[Opinion] Finding Solutions to Korea-Japan Conflicts in the US Congress

Tom Lantos was a Jewish-American politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 28 years. Born into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, he miraculously escaped from a Nazi concentration camp at the age of 16. He was the only Holocaust survivor in the U.S. Congress. Until his death in office in 2008, he dedicated himself to human rights activism. Even 15 years after his passing, Congress still refers to him as a ‘human rights champion.’

When he died, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi established the ‘Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’ within Congress to preserve his spirit of dedication to human rights advocacy. It is the most authoritative body within the federal legislature dealing with human rights issues. This bipartisan commission, co-chaired by senior members of both the Democratic and Republican parties, operates under the principle that ‘human rights know no borders.’ This is why it held a hearing on the ‘Law Prohibiting the Distribution of Leaflets to North Korea,’ enacted by the Korean National Assembly earlier last year.

In the November 2006 U.S. midterm elections, the Democratic Party gained the majority, and Lantos became the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. As someone pushing for the resolution on comfort women, I paid close attention to Chairman Lantos because the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman is the most crucial person for passing such a resolution.

For several years, the biggest obstacle to passing a resolution on the Japanese military’s forced comfort women in the U.S. Congress was the ‘Japan lobby in Washington.’ The issue of the ‘Japanese military forced comfort women,’ where over 200,000 women in Asia were abducted and enslaved by the Japanese military during the same period as the Holocaust, was brought to Chairman Lantos. As expected, Congressman Lantos was determined to pass the comfort women resolution.

The favorable situation to overcome Japanese obstruction was not limited to Chairman Lantos. Speaker Pelosi was also the first female speaker in U.S. congressional history. Japanese-American Congressman Mike Honda, who had passed a resolution on Japanese military comfort women in the California State Assembly, was very close to Speaker Pelosi. Also noteworthy is Congressman Eni Faleomavaega from American Samoa, vice-chair of the Asia-Pacific Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He regards President Kim Dae-jung as his political mentor and is closely connected to Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yeon as if they were brothers.

With this much support, it was an opportunity given by heaven. On July 30, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the ‘Japanese Military Forced Comfort Women Resolution.’ The resolution called on the Japanese government to acknowledge and apologize for the sexual slavery committed by the Japanese military during the Pacific War and to educate future generations about it. The news that ‘Japan lost in Washington’ spread widely. Despite Japan’s powerful lobbying efforts, the congressional leadership took great pride in successfully addressing a human rights issue. The Lantos Foundation, in connection with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, is passionate about human rights education centered on Lantos’s achievements. Among his human rights accomplishments is the comfort women resolution. The issue of Japanese military forced comfort women has become a historical fact that must be taught to future generations from the heart of America. It is an undeniable truth of history unanimously resolved by U.S. political circles.

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s summit with U.S. President Joe Biden is imminent. There are many reports that America’s top priority demand is the strengthening of the Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance. Cooperation between Korea and Japan is more important to the U.S. than ever. Maintaining good relations with neighboring Japan is also beneficial for Korea.

Why not seek a breakthrough to resolve the comfort women issue, which remains a hurdle with Japan, centered around Washington (the 2007 House comfort women resolution)? Since it is not just a bilateral issue between Korea and Japan but one with a resolution in Washington, the three countries can come together and find a proper solution. Wise responses from President Yoon and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are needed.

Kim Dong-seok, Representative of the Korean American Civic Action (KACA)