豪州に慰安婦像はいらない!ユナイティング教会は外交政治問題に介入するな!


既に本ブログでご報告のように アッシュフィールドのユナイティング教会に慰安婦像が仮置きの状態になっています。AJCNは教会側と撤去に向けて交渉を開始しましたが、これをサポートする意味で下記の署名活動にご協力ください。

change.org
http://chn.ge/29Z2Uhu

※署名英語版
STOP THE UNITING CHURCH  DELVING INTO FOREIGN POLITICS!
http://chn.ge/2a0gWnw



署名の請願文

韓国系活動家グループの働きかけで、豪州ユナイティング教会のビル・クルーズ牧師は、シドニーにあるアッシュフィールド・パリッシュ教会の敷地に韓国慰安婦像を搬入、仮置きの状態になっています。
2015年末、日本政府は韓国政府と合意し、論争となっていた「慰安婦」問題について「最終的且つ不可逆的に」解決したとして、更なる謝罪と韓国への10億円拠出を約束しました。それにも関わらず韓国系のグループは現在、慰安婦像を公衆に見えるところに建てようとしています。
この韓国系グループは、韓国挺身隊問題対策協議会(挺対協)という組織と深い関係があります。挺対協は、日韓合意に反対し、世界中に更に「慰安婦」像を建てると公言している団体です。挺対協は北朝鮮と関係があるとして韓国政府の監視対象にもなっています。
アッシュフィールド・ユナイティング教会のビル・クルーズ牧師は、教会の敷地内にそういった問題のある像を建てるというのです。彼はyoutube動画で、韓国系の活動家のインタビューを受けて日本人は「加害者」であり、謝罪を促すために慰安婦像を人目につく公道沿いに建てると発言しています。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4MGmbPirNs

こういった韓国系団体の活動は、日本を侮辱する政治宣伝で憎悪表現以外の何物でもありません。何故、彼らの建てようとする像は日本だけを非難するのでしょう?真に女性の名誉のためであれば、朝鮮戦争時に韓国政府が国連軍に供給した慰安婦のことも入れるべきです。朝鮮戦争の元慰安婦らは、現在も賠償を求めて韓国政府を訴えています。戦争時に被害にあった女性の名誉のためであれば、ベトナム戦争時に韓国軍に残忍に強姦され惨殺されたベトナム女性も入れるべきです。彼女たちも現在韓国政府に謝罪を求めています。
これは韓国政府に謝罪を求めるベトナム女性達の画像です。



私たちは、豪州ユナイティング教会に豪州とは無関係の政治運動に関わらないよう強く求めます。
平和を促進し人々を繋ぐのが教会です。政治論争に介入してコミュニティを分断すべきではありません。豪州は共有、調和、協調、尊重を大切にします。私たちは、この多文化主義の豪州での生活と未来が平和であることをコミュニティの皆さんと共に願っています。




change.org 署名への協力のお願い :外務省は慰安婦問題に関して、ホームページを作り直してください!


外務省のホームページは慰安婦問題に関して、「河野談話」と「アジア女性基金」を強調するばかりで、事実関係の検証には一切触れていません。また、不適切で誇張された英訳が多くみられます。これではいつまでたっても、「日本が軍隊を使って何十万というアジアの若い女性を強制連行して、性奴隷にした」という世界に広まる誤解を払拭することができないばかりか、日本政府が責任を公式に認めたと理解され、歴史的事実として固定されてしまいます。海外では、日系人に対する嫌がらせや差別も発生しており、特に子供に対するいじめは深刻です。外務省は直ちに「事実検証」に基づくホームページに作り直して、誤解を解くことに全力を傾注してください。
この署名活動の結果は岸田外務大臣あてに提出されます。署名活動へのご協力と拡散をよろしくお願いいたします。

change.org Petitioning 岸田外務大臣

「外務省は慰安婦問題に関して、ホームページを作り直してください!」
http://chn.ge/2bz795P


なおAJCN山岡代表は、月刊Hanada 10月号に外務省の英語のひどさを具体的に指摘し、またその外交姿勢についても批判する記事を掲載いたします。




急展開するシドニー慰安婦像設置問題


Cheers 9月号記事

2016年8月15日


AJCNは5月中旬から、韓国の政治団体挺対協(挺身隊対策協議会)の影響下にある反日韓国人グループ FWCA (Friends of ‘Comfort Women’ in Australia) による慰安婦像設置計画に対する反対活動を行っています。挺対協は、昨年12月28日に日韓両政府で合意したいわゆる”慰安婦問題に関する日韓合意”に反対し、彼らの言う真の解決を主張、一部の元韓国人慰安婦を抱き込んで韓国国内で激しい反対運動を繰り広げ、韓国政府と厳しい対立関係に入っていることは皆さんご承知のことと思います。
海外においても、韓国の反日洗脳教育により、事実をまっすぐ見ることができない視野狭窄に陥っている若い韓国人たちが、欧米で反日韓合意のキャンペーンを展開しています。シドニーでもそれに同期して、水曜デモ、アングレーム漫画展への慰安婦関連作品の展示イベント、反日映画「鬼郷」の上映会などを企画し、実施中です。参加者の多くは最近豪州にやってきた学生やワーホリの若い韓国人達です。

