A letter sent by AJCN to the Mayor of Mitte, Berlin

On October 20, 2020, AJCN sent two letters to the Mayor of Mitte, requesting the removal of the statue of Comfort Women.

One is from a citizen's perspective and focuses on the issue of the statue of Comfort Women in Australia, and the other is an open letter format that focuses on Fact-based historical descriptions (with references). This blog publishes an open letter.

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Open Letter

October 20, 2020

Mr. Stephan von Dassel

The Mayor of Mitte city 

Der Bezirlsbürgemeister,

Bezirksamt Mitte, Berlin Germany

bezirksbuergermeister@ba-mitte.berlin.de

Dear Mr Dassel,

Re: Comfort Woman Statue: A means for discounting, isolating and exploiting Japan

Figure 1. The opening ceremony of the Comfort woman Statue in front of the Glendale Central Library, Glendale California, the US; A woman holding a large portrait of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzou Abe with a Hakenkreuz (Swastika) on his face, propagating Prime Minster Abe as Adolf Hitler, July 31, 2013.

Introduction

My name is Sumiyo Egawa, a resident of Sydney Australia, and the President of Australia-Japan Communication Network (aka AJCN).  AJCN is a small volunteer group of Australian and Japanese parents, who are concerned about the safety and security of the minority ethnic groups’ children live in Australian.  The current activity of AJCN is mainly, protecting children of Japanese heritage from schoolyard bullying by other children who might be misinformed and misguided by Anti-Japan propagandists, in particular activists affiliated with Chinese and Koreans groups.

The purpose of writing this letter to you is to express my, the AJCN members, and many other Japanese (in and outside of Japan)’ disappointment and sorrow at the news that you have withdrawn the previous decision to remove Comfort Woman Statue from your city, the Mitte District of Berlin.   Your decision enables the Korean group to continue propagating their ambitious, corrupted and commercialized political Anti-Japan campaign until the Court's decision is delivered.  Through this letter, I am trying to explain the truth behind Comfort Woman Statue in order to avoid engulfing Mitte, an unrelated city, into an ugly dispute over Comfort Woman Statues, a matter of contention between Japan and Korea. 

Korean Comfort Women were Well paid prostitutes during WWII

Firstly, please consider the context that all “evidence” that Koreans claim support that the Imperial Japanese Military Force kidnapped 200,000 Korean girls and made them as sexual slaves (euphemized to Comfort Women during WWII) are based on malicious lies, designed to harm and discount Japan’ reputation.  

These Korean wartime prostitutes earned attractive amounts of incomes (equivalent or more than a Japanese Army Colonel’s income; for example, Ms Moon Okuju, one of the Ex-Comfort Woman’s bank account balance shows that she could buy three free-standing houses in Tokyo in the 1940s, attached Photo. 4) and worked at various brothels in Asian war zones*1.   The Imperial Japanese Military did assist and protect these prostitutes' movements from the Korean peninsula to various brothels and vice versa as there were no sufficient and safe means of transportation during the war.  The Japanese Army was also concerned for these prostitute’s welfare and health.  On the other hand, there were no major violent incident or mistreatment against prostitutes by the Japanese Military.  There was No major violent incident between prostitutes and Japanese soldiers reported in newspaper articles, official documents and primary sources available, except for one isolated case in Indonesia.  The Japanese Government has officially admitted the Semarang incidents in the Dutch East Indies, in where Ms Jane Ruff O’Herne and some other Dutch women were forced into prostitution by a few Japanese soldiers.  The Japanese Government has apologized and compensated those Dutch women, and the Japanese soldiers involved in this case were severely punished, and one of them was sentenced to death by hanging.  The late Ms Jane Ruff O’Herne was the only Ex-Dutch Comfort Woman, who campaigned against Japan with the Korean Anti-Japan propagandist group.  

A Deceitful Korean Citizens’ Group (NGO) and the Comfort Women Issue

I reprinted the article on the Nadeshiko Action website with the permission from Representative Ms.Yamamoto.
Japanese version is also posted on the Japanese AJCN blog.

