Spread of Mockery Including Regional Slurs Like "Daeguseureopda" and Personal Attacks
Grandmother Lee Yong-soo (92), a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, is holding a press conference on the afternoon of the 25th at the Inter-Burgo Hotel in Manchon-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The personal attacks against grandmother Lee Yong-soo (92), a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, have crossed the line, causing public outrage.
The ridicule and malicious comments toward her poured in immediately after her first press conference in Daegu on the 7th. Comments on related articles included criticisms unrelated to her statements. Some netizens wrote comments such as "Is she suffering from dementia?" and "So Daegu-like."
One netizen slandered grandmother Lee as a "pro-Japanese granny," saying, "So that's why she was spouting nonsense."
Meanwhile, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon posted on his Facebook on the 1st, saying, "This is the level of the Democratic Party," and added, "Click and check the comments; it's shocking."
The link he shared was a post by a netizen presumed to be a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stating, "I pay tribute to the sincere love of the grandmother who held a soul wedding with a fallen Japanese soldier. A Japanese person's wife is essentially Japanese. Apologize to the Korean people. Aren't you ashamed?"
Grandmother Lee Yong-soo (92), a victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery, is holding a press conference on the afternoon of the 25th at the Inter-Burgo Hotel in Manchon-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The post appears to assume that the grandmother mentioned is the same as the subject of a media report from August 27, 1998, titled "A 69-year-old comfort woman grandmother held a soul wedding with a Japanese military officer she met on the battlefield."
According to the article, the comfort woman grandmother revisited a Taiwanese military comfort station after 54 years to console the soul of an unknown Japanese military officer from the "Kamikaze Special Attack Unit" who saved her life while she was on the brink of death as a comfort woman.
The grandmother who participated in the soul wedding at the time said, "The atrocities committed by the Japanese military deserve to be cursed, but his humanity cannot be erased by any ideology."
It has not been confirmed whether the grandmother mentioned in the article is indeed grandmother Lee Yong-soo. Therefore, the subject of the article is not her. However, the rumor that the article's subject is grandmother Lee and that she held a soul wedding with a Japanese soldier rapidly spread on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook starting from the 30th of last month.
Meanwhile, the civic group supporting comfort women victims in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, "Citizens' Group with the Comfort Women Grandmothers," stated on the 1st, "Since grandmother Lee's recent press conference, cases of defamation and damage to her honor through online comments have increased significantly," and added, "To protect grandmother from such illegal acts, we plan to take active legal measures against malicious comments and the spread of false information. We ask for related reports."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