1.慰安婦像お披露目セレモニー

反日グループは、8月6日に慰安婦像を韓人会館に保管するので除幕式を外部で行いたいと、管轄のCanterbury-Bankstown Councilに申請を出しましたが、市は以前よりAJCNと話し合い、この問題の本質を承知していたため、内部で小規模の披露セレモニーを行えと指示しました。実は韓人会館の施設と土地は市からリースしているので、イベント開催と像の設置にはオーナーである市の同意を得ることが必要であり、またコミュニティの平和を重視する立場からこのような通達を出したものです。しかし反日グループは必死の請願を続け、イベント開催の週の初めに市は妥協して多くの条件を付けて、会館横の市所有のネットボールコートと韓人会館建物内部での披露セレモニーの開催を認めました。市は想定外の事件に対応するための積立金(Bond)の確保、短時間の開催、独自で保安要員を雇うこと、横断幕(バナー)の使用禁止、駐車場の使用禁止、ごみの除去等多くの条件が付けました。さらに保管に際しては建物の中とし、韓人会館会員以外の公衆の目に触れないようにすることと通知しました。韓人会館は講堂(Auditorium)を他の人種やオースラリア人に対し誕生会、クリスマスパーティなどのイベント開催用に貸し出しており、対策に苦慮したものと推測します。今回韓人会館を市に無断でまた貸ししていたことも発覚しました。これは市とのリース契約に違反していますのでペナルティが課せられるでしょう。

披露セレモニーが終了すると、慰安婦像は韓人会館内に搬入されることなく、そのままクレーンで吊り上げられトラックに載せられ、AshfieldのUniting Churchの敷地内に搬入されました。もともと慰安婦像のキット(青銅の像、ベースの石板、2つの黒色石製銘版、移動用車輪内臓の白木製台車が一体となっている)は大きく重いため、建物内への持ち込みは不可能と判断したものと思われます。

セレモニーイントロ 韓国音楽の演奏
挨拶する活動家ハルモニ(元・慰安婦)キル・ウオノク

来賓席:前列左から ビル・クルーズ牧師、キル・ウオノク、イ・ジェミョン城南市長、連邦下院議員リンダ・バーニー、後列左 挺対協ユン・ミヒャン代表

参加者約150名


2.慰安婦像は教会へ持ち込まれたが、危険場所に仮置き状態

Ashfieldの教会への持ち込みはBill Crews牧師が受け入れを表明しており、造園工事の完了を待って1年後に移設と反日グループは語っていました。それが8月6日に急きょ変更になったのは以上のような事情があったものと推察されます。
教会敷地はUniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) 所有の私有地ですが、豪州の反差別法ではpublic space(公共空間)とみなされます。つまり電車やバス内と同じ扱いです。ですから私有地だからと言って何を建ててもいいというわけにはいきません。AJCNは教会管轄担当のInner West Councilに多くの情報を提供して、慰安婦像問題に関する懸念を伝えてきました。今回、教会は市の介入を恐れ、市に設置許可申請を出さず無断で教会の裏手にある、教会および慈善団体のための専用駐車場の奥に置くことにしました。

この駐車場には一般人も入れますが、普通の人間が道路や広場を歩くようにはいきません。裏道への通り抜けはできず、また裏道から入るゲートには電子開錠装置が設置されているため、一般車両と人は入れません。表の教会側からは鉄製の2つのゲートを通って入るので、ここを通って入るのは教会、慈善団体関係者か、その事務所に用事がある人くらいのものです。これらのゲートは施錠されていませんので、ビル牧師は慰安婦像を教会に設置し皆が見られるようにしたと言い張るのでしょう。韓国メディアは慰安婦像が教会の前庭に設置されたと報じており、韓国国内の韓国人はそれを信じています。

さらに認識する必要があるのは、ここがただの駐車場ではなく、毎日の炊き出し運搬用バンや荷物トラック、そして荷物の積み下ろしをするフォークリフトが走り回り、慈善団体のスタッフが働いている作業場所だということです。ですから安全のために「ここを人が通れ」という通行区画を示すサインが黄色のペンキで駐車場の周囲の地面に塗られています。慰安婦像キットは今このサインの上にはみ出して、人の安全な歩行を妨害しています。

反日グループは、8月6日のセレモニーで何度もAJCNの名前を出して我々の活動を日本政府のバックアップを得て行っていると非難しました。彼らは現実の悲惨な像設置現場を見て、今度はキャンベラ国立戦争博物館に展示すべく活動すると息巻いています。AJCNはこの設置計画を阻止するとともに、仮置きされている像の撤去に向けて教会側との交渉を開始します。

ビル牧師は昨年6月に、中国の人権活動家をサポートする目的で天安門事件を追悼するために製作された「自由の女神像」(中国系米国人の彫刻家がデザイン)を、今回の慰安婦像が置かれた場所に受け入れていました。この女神像は、その作られた目的が書かれた銘版も剥がされたまま、慰安婦像の脇に押しやられています。ビル牧師は中国共産党の迫害に抵抗し言論の自由を要求する中国人活動家をサポートしながら、中国共産党がバックから支援する慰安婦像設置活動をもサポートしていることになります。Uniting Church Australiaは子供たちに対する性的虐待問題で訴えられ、2013年に被害者たちに二百万ドルの賠償金を支払っており、この教会の体質が垣間見えます。

