Korean Publishers Association Cancels Special Contribution Award for Park Yuha, Author of "Comfort Women of the Empire"... "Apologies to the Public and Comfort Women Survivors"

Concerns Raised Over Recipient Selection
Association Cancels Award After Internal Review
"Apologies to the Public and Comfort Women Survivors"

The Korean Publishers Association has canceled its decision to grant a Special Award of the Korean Publishing Contribution Award to Park Yuha, Professor Emeritus at Sejong University and author of the controversial book "Comfort Women of the Empire," which described Japanese military comfort women as being in a "comradely relationship with the Japanese military" and sparked public debate. The award for co-recipient Jung Jongju, CEO of Ppuriwaipari Publishing, has also been revoked.

On October 1, the association stated, "After the selection of the special contribution award recipients was announced, there were criticisms and concerns raised about its appropriateness. We convened an emergency board of directors meeting and a committee for the Korean Publishing Merit Award and related industry merit awards on Book Day, and decided to cancel the special contribution awards for the two individuals."

The association further said, "During the selection process, we failed to fully consider the painful history of our people who suffered under Japanese colonial rule, the comfort women survivors, and the pain and anger of many who have empathized with and supported efforts to heal these wounds. We sincerely apologize to the public, the comfort women survivors themselves, and to all those who have expressed concern and have been active in this cause."

The association also expressed its intention to improve the system to prevent similar incidents in the future. "We will ensure that mistakes are not repeated in the selection process for future award recipients, and will correct the procedures and methods so that the opinions of the public and publishers are widely and properly reflected," it said.

Previously, the association had selected Professor Park and CEO Jung as special award recipients, stating, "There was a recommendation that the two have devoted themselves to defending academic freedom and freedom of the press and publishing through lengthy legal battles." It added, "After an internal review, Professor Park and the publishing company CEO were selected as co-recipients."

Professor Park's book "Comfort Women of the Empire" included claims that the Japanese military comfort women were not simply victims, but "individuals who had a cooperative relationship with the Japanese military," and that "some followed voluntarily." In 2015, she was indicted for defamation but was ultimately acquitted last year. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that it was difficult to see her statements as "factual assertions" that constituted defamation, and sent the case back to a lower court, which also found her not guilty. The prosecution then dropped its appeal, finalizing the acquittal. In July, a previous injunction that had restricted publication and distribution of the book on the condition that certain controversial content be deleted was also lifted.