                                     Secretary-General and President of AJCN 

                                                                   Sumiyo Egawa 

Human Rights Council 
Forty-fourth session
June–July 2020 (TBC)
Agenda item 4
Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention
Joint written statement* submitted by Japan Society for History Textbook, non-governmental organizations in special consultative status 

The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is
circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.

[27 May 2020]

A Deceitful Korean Citizens’ Group (NGO) and the Comfort Women Issue

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (hereinafter KCWDMS), currently called The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (hereinafter KCJR), a Korean organization primarily centered on the comfort women issue and has criticized Japan in the United Nations Human Rights Council for “coercive recruitment into ‘sexual slavery’”, has allegedly defrauded its donors. The KCWDMS has had special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2014.

Ms. LEE Yong-soo, a self-proclaimed comfort woman has long been active with the group. She is known around the world as the activist who screamed before the members of the US House of Representatives in 2007 during the deliberation on the resolution calling for an apology from the Japanese government over the comfort women issue. Recently, she asked President Donald Trump for a hug as an ex-comfort woman at the state dinner given during President’s visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) in November 2017.

On May 7, 2020, Ms. LEE Yong-soo without hesitation stated the following at a press conference in Daegu, the ROK.

1. The donations collected by the group were never used for former comfort women. The money was mostly used for private purposes and the responsibility lies with Ms. YOON Mi-hyang, who was the head of the group until this past March 2020.
2. Ms. LEE’s testimonies about her days as a comfort woman were given as instructed by the group. 
3. She was not a “sex slave.” She requested Ms. YOON Mi-hyang not to use the phrase because she did not understand why she was called one but Ms. YOON made it a point of using the phrase “sex slave” at the UN because “the expression was effective in scaring America.”

Based on these three points, it is clear that former president YOON
Mihyang allowed false testimonies to be made from those who call themselves "comfort women", including Ms. LEE, and misrepresented the comfort women as “sex slaves,” made use of the UN to spread the lie of the comfort women issue as a global women’s human rights issue and collected large amounts of donations from within and outside the ROK for her own personal use.

At present, former KCJR president YOON Mi-hyang has been denounced by several citizens’ groups, in addition to Ms. LEE Yong-soo, for suspected private use of donations and dubious accounting. The ROK’s prosecutors have started an investigation—prosecutors searched the KCJR premises on May 20 and 21, 2020.

UN Human Rights Council Fooled by Crooks

As has been repeatedly demonstrated in the past, Japanese "comfort women" were prostitutes who worked in warzones. This has been clearly stated by US Army Psychological Warfare Report No. 49 (official data of the US Army) dated October 1, 1944 made by the US Office of War Information (OWI), a report of captured Korean comfort women and their employers in Burma. The American interrogator stated that “a comfort girl is nothing more than a prostitute or professional camp follower” in conclusion.

The KCWDMS claimed that “Japanese administrative personnel coercively recruited 200,000 Korean women to make them comfort women and abused them as ‘sex slaves.’” However, on its face, this is clearly nonsense. In fact, many "comfort women" were obligated to engage in this line of work solely for the money. From 1930s to the middle of WWII, Korean criminal syndicates trafficked Korean women to Manchuria and China to become prostitutes. Really, most comfort women then who claim to have been "coerced" were victims of criminals. It should be noted that Japanese administrative personnel did what they could to enforce the law. Accounts of kidnappings and Japanese responses have been noted in the Dong-a Ilbo of the time.

Nonetheless, the KCWDMS outright lies to the UN, and denigrates the honor of Japan, striving to show its earnestness in combatting human trafficking.

Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Committee against Torture (CAT) and Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) have recommended the Japanese government to “publicly acknowledge legal responsibility for the crimes of sexual slavery and prosecute and punish perpetrators with appropriate penalties” based on an opinion paper from the group.

