Commemoration Event for Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' Held at Hwaseong Haenggung Plaza

The 14th World Remembrance Day for Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' event was held on the afternoon of August 8 at Hwaseong Haenggung Plaza.

Hosted by Suwon Peace Butterflies and organized by the 24 member organizations of the Suwon Regional Promotion Committee for the World Remembrance Day of Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' Victims, the event featured a commemorative ceremony, cultural performances, and exhibitions and experience programs.

The commemorative ceremony consisted of a moment of silence, opening remarks by Lee Joo-hyun, Standing Representative of Suwon Peace Butterflies, and congratulatory addresses by Kim Hyun-soo, First Vice Mayor of Suwon Special City, and Lee Chul-seung, Chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee of the Suwon Special City Council.

First Vice Mayor Kim Hyun-soo stated, “Despite unspeakable suffering, the steadfast determination of the grandmothers to reveal the truth and aspire for peace has become a tremendous resonance that set the course of history straight over the past several decades,” and added, “Suwon City will become a 'powerful wind' spreading the value of peace throughout the world while carrying on their noble legacy, and will fulfill our responsibility to fully restore the honor of the grandmothers.”

The Day of Remembrance for Victims of Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' (August 14) is a national commemorative day established to honor victims of Japanese military sexual slavery. August 14 marks the day when Grandma Kim Hak-sun (1924–1997), a victim of Japanese military sexual slavery, first testified to her experience. In 1991, on August 14, Kim became the first living comfort woman survivor to publicly testify about her victimization.

At the 'Asia Solidarity Conference for Resolving the Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' Issue' held in Taiwan in December 2012, August 14 was declared as 'World Comfort Women Remembrance Day.'