Bergen County Dedicates Memorial to Comfort Women
Inclement weather moves ceremony inside, but did not deter many from coming out for the dedication.
Despite the fact that the weather moved the dedication of the Comfort Women Memorial indoors, it did not prevent people from coming out to the ceremony.
The memorial, sponsored by the Comfort Women Memorial Committee, takes its place in front of the Bergen County Justice Center (Courthouse) beside monuments commemorating the Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, the Irish Great Hunger and African American Slavery.
County Executive Kathleen Donovan, calling this memorial "a long time coming," said it was dedicated to comfort women not only from Korea, but from all of the countries so affected.
Comfort women were women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces. According to the Comfort Women Memorial Committee, the monument honors approximately 200,000 enslaved women.
Donovan, speaking of her trip to South Korea last fall where she visited former comfort women at the Sharing House, said, "I cannot imagine the agony and the suffering that those women went through in the years of World War Two, but the dignity and grace of them now would astonish all of us."
When Donovan asked their permission to tell their story in a monument, they all said yes. They wanted the world to know their story.
"In some small way we are able to do that today with the unveiling and dedication of the Comfort Women Memorial," Donovan said.
Also speaking at the ceremony was Congressman Bill Pascrell. He, too, had the opportunity to meet with former comfort women when they visited Washington, D.C. He told the audience that the stories the women told of their ordeal "strengthen our commitment to the preservation of human rights."
Dongchan Kim, President of Korean American Civic Empowerment, which organized the campaign for the Comfort Women Memorial in Palisades Park, said, "By having the memorial at this location, the Bergen County government is officially recognizing the Comfort Women issue as the same kind of international human rights violation as the other four human rights abuses remembered by Bergen County in front of the Bergen County Courthouse."
Bergen County is home to the largest population of Korean-Americans. In 2012, election ballots were printed in Korean.
Other officials present at Friday's dedication were Sheriff Michael Saudino, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, Freeholder Chairman David Ganz, Freeholder Vice Chairwoman Joan Voss, and Freeholders John Felice, John Mitchell, Steve Tanelli, Maura DiNicola and Tracy Silna Zur.
Councilwoman Gloria Oh from Englewood Cliffs was also present.
Fort Lee is also working with its Korean-American community to dedicate a memorial to Comfort Women. The language of the memorial was approved at Thursday's Executive Session of the Mayor and Council, but a dedication date has not yet been determined.
Martha Cohen
11:10 am on Saturday, March 9, 2013
It was a truly moving ceremony and I feel fortunate to have been able to attend. I hope that our own ceremony in Fort Lee will be scheduled with plenty of notice so that many people in our boro will be able to attend.
As was stated by a number of speakers, this all began with a request by the Korean community to Freeholder John Mitchell who then discussed it with County Executive Kathe Donovan who was in full support followed by bi-partisan support of the Freeholder board. Hopefully, knowledge of this great injustice will add fervor in the fight against human trafficking today. Thanks to the leaders in the Korean community for bringing this issue into the public square and our county leaders for their actions. Special thanks and deep respect must go to the surviving Comfort Women that County Executive Donovan spoke to in Korea, who with strength and grace as told by Donovan, gave their blessing for their stories to be told.
Manotaro
11:55 am on Saturday, March 9, 2013
How shameful it is! The statement graved on the comfort women monument is absolutely lie!
Here is another story on Korean comfort women. The Dutch war film was set based on a real story during the Korean war (6/25/1950-7/27/1953). UN force sent from sixteen countries including 3418 Dutch soldiers, to fight against the communist alliance of North Korea and China.
I feel sorry for the comfort women's hardship because this is a true story.
Field of Honor (Dutch: Het veld van eer) is a 1986 Dutch/South Korean war film set during the Korean war, directed by Dae-hie Kim and Hans Scheepmaker.
“Field of Honor” (Korean prostitution during the Korean War) 1/6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZM94I4VyhE
Pakku Rareman
12:22 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
Bergen County is just cultivating hatred among Japanese and American.
No Americans try to even understand why so many Japanese are angry at Koreans.
Comfort women existed and it is true that they led miserable lives. Many of them did so against their will though many volunteered to do so. Many of them were sold by their parents to support their lives during the extremely poor time period. Many volunteered to do the business to support their family. Still, many were deceived for the business by Korean brokers in case of Korean comfort women. However, there is no doubt that they led miserable lives whether it was their choice or not. Also, about half of comfort women were Japanese who never asked for
compensation...it is shame to ask for money for their prostitution.
Watch this video that is a demonstration in a Korean town in Japan. They are not far-right wingers as Koreans describe. They are normal Japanese citizens.
http://youtu.be/-Nk11K87UOQ?t=8m48s
And you can find so many video clips similar to this.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E9%9F%93%E5%9B%BD+%E3%83%87%E3%83%A2&oq=%E9%9F%93%E5%9B%BD+%E3%83%87%E3%83%A2&gs_l=youtube.3..0l2j0i4j0j0i5l2.5167.9551.0.10560.7.7.0.0.0.0.470.1147.3j3j4-1.7.0...0.0...1ac.1.AANRuqOkA8c
Pakku Rareman
2:30 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Friends in the USA,
You have to think about this.
Why too many Japanese are very angry at SOUTH Koreans.
Our biggest threat in the region is China. The second is North Korea.
Nonetheless, we are very angry at
SOUTH Koreans, not north.
Why?
Please think about it.
