With only 5 living survivors left, fight for justice for Korea’s ‘comfort women’ goes on

On a rainy Friday evening in Seoul, approximately 200 Koreans commemorated the victims of Japan's military sexual slavery during World War II. The event, known as the Butterfly Festival or the International Memorial Day for the Japanese Military "Comfort Women," took place without a barricade separating it from the nearby Statue of Peace.

The statue, which had been surrounded by barricades since 2020 due to fears of defilement by far-right groups, now stands unguarded. The event honored the late Kim Hak-soon, who in 1991 was the first to publicly testify about her experiences as a "comfort woman." Survivor Lee Yong-soo, 98, expressed her gratitude in a video, emphasizing the importance of not forgetting the past.

Fellow survivor Park Pil-geun, also 98, called for reparations and an apology from Japan. With only five living survivors remaining, there are concerns that the fight for justice may soon come to an end. The rally's secretary general, Han Kyung-hee, urged the Japanese government to acknowledge their war crimes, apologize, and provide reparations to victims.

She also called for an end to attempts to erase history and for educational efforts to prevent such behavior in the future. The demonstrators demanded that the Korean government pressure Japan to fulfill its responsibilities and work towards a peaceful world free of violence and hate.