Suwon Mayor Lee Jaejun: "The Korea-Japan Comfort Women Agreement Must Be Completely Nullified"

[Suwon Ilbo = Reporter Jung Junseong] Suwon Special Metropolitan City Mayor Lee Jaejun stated, "The Korea-Japan comfort women agreement reached in December 2015 must be completely nullified."

On the 14th at the outdoor theater of the Gyeonggi Arts Center, Mayor Lee said at the "10th World Comfort Women Victims Memorial Day" event, "What the comfort women victims and the Korean people have wanted is a genuine apology from the Japanese government," and emphasized, "Because Japan is trying to resolve this with money rather than apologizing, the people are angered."

He continued, "If Japan does not apologize genuinely, the comfort women victims and the Korean people will not be able to forgive the Japanese government," and urged, "Let all citizens unite to demand that the Japanese government offer a sincere apology."

He also said, "The comfort women issue is a painful part of history, but it must be continuously commemorated so that such things never happen again," and added, "Seeing many young people participating in today's memorial day event makes me believe that our country's future will be bright."

This event, organized by the Suwon civic organization "Suwon Peace Butterfly," was attended by Mayor Lee Jaejun and Kim Ki-jeong, Chairman of the Suwon City Council. The event featured a photo exhibition of the late Yongdam Grandmother An Jeom-soon and a musical performance by the performing arts group "Block."

The "Comfort Women Victims Memorial Day (August 14th)" is a national memorial day established to commemorate the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery. August 14th is the day when Grandmother Kim Hak-soon (1924-1997), a comfort women victim, first testified to her victimization. Grandmother Kim was the first surviving comfort woman to publicly testify to her suffering on August 14, 1991.

At the "11th Asia Solidarity Conference for Resolving the Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' Issue" held in Taiwan in December 2012, August 14th was proclaimed as the "World Comfort Women Memorial Day" annually.