3.今までの活動の成果

我々のメンバーの80%は女性で母親ばかりで、そして彼女達の夫のオージーが家族を守るためにAJCNに加わっています。メンバーの粘り強い努力によって、今回の2つの市の対応を引き出すことができました。ストラスフィールド市での否決により、公的な空間への慰安婦像設置が困難であるとの認識が定着し、像は公衆の目から遠ざけるべきという行政の判断が一般化しています。反日グループが取りうる方策はもう個人の住宅のバックヤードに設置することくらいしか残されていないのかもしれません。

なお8月6日のセレモニーにおいて、反日グループは市から指定された条件のうち横断幕の使用禁止と駐車場使用禁止を無視しました。北朝鮮と関係の深い挺対協の目的は日韓合意つぶしと日韓豪米の政治的離反です。多くの韓国メディアを呼んで「慰安婦像が初めてシドニーに設置された!」と記事にしてもらい、彼らの韓国での寄付金ビジネスの延命を図るという目的は達成されるかもしれませんが、韓国の異常さをオーストラリア人に認知させてしまったのは、像設置に反対した1/3の良識ある韓人会会員や韓人会に入会していないマジョリティの韓国人にとって大きな痛手となったのではないでしょうか。ちなみに、今回来豪した挺対協のYun Mi-Hyang代表の夫は1993年に北朝鮮のスパイ容疑で逮捕されています。慰安婦像は極めて政治的なオブジェクトであり、平和や女性の人権とは全く関係ありません。真に問題の解決を望むなら、日韓合意を妨害したりはしないでしょう。AJCNは2度に渡って豪州メディア向けのプレスリリースを発表し、戦争で苦難を味わった女性への追悼は大切だが、政治的に利用するのは間違っていると主張しています。(AJCN事務局長 江川純世)


裏道から見た教会・慈善団体専用駐車場

駐車場奥に置かれた像、右は食料倉庫

歩行者用通行区画にはみ出した慰安像キット

像搬入日にはしゃぐビル牧師

慰安婦像と右に置かれた自由の女神像、その右は食料用大型冷凍冷蔵小屋

週日の車、トラック、フォークリフトが走り回る駐車場、像の前はフォークリフト置き場

たき出し配送用バンと食料輸送トラック、炊き出しは1,000食/日

教会側から駐車場への入り口ゲート

英語碑文




韓国はなぜいまだに韓国軍のためのベトナム人慰安婦について謝まらないのか?



AJCNがメディア・リリースや韓国人への呼びかけの中で触れている韓国軍のベトナムでの非道について書かれた記事を掲載しました。
この記事は5日前まではWebサイトのURLリンクで読めたのですが、なぜか今は消えてしまっています。今となっては貴重な記事ですので、英文ではありますがお読みいただければと存じます。



From the web site : examiner.com




This year, at the 96th anniversary of the Korean uprising against Japan in March 1, 1919, South
Korean President Park Geun-hye reiterated her call for Japan to admit to the war crimes it had
committed during World War Two. Yet, even as she relentlessly seeks an apology from Japan, Ms.
Park has conveniently ignored the fact that during the Vietnam War, Korean troops raped,
assaulted and barbarically slaughtered thousands of Vietnam comfort women. Ms. Park cannot
escape blame and claim unverified reports. Why South Korea still refuses to apologize to the
Vietnam comfort women is not as mysterious as it seems.

Documents from the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) show irrefutable
proof of South Korea’s abuses and wrongdoings during that period. Noriyuki Yamaguchi, then
Washington bureau chief of the Tokyo Broadcasting System, mentioned in an article he wrote that
in July 2014, the archives revealed a letter from the US military command stationed in Ho Chi Minh
City (then Saigon) to Gen. Chae Myeong-sin, the military commander of South Korea in Vietnam.
The letter referred to the illegal diversion of US supplies to South Korea, acts of prostitution in a
supposedly “welfare center” where Vietnamese women were working, and US troops using that
center for a $38 fee per visit.

The above report is only one of many accounts of South Korea’s atrocities towards the
Vietnamese people during the war. Elderly survivors have recounted their own horror stories of
the sex slavery and massacres they went through at that time. In 2001, recognizing the veracity of
the reports, then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met with Vietnam President Tran Duc
Luong and offered a direct apology for South Korea’s acts on the Vietnamese people during the
war.

But the day after Kim’s message of apology, Park Gein-hye, then deputy leader of the Grand
National Party, the opposition party at the time, criticized Kim’s statement, saying it “drove a stake
through the honor of South Korea.” Looking back, it was an omen of things to come if she should
lead the country someday.

Seventy years and several apologies later, South Korean officials are still pressing Japan over the
WW2 comfort women issue. Like an infant fixated on a vendetta, South Korea’s sense of
entitlement is such that no amount of compensation or apology will satisfy them. Or is it really a
simple case of overblown egomania? Old and new historical events might provide clues.

In a case of karmic retribution for South Korea, the Vietnam comfort women issue has been
brought to international awareness 40 years after the war ended. To recall, in 1991 Kim Hak-soon
was the first Korean comfort woman living in South Korea to give a testimony about her alleged
experience under the control of Japanese soldiers. It triggered a barrage of angry reactions
against Japan and put the country under scrutiny for the reparation and atonement it should give
to its victims. Now it is South Korea facing the very same situation. Long before the Vietnam
comfort women came out and identified themselves, they already knew about their own
atrocities but, through cunning and clever manipulation, managed to keep it under the radar of the
mainstream media.