In light of the circumstances, we request the following:

• The matter of the KCJR (former KCWDMS), must be vigorously investigated and resolved by the Government of the ROK and the findings reported to the UN Human Rights Council. The UN Human Rights Council must immediately demand this action to the Government of the ROK.
  
• The six human rights treaty-based bodies mentioned above made accusations against Japan based on KCWDMS’s falsehoods and deceit, and continuously issued misdirected recommendations to the Japanese government concerning the comfort women issue. We demand that the various human rights treaty-based bodies thoroughly investigate facts without swallowing the victims’ testimonies and produce a report. A scientific investigation based on facts is more important than anything.

International Research Institute of Controversial Histories (iRICH) NGO without consultative status, also share the views expressed in this statement.

Corruption of anti-Japan Korean organization

Sumiyo Egawa 

Secretariat-General and President of AJCN

May 7, Lee Yong-soo, one of former “Comfort Women” accused an influential activist group “the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan” since this group is exploiting Women and exploiting money from Japan for Japan Bashing. She declared she would not attend Wednesday rally anymore,
When Mr. Michael Yon, my friend came to Sydney for supporting AJCN, he told me the “Comfort Women” are animals kept in a zoo called “The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan” and trained by it so that they have been main players at the anti-Japan campaign. The fraud and corruption of this group being revealed this time proves his words.


Re: Michael Yon
■ Title
Photographer / journalist
■ Profile
Born in Florida, USA in 1964. He belonged to the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) for 5 years in the 1980s. Since 2004, he has been a correspondent in the Iraq war and Afghan conflict. Report on 70 countries around the world is also receiving attention from major media in the world. He “re-discovered” the US government research report IWG report, which had been buried for nearly 10 years, and continues to research the truth of the “comfort women” issue. Recently He enthusiastically covered the Hong Kong issue and disseminated information about the Chinese Communist Party's oppression on Hong Kong citizens.

The following is an article of The Japan Times News published May 9, 2020 quoting the article of Kyodo published on May 8. The scandal is being pursued daily in South Korea, and a reassessment of the anti-Japanese activities affected by this group abroad will be also undertaken.

Ex-'comfort woman' in South Korea criticizes weekly protests at Japanese Embassy
The Japan Times News  May 9, 2020


Lee Yong Soo, a 91-year-old former South Korean "comfort woman," holds a news conference in the city of Daegu on Thursday. | YONHAP / VIA KYODO

KYODO
SEOUL – A 91-year-old former "comfort woman" in South Korea has criticized weekly protest rallies in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, saying they preach hatred to young participants.
Lee Yong-soo's accusation, made at a news conference Thursday, marks a rare moment of dissent among veteran participants in the rallies that have been held 1,438 times every Wednesday since January 1992.
Together with a civic group that has organized the rallies and supported the comfort women who were forced or coerced into sexual servitude under various circumstances before and during the war, including abduction, deception and poverty, Lee has spent years demanding an apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
The wartime dispute has been one of the major issues straining ties between Japan and South Korea.
At Thursday's news conference in the southeastern city of Daegu, the nonagenarian accused the group, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, of not using in a transparent manner donations collected from the public.

Lee also said she will no longer attend the weekly rallies, which draw many students from middle school through university, among other participants, and that the gatherings should end.
"The rallies only teach young students hatred," she said, adding that young generations of South Koreans and Japanese should interact more and become friendly to each other.
She also criticized Yoon Mi-hyang, former head of the group, for becoming a lawmaker after successfully running in the April 15 general election as a ruling party-affiliated candidate.
Her pointed criticism of Yoon may suggest some internal division within the group after the 55-year-old activist sought to enter politics.
On Friday, Yoon wrote on her social media account that all the donations collected by the group were subjected to thorough oversight and were used properly. She also emphasized the importance of the weekly rallies.
The civic group separately released a statement on Friday saying it was regrettable that there was some misunderstanding between the group and former comfort women.
"We will use this as a chance to look back on our movements during the past 30 years where we tried our best to be together with the victims as family and colleagues," the group said, pledging to work harder to help settle the comfort women issue with Japan and restore the women's rights and honor.

