Harvard Korean Students Condemn Professor Who Claims 'Comfort Women Are Prostitutes'

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Korean students at Harvard University in the United States have issued a statement condemning a professor at their university who claimed that Japanese military comfort women were officially recognized prostitutes.

The Korean American Harvard Law Students Association (KAHLS) released a statement on the 4th (local time), strongly condemning Harvard Law School professor John Mark Ramseyer for "deliberately erasing human rights violations and war crimes." A total of six organizations, including the Harvard Law School Chinese Law Association (CLA) and the Harvard Asian Law Students Association (HALS), signed the statement.

They criticized, "Professor Ramseyer's claims are inaccurate and misleading," adding, "He asserts without solid evidence that the government did not force women into prostitution."

The students also pointed out that Professor Ramseyer did not consider any perspectives or evidence that contradicted his claims.

In the statement, they said, "It is clear from the references alone that Professor Ramseyer did not faithfully present historical facts," criticizing, "He barely mentioned Korean perspectives and academic works in his research."

They continued, "Professor Ramseyer also ignored extensive academic materials from international organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International," stating, "These international organizations have found that the Japanese government threatened, abducted, and forced comfort women."

The students noted, "Historians understand the possibility of revisionism and bias and refer to a wide range of materials to prevent this," and criticized, "Professor Ramseyer did not consider the perspectives of scholars who detailed the testimonies of comfort women."

They added, "Ignoring their research gives a false impression that Korean comfort women freely entered into contracts."

The students declared, "We stand with the victims who have not received full compensation and an official apology from the Japanese government," and "We strongly condemn all acts that insult the victims."

In his paper, Professor Ramseyer claimed that comfort women at the time entered into contracts and freely negotiated conditions such as payment. In an article for the online media 'Japan Forward,' he also argued that the story of comfort women as 'sex slaves' is a complete fabrication.

Professor Ramseyer spent his youth in Japan and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star (旭日中綬章) by the Japanese government in 2018.