It took a visit to Vietnam by Yoon Mi-hyang in March to uncover the grim truth about the sex
enslavement of Vietnam’s women by Korean and American troops. Yoon is president of the Korean
Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, the non-profit organization
formed to look into alleged crimes against women in Asia during World War Two, many of whom
were Koreans. In 2012, the Council had set up the Butterfly Fund and extended their mission to
help other women victims of war. Congo was the first country they identified. Little did they know
that in Vietnam, they would find out about the horrors that their own countrymen, the Korean
soldiers, had perpetrated.

Another recent incident that has put Pres. Park in a negative light is the Sewol ferry disaster. On
April 16, 2014, the South Korean ferry Sewol, carrying 476 passengers and crew, among them 325
high school students, was on its way from Incheon to Jeju island when it sank, killing more than
300 people, mostly the students. To date, nine are still missing. It was rumored that Pres. Park was
nowhere to be found and she was with a former political aide said to be married then. Japanese
journalist Tatsuya Kato, chief of Sankei Shimbun’s Seoul bureau, was singled out for printing this
piece of information and defaming Ms. Park. He was charged and indicted. This incident has
raised howls from international journalists amid concerns on press freedom in South Korea.

Park’s handling of the Sewol ferry disaster was widely criticized. In the seven hours leading to the
disaster, she received 18 reports and her only response were two orders that were standard
operating procedures. It was the committee secretary who acted as spokesperson before Ms.
Park could face the public herself. The investigation into the botched rescue efforts, the cause of
the sinking and the violation of safety rules have been assailed by the victims’ families as being
controlled by Park’s government. Add to that her unfulfilled promise to raise the ferry from the
bottom of the sea. At the first anniversary of the sinking, the families refused to meet the president
and promised to stage regular protests.

Park’s Strategy to Gain Support and Popularity

Recent polls show Park’s public support dropping from a low of 29% to a high of 46% from the preaccident
70 percent. In her bid to regain her popularity in the local and international community,
she must portray her nation as a victim. And the most convenient issue is a social one that targets
the “bleeding hearts” of open wounds from WW2 and stoke up nationalism via anti-Japan rhetoric
and propaganda. Here, the Korean comfort women fit the bill. Certainly, Japan has owned up to its’
share of the blame when it comes to WWS war crimes. From 1965 to 2010, its Ministers, Cabinet
officials and most significantly Emperors have made at least 14 apologies to South Korea alone, not
counting the 1995 Murayama and 1993 Kono statements. It put up the Asian Women’s Fund to give
monetary compensation to the comfort women in various countries, which all accepted but South
Korea refused to accept. On the domestic front, Park has been successful. Polls show that 57.4% of
respondents support not holding summit talks with Tokyo until yet another full apology from Japan
is given. In the United States, officials and diplomats are divided. Dr. Robert L. Shapiro, a former
adviser on economic affairs, sent a video message to Pres. Park stating his concern over her
country’s failure to forge better ties with Japan and her government’s curtailment of press
freedom. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy R. Sherman was more direct, citing
Park’s desire for cheap applause by putting Japan in a bad light for propaganda’s sake alone.

Another controversial issue between South Korea and Japan is over the Liancourt Rocks. Known
as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, the two countries have been disputing the territorial
jurisdiction of the islands, composed of two main islets and 35 smaller rocks. These islets are
valued for their rich fishing grounds and production of natural gas.

The background behind ownership of these islands is confusing. South Korea has been
administering them since 1954 but Japan’s legal basis of possession dates back to 1904. To put an
end to the dispute, Japan has suggested three times (in 1954, 1962 and 2012) that the matter be
taken to the International Court of Justice, but this was rejected by South Korea each time.

South Korea hopes that the US will back them in this matter and an opinion post in the Korea
Herald recently criticized its’ own government’s futile brinkmanship. Political analysts are not
inclined to think this will lead to any serious actions, militarily speaking or that the US will take
sides. Both Japan and South Korea are powerful Asian allies of the United States and showing
favoritism would be detrimental to it’s position. But Park Hwee-rhak, a political science professor at
Kookmin University in Seoul says Japan is more important to America in its policy towards Asia
because of its economic power, military technologies and its capacity to keep China in check over
its ambitious expansion plans.

Comfort Women Memorials and Resolutions Spring Up in the US

Some US politicians have been quick to cash in on the comfort women issue. When House
Resolution 121 sponsored by Rep. Michael Honda of Silicon Valley, Calif., was passed in 2007, it
was a go-signal for politicians to cater to the wishes of the South Korean community in their
electoral areas. In the guise of advancing public awareness to the injustice done to South Korean
women, resolutions and statues of comfort women have been put up in cities around the United
States. Local Korean-American organizations in the area applied pressure on officials to yield.
These particular “voting areas” have a large community of Korean-Americans who can swing votes
when elections come around.

On August 2014, the Fullerton City Council approved a resolution recognizing the Korean comfort
women. In New Jersey, the State Senate passed a resolution to the same effect.