Letter to Melbourne Mayor

The unveiling ceremony for the Statue of the Comfort Women was held on November 14, last year in front of the Korean Society of Victoria in Oakley, Monash. Following the comfort women statue installed in the parking lot behind the Uniting Church Ashfield in Sydney, it is the second in Australia and since the one overseas was established in Glendale, California, USA (July 2013), the 10th body this time. Mayor of Hwaseong, who is visiting Australia also attended the unveiling ceremony. Hwaseong-City, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, actively supported the installation of statues overseas, and the city has supported and installed statues in Toronto, Canada (November 2015) and Shanghai, China (October 2016). It is the third body. The statue installed this time is the same as the one that Hwaseong City installed in Dongtan central park in August 2014, and was temporarily suspended at the Aichi Triennale 2019, an international art festival held in Aichi Prefecture. It is the work of Kim Eun-sung / Kim Seo-gyeong who produced the statue of the girl who was exhibited at the exhibition " Inconvenience of Expression and afterwards". “ The construction of the statue of the girl began with the intent to heal the wounds of the victims of comfort women and to inform the world of the sexual abuse of the Japanese army, '' said Hwaseong Mayor, saying Hwaseong citizens and Melbourne Koreans aiming for peace and I hope that my brothers' compelling wishes will be transmitted to the world.

The comfort women in Sydney and Melbourne have the same body design, but the groups that promoted the installation are different. In early November, AJCN sent a letter to the mayor of the city of Monash, administrative district where the statue exists, concerned about the unveiling of the comfort women statue in Melbourne. It is an eight-page long sentence, described the essence of the comfort women statue issue in Australia, beginning with the promotion of the first comfort women statue by the Chinese and Korean anti-Japanese organization and the other group pushing the opposition around in the second installation promotion campaign.

AJCN explained in detail the background and the foreign forces behind the promoters, which were set up behind the church building and are now being set up in Melbourne, with photographs and supporting materials.

The full text of this letter is published here. I think that you can understand the whole picture of the comfort women statue issue in Australia if you read this. AJCN has received a reply from the mayor stating that the city recognized this issue and that no application has been made in public places.

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Mr. Shane McCluskey
Mayor, City of Monash

3 November 2019

Re: Comfort Woman statue which Korean anti-Japan group plans to unveil 
at Korean Society of Victoria in Oakleigh on 14 November, 2019

Dear Mayor McCluskey,

My name is Sumiyo Egawa, Secretary-General of Australia-Japan Community Network.　We are a group of Japanese and Australian parents who gathered to protect our children from bullying and harassment caused by activities conducted by politically motivated people and organisations. We have been opposing the erection of so-called comfort woman statues in any public or private places visible from roads and streets because such statues have always been politically utilized and causing unnecessary disharmony in local communities that often leads to hostile acts against children of Japanese heritage.
Completely apart from interpretation of historical facts we have a numerous number of reasons to believe this statue has been promoted as a political tool causing unnecessary animosity and division to local communities.  For this reason, Strathfield Council unanimously declined the Korean and Chinese proposal in 2015 as more than 70% of residents voted No to the statue. This kind of statues have been erected all over the world, and demonstrations taking place beside the statues are clearly political, racial and often violent.  We consider this is a huge intimidation to the Japanese nationals.  Please see the photos below for your references.  What further concerns us is the fact that those specific Korean people promoting the statue are trying to break the governmental mutual agreement proposed by both Japanese and the South Korean governments. This agreement is implemented with the aim to provide assistance to the families of deceased comfort women and surviving comfort women, and Australian government officially announced that they also support this agreement as well. We hardly understand why we can not let the two governments settle and build a better relationship for the future.  This statue is a clear symbol with the intention of disregarding the governmental agreement.


