欧米のジャーナリストで、この問題に関する
正確な知識を持つ者は殆どいない
これは先々月の記事であるが、水曜デモ1000回という事で幾つもの欧米のメディアが昨年から慰安婦問題を取り上げていた。CNNがこの問題をどのように捉えているかを見てみる。
CNNは慰安婦の総数を20万人ほどで、その殆どが朝鮮人であったと信じている。これはもう国際的な俗説になったと言っていいだろう。「何人かの日本の総理大臣が個人的に（personally）謝罪した」・・・しかし、韓国挺身隊問題対策協議会のユン・ミヒャンはそれでは不十分だとして、こう説明する。
This is a crime that was institutionalized by a country, they forced women into sexual slavery over a long period of time. （これは国家によって制度化された犯罪です。彼らは長期間に渡って女性たちを性奴隷制に強制したのです）
ユンはもちろん、被害者と言われる慰安婦たちが実は親によって売られたり、女衒に騙されてその世界に入ったことを知っている（CNNのレポーターは知らない）。しかし、ユンがCNNに語るのは大まかに以下のような内容である。
1. .慰安所システムは日本政府によって制度化された（そんな大袈裟な話だっけ？）
2. 日本政府は女性たちを性奴隷制に強制した
3. これは国家犯罪である
恐らくCNNの記者は、こう受け取ったはずである。「日本政府が慰安所を作り、有無を言わさず女性たちを性奴隷として送りこんだ」と・・・。ユンは、日本政府が朝鮮半島から女性を徴発し強制的に慰安所に送り込んだとは言っていないが（挺対協は当初、日本政府が女子挺身隊として女性を徴用し、慰安婦にしたと主張していた）、要するにそういう風に印象づけたいのだろう。そして、それは成功した。
CNNのインタビューに答える挺対協のユン・ミヒャン
異論がメディアに取り上げられる事は、まずない
彼女たちは、事実が明らかになった今となっても、巧妙に説明の仕方を工夫し、当初の「日本政府が朝鮮人を標的に、詐術、誘拐という手段で女性を連行して性の奴隷にした」というイメージを維持しようとしているらしい（参考：What is the Problem of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan?）。その為に利用されるのが「組織的」「制度的」「強制（性）」といったキーワードというわけである。
彼女たちの執念と巧妙さにも驚嘆すべきものがあるが、こうした彼女たちの行動を一部の日本人が応援しているという事実が一番の驚きである。その一例として、先月、日本でまた新しい慰安婦支援団体が生まれ、ユンが講演の為に韓国から招待されている(日本軍『慰安婦』問題解決・ひろしまネットワーク)。彼らは「慰安婦問題の解決」を訴えるが、挺対協こそが問題をこじらせているという指摘が韓国人の中からも出ている。日本人の人の好さは、もはや腹立たしいまでのレベルである。
Time running out for Korean 'comfort women'
By Paula Hancocks
Waiting more than 60 years for an official apology has taken its toll on Kim Bok-dong.
The 87-year old says she is tired and her health is failing but she continues to fight for recognition from the Japanese government for being used as a sex slave by their military during World War II.
There were believed to be around 200,000 so-called "comfort women," mostly Korean. Many have since passed away, but those still alive want individual compensation for their treatment.
"When I started, the Japanese military would often beat me because I wasn't submissive," Kim says.
'Comfort women' mark 1,000th rally
"Every Sunday, soldiers came to the brothel from 8am until 5pm, on Saturday from noon until 5pm, plus weekdays. It was very hard to handle. I couldn't stand at the end of the weekend. Since I had to deal with too many soldiers, I was physically broken."
Kim has tears in her eyes as she talks of her ordeal -- an ordeal that lasted every single day for eight years.
Kim describes being moved around half a dozen Asian countries from the age of 14. "I was born as a woman but have never had a woman's life. I was dragged to the foreign army's battles, and my entire life was ruined."
Kim's first marriage broke down when she couldn't have children, which she assumes due to her mistreatment. When her second husband and her mother died, she had to work in the fields to earn a living.
Kim is part of an NGO called the "Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan," which is fighting for an apology.A weekly protest has been held outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul for the past 20 years. The embassy keeps its blinds shut during the protests and does not comment.
Some Japanese prime ministers have personally apologized in the past, but the NGO director believes that it's not nearly enough.
"Anyone can verbally apologize. But this is not an issue that can be resolved by saying sorry," says Yoon Mee-Hyang. "This is a crime that was institutionalized by a country, they forced women into sexual slavery over a long period of time. They need to adopt a resolution at the official level and we need to see legal reparations."
Yoon is planning to travel to Japan to meet with government officials. Tokyo maintains its legal liability for the wrongdoing was cleared by a bilateral claims treaty signed in 1965 between the two countries.
The South Korean government has stepped up diplomatic pressure recently, but only after a Korean court ruled in August that it was unconstitutional for the government not to help. Attempts by President Lee Myung-bak to discuss the issue with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda have so far yielded no results.
The issue of comfort women continues to haunt relations between the two countries. But for the few comfort women still alive -- only 63 are now registered in South Korea -- it's an urgent issue that they can't afford to wait for.
CNN 2012.3.7