The first comfort woman monument in the US was put up in Palisades Park, NJ in 2010. In 2012,
another one was erected in Veterans Memorial in Eisenhower Park, Nassau County, NY. In March
2013, a memorial was opened in Hackensack’s Bergen County, NJ and in July 2013, in Glendale
Central Park, Glendale, Calif., a statue of a young girl representing a comfort woman was unveiled.
In August 2014, a statue was put up in Southfield, Michigan. There are plans for another statue to
be put up in Maryland.

The comfort women monuments binge-building has recently spread to Canada, with a well know
political blogger calling it “a giant scam whose goal is to alienate Japan from the Western powers.”
The City of Burnaby in British Columbia is in the process of studying a proposal to put up a comfort
woman statue in the city.

With the Vietnam comfort women coming out into public consciousness, can the US expect a
deluge of similar memorials installed in the cities and parks anytime soon? And will South Korea
protest against them as the Japanese did over the Korean comfort women monuments? The truth
is that they won’t, as the Vietnamese communities in the US hold far less political sway and the US
itself would rather forget the Vietnam War.

The Atrocities in the Vietnam War

Just as the Japanese had their Comfort Women, South Korea also created brothels with Vietnam
comfort women for their and the American troops’ carnal pleasure. Numbering 5,000 to 30,000,
stories about them are not easy to come by, thanks to the cloud of secrecy that South Korea
shrouded them with.

The massacres that the Korean military committed during the Vietnam War on the Vietnamese
took about 9000 lives, not counting the living survivors who had no more lives to speak of. From
that time until 2000 when a more liberal administration took over in South Korea, it was taboo to
talk about their participation in the war. In June 2002, the US National Archives and Records
Administration declassified documents about the Vietnam War and the massacres at Phong Nhi
and Phong Nhat, Hoan Chau, and Phuoc My were made public. There are also the 1966
massacres at Tay Vinh that saw 1200 civilians being slaughtered and at Go Dai with 380 people
rounded up and killed. These mass slayings were all done in the same manner. The Ha My
account is an example of the way the South Korean Army and Marines butchered and killed
innocent men, women and children without remorse.

A first-hand account from Pamtihoa, survivor of the Ha My massacre is reprinted in The Hankyoreh.
It shows the trickery and brutality of the South Korean soldiers towards the Vietnamese. In March
1965, the 3rd US Marine amphibious force landed in Da Nang, Vietnam and took over Ho Ah Bang
and Di En Ban. In December 1967, the 5th regiment of the USMC handed over the Con Ninh base
to the 2nd Marine brigade of South Korea, called the Blue Dragons.

The people of Ha My who had been transferred to Con Ninh base went back to their village, as life
was hard at the base. Whether the Korean Marines permitted them or not is not clear. But they did
provide the village people with food and supplies and the villagers returned the favor by giving
them local delicacies. But, to their horror a month later, the nice Korean soldiers turned into
monsters. It was on a morning that they came, entered the village with their tanks and armored
vehicles and moved in three different directions. Then they gathered the villagers in three different
locations to listen to a speech from the Korean commander while the soldiers gave candies to the
children.

After the speech, the commander walked away and, after a few steps, made a hand gesture. In an
instant, M60 machine guns and grenade launchers came out of hiding from the woods and
opened fire on the shocked villagers. A total of 135 people were killed. Pamhitoa survived but lost
both feet. The dead were a ghastly sight – brains coming out of head, internal organs spilling out
of bodies, decapitated limbs. Along with a few survivors, Pamhitoa buried the dead in shallow
holes they had dug up. But the next day, the Korean soldiers returned with D-7 bulldozers, dug up
the graves and crushed all the dead bodies.

The Vietnam Comfort Women’s Stories

Unlike South Korea under Pres. Park, the Vietnam government advises its citizenry to put the past
behind them and move on to the future. But, if only to make Ms. Park realize her inconsistency and
how the resolution of war issues lies in her own hands, the Vietnam comfort women must be made
known in the same manner as the Koreans want their stories to be shared. Surviving Vietnamese
women speak of serial rapes several times a day, brutal sexual assaults and killing them after the
rapes. One woman who was nine months pregnant had her stomach slit open and her entrails
along with her baby hanging out.

Korean comfort women survivors Kim Bok-dong and Gil Won-ok as well as the Korean Council for
the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan have called on the South Korean
government to acknowledge the country’s wrongdoings and atone for them by way of an official
apology and compensation. It was an emotional moment and an eye opener at the House of
Sharing last April when Yoo Hee-nam, a comfort woman for the Japanese Army met with Nguyen
Tan Lan (64) and Nguyen Thi Thanh (55), massacre survivors.

What makes the Vietnam comfort women issue worse are the consequences of the rapes are the
children born out of these barbaric acts- called the Lai Dai Han, a term for mixed blooded children
who are viewed as contemptible and shunned by society. There are about 5,000 to 30,000 of
them, unacknowledged by their Korean fathers.

In fairness, Korean soldiers were not alone in raping the Vietnamese women. From August 1964 to
May 7, 1975, there were more than 9 million military men who served in the Vietnam War. Accounts
and research have proven that American GIs also participated in the rapes. But they were kept
hidden and if they did reach army court-martial trials, convictions were few and sentences were
light. The US government cannot deny that it shares accountability for the war crimes in the
Vietnam War along with South Korea. While the official stand is always not to condone such acts,
it’s a different matter out in the battlefields. Commanders and generals turn a blind eye to the truth.
But the war ended decades ago and the time has come for both countries to face their
responsibilities and cease the hypocritical finger pointing at Japan.