Mr. Abe beheaded beside the statue. Photography taken in South Korea


One of the ceremonies held in the U.S. to promote the “comfort women” statue.

Australia is a multicultural country believing that all people should be able to live in harmony and enjoy freedom from discrimination. To erect a statue that demonizes one nation in the name of Women’s Human Rights is in direct conflict with the nature of said multiculturalism. The statue erected in Glendale, California is proof that these statues generate hate rather than love. I attached our presentation material, "Harmony must come first" and Letter from Mother in LA for understanding what happened surrounding the statues. No matter who claims that this statue represents the human rights and dignity of women, you can understand how this statue is political and symbolizes hatred. To erect the statue potentially creates a hostile environment for local Japanese residents and their children. It also assists these politically motivated anti- Japan forces to drive a wedge between Japan and Australia which is their major operational intention outlined in the book “Silent invasion” written by an Australian academic, Dr.Clive Hamilton and plotted by the authoritarian, communist regimes who are supporting and financing this agenda. 

The "Comfort Women Statue" issue began in Sydney in February 2014 when the Chinese and Korean alliance called "The United Austral Korean-Chinese Alliance against Japanese War Crimes" (KACA) held a meeting to announce the ten goals of their anti-Japan lobbying which included their political activities such as "to lobby the Australian Prime Minister to put less importance on foreign diplomatic relationships with Japan" and "to erect the Comfort Women statues in all regions of Australia". Since that time, we have observed various figures of the anti-Japan alliance (and of the associated individuals/ organisations) that took part in endorsing the statue to be erected in Sydney. 

1. The first movement for erecting the Comfort Women statue
(The proposal for the erection was rejected by Strathfield City Council on August 11, 2015)
The organisation that submitted a proposal to erect a Comfort Women statue in the square in front of Strathfield Station is an anti-Japanese organization called KACA.
In September 2014 issue of the "Journal of the Korean Society of Sydney", KACA posted a totally political declaration called “The Eight Objectives”.  In it KACA stated that it would work for the interest of Korea and China. (Please refer attached “The Eight Objectives/Points”) When Japanese Prime Minister Abe visited Australia in July 2014, KACA disseminated an open letter to parliamentarians, state councils and the media, criticizing the Japanese government and demonstrated in front of the National Assembly in Canberra.

(Mr.Ok speaking at that time with Mr. Song, leader of KACA standing by his side, taking part in an anti-Japan demonstration in Canberra, July 2014)

Mr. Sang Ok, the Deputy Mayor of Strathfield at the time, was the chairman of KACA. In 2015 he was replaced by Mr. Luke Song, the former chairman of KSSA (Korean Society of Sydney, Australia). Mr. Luke Song wrote several extreme hate comments on KSSA’s website regarding the Abe cabinet and the Japanese Australian residents while he was the chairman of KSSA. Mr. Song insists that the proposed statue was only to enhance woman’s human rights.  Nonetheless, he used language such as “destroy Shinzo Abe and the Japanese who are dreaming of reviving militarism” and “we are fighting against our enemy to end our sad history”. These strong aggressive words and statements are very common from all the anti-Japan Chinese Korean alliance groups around the world . In September 2014 they released their mission statement in a Korean newspaper in Sydney in which they stated the following: 
"We will urge the US government not to be deceived by Japan, acknowledge the dark evil intention of Prime Minister Abe, stop remilitarization of Japan and change their foreign policies that put Japan first before Korea and China."
"Three Sisters", the Comfort Woman statue, which was proposed to be erected in Strathfield was designed by a Chinese artist and allegedly the cost of the production was to be born by the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party.

