Connolly Welcomes Agreement on 'Comfort Women' Issue

PHOTO of Memorial Peace Garden courtesy of Fairfax County

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Northern Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th) said Monday that he welcomed an apology from Japan for the “Comfort Women,” a phrase used for Korean women used as sex slaves by Japan during and before World War II.

Japan offered a formal apology and reparations in the form of an $8.3 million payment intended for care of the women, according to a report by the New York Times.

“Comfort women” is the phrase used for, what some say, were up to 200,000 women from various, mainly Asian, countries forced into sex slavery for the Japanese military, according to the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, Inc.

The group was behind an effort to erect a park last year in Fairfax County dedicated to the women. Dubbed the Memorial Peace Garden, the land is a memorial to the thousands of “comfort women.”

Fairfax County is home to an Asian population that makes up 17.5 percent of the county’s 1.1 million residents. The University of Virginia has estimated Asians will make up nearly 25 percent of the county’s population by 2040.

“The comfort women issue is one of the earlier examples of mass performed human trafficking organized by a military and government,” Jung-shil Lee, an art history professor at the Corcoran College of Art and Design and the vice president of the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women, said last year, when the memorial to the Comfort Women was erected on the grounds of the Fairfax County government center. “We wanted to honor their endurance and bravery -- especially under a Confucianist society -- because many women wanted to kill themselves from the shame.”

The State Department on Monday issued an announcement by U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry about the agreement:

“We welcome today’s announcement by the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea that they have reached an agreement regarding the sensitive historical legacy issue of “comfort women,” Kerry said.

“They have made clear that by implementing this agreement they will “finally and irreversibly” resolve this issue,” he said. “We believe this agreement will promote healing and help to improve relations between two of the United States’ most important allies. We applaud the leaders of Japan and the Republic of Korea for having the courage and vision to reach this agreement, and we call on the international community to support it. We look forward to continuing to work with both countries on regional and global issues, including advancing our economic ties and security cooperation.