Media Release : Unveiling Ceremony of Comfort Woman Statue


8月6日の慰安婦像披露セレモニーと教会の対応に対する批判を通じ、AJCNのスタンスを説明するプレスリリースを8月7日付で発行いたしました。英文ではありますがお読みいただければと思います。

Uniting Church Australiaは2013年に子供たちに対する性的虐待について訴えられ、M$2を被害者たちに支払いました。
その教会が慰安婦像問題で日本人に謝れと言っているわけです。
"Only one who has never sinned should throw a stone." とは聖書の中の「罪の女」の訓話から引いています。
「今まで罪を犯したことないものだけが(石打の刑で殺される女の罪人)に石を投げられる」 とイエスが諭したところ、皆石を捨て去ったという訓話です。
AJCNは教会に対する具体的な対処を弁護士と検討中です。


Media Release

7 August 2016


Unveiling Ceremony of Comfort Woman Statue



It is regrettable that the Korean group disobeyed the conditions set by the council for the last minute approval of the unveiling ceremony. They used the car park and put offensive banners as many as they wanted while banners were banned. This is the typical nature of such a ceremony.

Having watched the ceremony and interviewed by media we realized we were facing the stereotype labelling.

1. Opposing statue means denying the history and women’s suffering.
2. Erecting statue means supporting women’s human right.

80% of the members of AJCN are mothers with children. They were deeply concerned with the aggression posed by the Korean group knowing Japanese children were subject to discrimination and bullying in the U.S. where such statues had been erected.

We heard of many stories such as Korean students are insulting Japanese students by calling them “rapists” and spitting over Japanese students’ lunch box. When Japanese mothers complain to the school their children are further bullied for revenge. A Japanese lady who opposed such a statue in her town received a letter from a Korean man saying “If you were not an old woman I would beat you up.” She had to report to police. This case will be heard in court. We also have received a couple of similar emails full of anger and hatred all ending with “I am disgusted with you.”
These are the common dark characteristic of statue supporters. (We also received supportive emails from Korean people)

Needless to say, it is always important to pay tribute to women who suffered in war. But it is also important to protect human right of women and children living now. That is why we founded AJCN and many Australian husbands joined to protect their Japanese wives and half Japanese children. This is what we are. Our slogan is “Harmony must come first”. Strathfield Council fully supported our idea and unanimously declined the proposal to erect a statue by the same Korean people.

It is hard to comprehend that those Korean people are aggressively demanding apology while they are opposing the governmental agreement. If you are genuinely concerned with women’s welfare you would support the agreement to move on. The Australian government is officially supporting the agreement. However there is no surprise because the group called Chon Dae Hyup based in Seoul erecting such statues all over the world and driving this move in Sydney is the one who opposed the past reconciliation efforts as well.

About twenty years ago the Japanese government established Asian Women’s Fund. They paid individual former comfort women and personally handed a Prime Minister’s apology letter. Yet Chon Dae Hyup pressured women not to receive money and insulted those women who received money as betrayer. Their persistent destructive behavior finally stalled the reconciliation efforts. This new agreement is making sure to succeed with the full commitment of the South Korean government. But they are trying to destroy again by erecting statues and holding such ceremonies full of accusation. Who do you think is benefiting from conflicts between Japan and South Korea? Why do they need to erect that many statues to commemorate women’s suffering? Do they really care about women’s human right after all?

We propose to honor women of all nationalities. We should not forget the Korean women treated as military supply by the South Korean government and Vietnamese women raped and slaughtered by South Korean troops. We should not forget the fact that the majority of comfort women were Japanese who never asked compensation. The Japanese government should compensate them as well. The Japanese government was forced to establish comfort stations for occupying soldiers as thousands of rape incidents were reported in the first month or two of the occupation after the WWII. We must not forget women living now, either. We should rescue those numerous number of young Korean prostitutes trafficked by Korean brokers deeply soaked in debt. We did point these out to the Korean Society but we received no reply.

Rev Bill Crew’s comment “"We are singling out those Japanese people that offended, we are not singling out Japanese people as a whole." is utterly nonsensical. Then why does he need to erect a statue in Ashfield? Isn’t it more relevant to erect a statue of all the young children sexually abused by Uniting Church Australia if they had paid 2 million dollars for compensation? Only the one who has never sinned should throw a stone.

We explained our concerns in full detail to Rev Crews but he never addressed them. He replied only once when we asked him how he was addressing the South Korean government’s own comfort woman system. He just said “I think all governments are bad.”

We do have a very serious reason to oppose the statue but it appears that neither the Korean group nor Rev Crews is prepared for a rational discussion. If they were genuinely working for women’s human right they would also reflect on their own acts and would not intimidate other ethnic groups in a third country. Having seen the ceremony and listened to their speeches we are convinced that the statue is a symbol of hatred and a tool of the people who need a conflict for their own political purpose and existence.

We seek a genuine sympathy and compassion to all the women who suffered in war. We must work towards reconciliation rather than endless accusation. We must work together to rescue women living now. Therefore we do not approve the statue and the superficial labelling. If we allow importing foreign disputes into local communities Australian multiculturalism will easily fall apart.

