Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu Attends Memorial Cultural Festival for Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' Victims

"When Overcoming Painful Wounds, It Is Time to Realize Women's Rights and the Value of Peace"

Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu attended the '2020 Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims Memorial Cultural Festival' on the 12th and emphasized that "beyond the painful wounds, women's rights and the value of peace must be realized." (Photo by Changwon City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 13th that Mayor Heo Seong-moo attended the ‘2020 Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims Memorial Cultural Festival.’

The memorial ceremony was held on the 12th at Odong-dong Cultural Square in Masanhappo-gu. It is held annually on August 14, ‘Day of Remembrance,’ hosted by the ‘Machangjin Citizens’ Association with the Japanese Military Comfort Women Grandmothers.’

This day, designated as a national memorial day, marks the day when the late Kim Hak-soon, a victim of the Japanese military comfort women, first publicly testified about her suffering in 1991.

Since the partial amendment of the ‘Act on the Protection, Support, and Commemoration Projects for Victims of the Japanese Military Comfort Women under Japanese Colonial Rule’ passed in December 2017, it has been called ‘Day of Remembrance,’ and this year marks the third observance.

Mayor Heo Seong-moo said, “Following the grandmothers’ will who sublimated their pain and suffering into the practice of human rights and peace, it is now time to practice the values of women’s human rights and peace,” adding, “I hope citizens will also join in the work of establishing justice.”

Originally, four comfort women victims lived in Changwon, but with one passing away in January, there are currently three grandmothers remaining.