected member) shamelessly shed fake tears in front of the grave while making grandmother Kim Bok-dong suffer and dragging her around," and said, "The prosecution will reveal all the crimes of giving illness and then medicine."
After the press conference, as the controversy surrounding Yoon and Jeonguiyeokdae intensified, aggressive comments targeting grandmother Lee have been flooding online.
Netizens expressed reactions through online communities and social networking services (SNS) such as, "After attending the Wednesday demonstrations a few times, it turns out it was all about money," and "Jeonguiyeokdae's dedication was wasted."
One netizen said, "Grandmother has gone too far," and added, "We should feel sorry for her, but why don't we? She is harming other victims."
Another netizen said, "If it weren't for Jeonguiyeokdae, you (comfort women victims) would have fallen into prostitution," and "In short, this is just acting out because they don't like it."
Especially, some netizens poured out excessive criticism such as, "Comfort women went because of money, right?", "Take down all the Girl Statues and abolish the Wednesday demonstrations," "Grandmother Lee Yong-soo's tears are nothing but crocodile tears," and "Living shamefully and still causing disgrace to the end."
One netizen sarcastically said, "So you went to the Wednesday demonstrations all this time to get money," and "Is money that good?"
Another netizen harshly criticized, "They don't understand Jeonguiyeokdae's achievements and treat her as a traitor because she doesn't get money," and "Comfort women did it for money after all."
Yet another netizen said harshly, "Living with a shameful past, you would think she was an independence activist," and "Why don't you just say comfort women were fake?"
Others also criticized, saying, "An old person blinded by lust for power. The press conference was so childish I couldn't bear to watch," and "It's just a pointless performance."
In this regard, Professor Kwak Geum-joo of the Department of Psychology at Seoul National University said, "Starting with harsh criticism on an issue that remains controversial creates a structure where the parties involved cannot properly resolve the matter," and added, "Especially in this case, since it has the symbolic meaning of 'comfort women victims,' there is a need to be more cautious in the process."
Professor Kwak said, "When an issue arises, if criticism, division, and social conflict are caused, it could lead to social confusion," and urged, "Our society should watch the process and know how to wait for the issue to be resolved."
Meanwhile, on the same day (the 25th), Jeonguiyeokdae expressed a "heartache" without making a specific statement regarding grandmother Lee's press conference and distributed explanatory materials about some of her remarks.
According to the materials, Jeonguiyeokdae said, "We watched today's press conference with a heavy heart. It seems inappropriate to make a statement about the press conference of a Japanese military 'comfort women' victim with whom we have worked for 30 years," and "However, we provide explanatory materials on a few points."
Jeonguiyeokdae said that grandmother Lee said at the press conference, "(Jeongdaehyeop) never sat me down to take testimony," and "I saw books being sold for 6,500 won since 1993. Still, I didn't know."
Here, the 'book' is interpreted as referring to 'Forced to be Taken: Testimonies of Korean Military Comfort Women,' published by Jeongdaehyeop and others.
Regarding this, Jeonguiyeokdae explained the background of the publication of the testimony collection and clarified that grandmother Lee's testimony is also included in the first volume of the comfort women victims' testimony collection, 'Forced to be Taken: Testimonies of Korean Military Comfort Women.'
Jeonguiyeokdae said, "Researchers from the 'Korean Research Institute for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery' (later the Korean Research Institute for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery) participated in recording the testimonies," and "The testimony collection was published as a joint work of Jeongdaehyeop and the Korean Research Institute."
They added, "At that time, the testimony collection was the strongest evidence to inform the existence of victims and counter the Japanese government's denial of illegality due to the lack of documentary evidence."
Jeonguiyeokdae explained that Professor Yoon Jung-ok, emeritus professor at Ewha Womans University (the first representative of Jeongdaehyeop), and Professor Jung Jin-sung, emeritus professor at Seoul National University, participated in the publication of the testimony collection.
Jeonguiyeokdae claimed, "Grandmother Lee was the most attacked by Japanese right-wingers and historical denialists who tried to deny the victims' testimonies," and "Therefore, today's press conference was especially heartbreaking. Although some parts of the victims' testimonies changed while confronting the perpetrators, the essential content of the suffering endured as Japanese military 'comfort women' has never changed."
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