Tesshu Yamaoka
President
Australia-Japan Community Network




急展開するシドニー慰安婦像設置問題


2016年8月8日


AJCNは5月中旬から、韓国の政治団体挺対協(挺身隊対策協議会)の影響下にある反日韓国人グループ FWCA (Friends of ‘Comfort Women’ in Australia) による慰安婦像設置計画に対し反対活動を行っています。この反日グループは、昨年12月28日に日韓両政府で合意したいわゆる”慰安婦に関する日韓合意”に反対し、彼らの言う真の解決を主張、一部の元・韓国人慰安婦を抱き込んで韓国国内で激しい反対運動を繰り広げ、韓国政府と厳しい対立関係に入っていることは皆さんご承知のことと思います。
海外においても、韓国の反日洗脳教育により、事実をまっすぐ見ることができない視野狭窄に陥っている若い韓国人たちが、欧米で反日韓合意のキャンペーンを展開しています。シドニーでもそれに同期して、水曜デモ、アングレーム漫画展への慰安婦関連作品の展示イベント、反日映画「鬼郷」の上映会など企画し、実施中です。


1. 慰安婦像お披露目セレモニー

反日グループは、8月6日に慰安婦像を韓人会館に保管するので除幕式を外部で行いたいと、管轄のCanterbury-Bankstown Councilに申請を出しましたが、市は以前よりAJCNと話し合い、この問題の本質を承知していたため、内部で小規模の披露セレモニーを行えと指示しました。実は韓人会館の施設と土地は、市からリースしているので、イベント開催と像の設置にはオーナーである市の同意を得ることが必要であり、またコミュニティの平和を重視する立場からこのような通達を出したものです。しかし反日グループは必死の請願を続け、イベント開催の週の初めに市は妥協して多くの条件を付けて、会館横の市所有のネットボールコートと韓人会館建物内部での披露セレモニーの開催を認めました。条件としては、想定外の事件に対応するための積立金(Bond)の確保、短時間の開催、独自で保安要員を雇うこと、横断幕(バナー)の使用禁止、駐車場の使用禁止、ごみの除去等です。さら保管に際しては建物の中とし、韓人会館会員以外の公衆の目に触れないようにすることと通知しました。韓人会館は講堂(Auditorium)を他の人種、オースラリア人にも誕生会、クリスマスパーティなどのイベント開催用に貸し出しており、対策に苦慮したものと推測します。韓人会館は市に無断でまた貸ししており、これは市とのリース契約に違反しています。
披露セレモニーが終了すると、慰安婦像は韓人会館内に搬入されることなく、そのままクレーンで吊り上げられトラックに載せられ、AshfieldのUniting Churchの敷地内に搬入されました。もともと慰安婦像のキット(青銅の像、ベースの石板、2つの黒色石製銘版、移動用車輪内臓の白木製台車が一体となっている)は大きく、重いため、建物内への持ち込みは不可能と判断したものと思われます。

 

 




2. 慰安婦像の教会への持ち込み

Ashfieldの教会への持ち込みはBill Crews牧師が受け入れを表明していますが、造園工事の完了を待って1年後に移設と反日グループは語っていましたが、それが8月6日に急きょ変更になったのは以上のような事情があったものと推察されます。
教会敷地はUniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) 所有の私有地ですが、豪州の反差別法ではpublic space(公共空間)とみなされます。つまり電車やバス内と同じ扱いです。
ですから私有地だからと言って何を建ててもいいというわけにはいかないわけです。AJCNは教会管轄担当のInner West Councilに多くの情報を提供して、慰安婦像問題に関する懸念を伝えてきました.
今回 市は教会に対し、公道に近い境界には慰安婦像の設置を許可しないことを通知しました。そのため教会は、教会の裏手にある、教会および慈善団体のための専用駐車場の奥に置くことにしました。

この駐車場には一般人も入れますが、普通の人間が道路や広場を歩くようにはいきません。裏道への通り抜けはできず、また裏道から入るにはゲートを開くための電子開錠装置が設置されているため、一般車両と人は入れません。表の教会側からは鉄製の2つのゲートを通って入るので、ここを通って入るのは教会、慈善団体関係者か、その事務所に用事がある人くらいのものです。これらのゲートは施錠されていません。ですからビル牧師は慰安婦像を教会に設置し皆が見られると韓国人グループには言えるわけです。

さらに認識する必要があるのは、ここがただの駐車場ではなく、毎日の炊き出し運搬用バンや荷物トラック、そして荷物の積み下ろしをするフォークリフトが走り回り、慈善団体のスタッフが働いている作業場所だということです。ですから安全のために「ここを人が通れ」という通行区画を示すサインが黄色のペンキで駐車場の周囲の地面に塗られています。慰安婦像キットは今このサインの上にはみ出して、人の安全な歩行を妨害しています。
AJCNは管轄する市の意思を再確認し、教会にどう対処するかを検討します。

反日グループは、8月6日のセレモニーで何度もAJCNの名前を出して我々の活動を日本政府のバックアップを得て行っていると非難しました。彼らは現実の悲惨な像設置現場を見て、今度はキャンベラ国立戦争博物館に展示すべく活動するといきまいています。AJCNはこの設置計画を阻止するための活動を開始しました。