2. The second movement for erecting Comfort Women statues
The trigger for beginning stage two of this campaign of erecting comfort women statues was the agreement made between the Japanese and Korean governments to finally settle the Comfort Women issue on December 28, 2015. “Chong Dae Hyup”, an anti-Japan political group which is closely related to North Korea, opposed this governmental agreement and began their monthly Wednesday demonstrations all over the world. In response to this, FCWS (Friends of Comfort Women in Sydney) and Project Group Sysochu (Peace Statue Establishing Committee in Sydney), were formed in Sydney and they started monthly Wednesday demonstrations in Sydney and Brisbane. Many of the members of the two groups, however, are the same people and they really are just one organization. This includes members belonging to existing organizations such as KACA, The Korean Cultural Center Inc. and KSSA.  Although Mr. Luke Song, Chairperson of KACA appeared to disappear from the scene following his failure to erect the statue in Strathfield, he consequently visited the Uniting Church in Ashfield on 22 February 2016 with FCWS members to discuss with Rev. Crews about relocating the statue to the Uniting Church ground.

Centre: Rev.Bill Crews, Left: Ms.Vivian Pak ,Current leader of FCWS, Right: Mr.Luke Song,Chairperson of KACA

The purpose of this anti-Japan activist group is to tear down the Japan-ROK agreement, and demand the Japanese government pay even greater reparations to ex-Comfort Women. The preparatory work to erect the statue was sponsored and carried out under the direction of Chong Dae Hyup. Please see below further information regarding the people involved, who attended the unveiling ceremony on 6 August, 2016 .

About Chong Dae Hyup and its leader, Ms. Yun Mi-Hyang
The main player who brought the statue to the Uniting Church in Ashfield was Chong Dae Hyup in 2016.  At the initiative of Chong Dae Hyup, the campaign activities were carried out by young Koreans holding working holiday visas and student visas. The below photo is taken in unveiling ceremony held in 2016. Front left is Rev.Crews and back left is Ms.Yun Mi-Hyang.   Former Chong Dae Hyup changed to the Name of the group to "The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan War."



About Friends of Comfort Women in Sydney (FCWS)
The anti-Japan demonstration held on 14 August 2019 in front of the Consulate General of Japan Sydney organised by the Korean anti-Japan activists by the name of “Friends of Comfort Women in Sydney” (FCWS)  The leader is Ms.Vivian Pak who acted as MC in this demonstration.

Mr. David Shoebridge MLC,Parliament House made a speech allegedly what he said was factually untrue and no more than politically motivated anti-Japan propaganda which is highly insulting.
Left: Mr. David Shoebridge  Right: Ms.Vivian Pak

Although we sent a letter of protest to Mr.David Shoebridge and the Headquarters of the Greens, they replied nothing to us. As FCWS and its main members may be regarded as the agents of North Korea or Chinese Communist Party, they are subject to surveillance of Australian security agencies. Australian government and ASIO realise that the erections of the Comfort Women statues are a part of activities of the anti-Japanese Korean group is said to be just a glove and the hand inside that moves this glove is the CCP, in this worldwide anti-Japan lobbying. Since these Korean anti-Japan activities are being utilised as a part of the Chinese Communist Party’s information operation attempting to cut the ties of the alliance between Japan, The U.S. and Australia.

About who intends to erect the Comfort Women statue in Melbourne
I found the invitation notice of the unveiling ceremony in Melbourne in the Facebook site of FCWS. This time the promoter is  "Melbourne Comfort Women Memorial Task Force" led by Chunje Cho, President MCWM Task Force. I believe this group works with FCWS.
The ceremony will be held at Korean Society of Victoria, 21-29 Railway Ave, Oakleigh VIC 3166.


The issue for us is where they will bring the statue after the unveiling ceremony.
We would like you not to permit this statue will be put on the ground of public place or private place visible from roads and streets.

In conclusion, we can only see one reason for this statue and that is to create ill feeling at the least, and hatred, at the worst, towards Japan and its people and the people of Japanese heritage residing in Australia. This goes against all that being a multicultural country stands for.
If this statue is built in a publicly visible place, as exemplary citizen of the world for more than 70 years since the end of war, we will strongly challenge against the erection of the statue to protect  peaceful Melbourne.

Sumiyo Egawa

Scretary-General and spokesman
Australia-Japan Community Network Inc.