我々のメンバーの80%は女性で母親ばかり、そして彼女達の夫のオージーが家族を守るためにAJCNに加わっています。メンバーの粘り強い努力によって、今回の2つの市の対応を引き出すことができました。ストラスフィールド市での戦いで、公的な空間への慰安婦像設置が困難であるとの認識が定着し、また少なくとも現時点までに像は公衆の目から遠ざけなければならないという複数の市の判断を引き出すことに成功しました。反日グループが取りうる方策はもう個人の住宅のバックヤードに設置することくらいしか残されていないのかもしれません。

なお8月6日のセレモニーにおいて、反日グループは市から指定された条件のうちバナー使用禁止と駐車場使用禁止を無視しました。北朝鮮と関係の深い挺対協の目的は日韓合意つぶしと日韓豪米の政治的離反です。多くの韓国メディアを呼んで「慰安婦像が初めてシドニーに設置された!」と記事にしてもらい、彼らの韓国での寄付金ビジネスの延命を図る、その目的は達成されるかもしれませんが、韓国の異常さをオーストラリア人に認知させてしまったのは、像設置に反対した1/3の良識ある韓人会会員や韓人会に入会していない韓国人のマジョリティにとって大きな痛手となったのではないでしょうか。


 

 

 




About the Comfort Woman Statue


8月6日からシドニー韓人会館内に保管される慰安婦像について多くのジャーナリスト達からAJCNのコメントを求められていますので、AJCNの見解を要約したプレスリリースを8月4日付にて発行いたしました。英文ではありますが、読んでいただければこの問題の本質と韓人会館のあるカウンシル(市)の考え方と対処についてご理解いただけると思います。

一部韓国人グループは、1年後にAshfield市のUniting Church(合同教会)にこの慰安婦像を移設する計画ですが、AJCNはこれを阻止するための活動を今後強化します。





Media Release
4 August 2016


About the Comfort Woman Statue


Last year Strathfield Council unanimously declined the proposal to erect a comfort woman statue with a genuine reason.  The statue was not only breaching council policy but also unwanted by the majority of the community simply because it was only dividing the community while the matter was totally unrelated to the community.  We should respect the decision.  One of the councilors who voted against said at the end of the extraordinary meeting in which the decision was made "Go home as Australian".  That is the spirit we represent. 

We have been deeply shocked by the fact that Rev Crews of Uniting Church Ashfield suddenly appeared over the Internet is publicly calling the Japanese “perpetrators” and demanding apology in public.  He does not explain why he is then supporting the Korean group trying to jeopardize the governmental agreement between Japan & South Korea to formally settle the matter.  It appears a sheer contradiction to us.  Rev Crews declared that he is going to erect the comfort woman statue on his church grounds facing the public road to pressure “perpetrators” to apologize.  Obviously he considers the local Japanese community “perpetrators”.  He also commented “It is dividing the community anyway, so just apologize.”  This is far more than just “honoring comfort women” and this is the clear evidence that the statue always comes with hatred and aggression.  It is extremely unfair for the Japanese community having to face this kind of one-sided intimidation while the matter has got nothing to do with the local community where we have been living in harmony with all other ethnic groups. It is in addition a breach of the Racial Discrimination Laws of Australia.

The Korean group has been running anti-Japan campaigns across Sydney.  They are driven by a political activist group based in Seoul sharply confronting their own government by trying to jeopardize the governmental agreement that Australian government also supports.  This is clearly a politically motivated activity rather than a pure commemoration.  It is also a contradiction that they demand apology while they try to boycott the governmental agreement by running anti-Japan campaigns.  Most former comfort women are welcoming the agreement and only some women under the activist group’s influence are opposing as they always do.   The Korean group does not seem to care the proven fact that the South Korean government was running their own comfort woman system during the Korean War and Vietnam War and still refusing to apologize to both Korean and Vietnamese women who were brutalized by South Korean soldiers.  The Japanese government offered apology many times. It is pointless and even hypocritical to one-sidedly blame others without reflecting on their own acts.   We should not discriminate women who suffered in war.  

Accordingly we do not consider the statue a “peace monument”, particularly in view of the aggressive language accompanying the discussion.  We are a group of mums and dads determined to protect our local community and our children from any racially agitated discrimination that already happened overseas where such statues were erected.  We can always talk about history but community harmony must come first. 

We request Rev Bill Crews immediately stop his irrelevant intimidation of the local Japanese community and simply support the efforts of the two governments trying to finally settle the sensitive matter.  There are many Uniting Church members opposing his acts and we do not understand why he is ignoring them.  We wish to avoid any further conflict by way of litigation and so we also urge the Korean Society of Sydney to peacefully hold whatever ceremony on Saturday inside their premises leased from the Council without any aggression and/or intimidation towards other ethnic groups and follow a number of conditions and the guide not to display the statue in public view even inside the building given by the Canterbury-Bankstown Council.  We all respect freedom of speech but at the same time we respect the Anti-Discrimination laws of Australia and we are responsible to maintain and protect community harmony that is the essential element of Australian multiculturalism. 

Lastly we express our appreciation for the efforts of the Council and in particular their letter to our lawyer Rick Mitry dated today in which conditions require activities in relation to the Statue to be discreet and say ‘Council has, is, and will always remain committed to all sections of our community without favour’. 

Tesshu Yamaoka
President, Australia-Japan Community Network


A scene of an unveiling ceremony in California

Placards carried by Korean activists