Pakku Rareman
12:35 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
By the way, if Americans want to keep the monument, it should say something like this, "...for memories of comfort women who had led miserable lives serving for soldiers of numerous countries such as the USA, Korea, Japan, Netherlands,....(list all countries that had comfort women around their bases and sometimes as real sex slaves like in Vietnam War by Korean soldiers and used the "system")"
Because the monument is in the USA, the name of the USA should come first and it should remember victims of comfort women who served for US soldiers, especially during Vietnam War, Korean War, and occupation in Japan.
Then, I think it is reasonable to have it in the USA and I will respect the monument.
fact teller
5:21 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
This is shameful action of Vergen County.
We must study true history , not but fabricated history by Korea propaganda.
◆Korea military raped many Vietnam w omen & girls during Vietnnam War.
But Korea dosen't yet apologize to Vietnam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-JS0KU0PyA&feature=player_embedded
◆'Sexual slaves' , 'Comfort Women' for US military
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/world/asia/08korea.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
◆USA demanded 'Comfort Women' to Japan after WW-Ⅱ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreation_and_Amusement_Association
This action of Vergen County hurts freindship between American people and
Japnese citizens.
fact teller
5:51 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013
The Comfort Women Controversy and Actual Misdeeds of the United States Army
http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/48_S4.pdf
Manotaro
3:12 pm on Sunday, March 10, 2013
As a method of propaganda, Paul J. Goebbels said “If you tell a lie big enough and repeat it often, then people will believe it finally.” Korean propaganda is based on this theory. But fact is ......
【Propaganda Buster】Communist Liar, Seiji Yoshida fabricated a story to propagate “Japan Military was ill”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqffmz7zuWE&feature=youtu.be
Pakku Rareman
10:31 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
A message from a Korean professor to Korean people. (part 1)
"나는 88세입니다. 이제 사실을 말하고 싶습니다." [최기호 가야대학 객원교수]
Category : 【 전재 기사 】 Tag : 조선말기
최기호 가야대학 객원교수나는 1923년생입니다. 이제 한국을 위해도, 일본을 위해도 사실을 말하고 싶습니다. 그것은 상당한 각오가 필요합니다. 생명의 위험도 각오 하고 있습니다. 그러나, 이것은 나의 사명인 것입니다.
Pakku Rareman
10:32 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
A message from a Korean professor to Korean people. (part 2)
나는 서울에 살고 있었습니다. 그리고, 가끔 평양이나 토쿄에 갔습니다. 그 당시의 한국인은 일본인 이상의 일본인입니다. 극장에 가면 영화의 전에 전쟁의 뉴스가 있었습니다. 예를 들면 뉴기니에서 일본이 이긴 영상이 흐르자, 박수와 만세의 폭풍우입니다. 나는 영화를 좋아해, 토쿄에서도 갔습니다만, 일본인은 냉정했습니다. 그러나, 한국인은 전원이 미친 것처럼 기뻐하고 있었습니다. 그것이 보통 모습이었습니다. 그러니까 친일파라고 하는 말은 사용할 수 없습니다. 그 사용할 수 없는 말을 사용해, 선조까지 비판하고 있습니다. 친절하고 상냥한 일본인이라고 하는 인상을, 필사적으로 지우기 위해 반일을 지도자는 꼬드김은 왔습니다.
한국과 일본의 역사 교육을 비교하면, 일본이 10%왜곡이라고 하면, 한국은 90%왜곡입니다. 조선말기의 비정상인 정치 부패를 가르치지 않고, 일본이 관여하지 않으면 독립을 할 수 있던 것처럼 쓰여져 있습니다.
Pakku Rareman
10:32 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
A message from a Korean professor to Korean people. (part 3)
한일합방에 의해 ‘교육’ ‘의료’ ‘공업’ ‘사회 인프라’가 정비되었습니다.근대국가의 기초가 쌓아 올려진 일은 분명한 사실입니다. 그 실적을 ‘일본 제국주의의 침략 정책의 산물이다!’라고 규탄하는 한국에는 기가 막힙니다. 더욱 ‘일제가 민족 산업을 정체시켰다!’라고 하는 주장에는 코멘트하는 기분도 없어집니다.
Pakku Rareman
10:33 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
A message from a Korean professor to Korean people. (part 4)
민족 산업을 죽인 것은, 조선왕조입니다. 근대화를 주장하는 선진적인 사상가는 반역자로서 친족까지도 처형되었습니다. 한국인은 ‘일제의 학대! 성 노예!’라고 외치고 있습니다만, 나는 믿을 수 없습니다. 역사의 진실을 알고 있기 때문입니다.
조선말기는 지옥이었습니다. 그것은 대한제국 시대가 되어도 같았습니다. 1904년 , 일본은 조선의 참상을 구하기 때문에, 재정 지원을 결단합니다. 예를 들면 1907년도 , 조선왕조의 세입은 748만엔이었지만 , 세출은 3000만엔 이상이었습니다. 그 차액은 일본이 부담하고 있습니다. 1908년에는 더욱 증가해 , 3100만엔을 지출하고 있습니다.
현재 88세의 노인의 절규입니다. 어떻게 생각합니까?
youngsam Yoon
10:39 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
This documentary aims to highlight the issue of "Comfort Women" or girls forced into sex slavery by the Japanese Army during World War II as grave violation of human rights that affected AND continues to affect women all across Asia and Europe.
The film begins in South Korea and moves on to meet victims in Wuhan, China, Shanghai, the Philippines and Australia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yHHfYOGumI&feature=share
Pakku Rareman
12:10 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Korean/Chinese activists have only unverified, emotional testimonies for your claim. The "documentary" film is just a summary of such testimonies. Anyone can make those films if you pay a lot.
For example, 金学順 (Kim Duk-Soon) who started the propaganda at first submitted her written testimony to a court that says that she was sold to a Korean sex trader by her parents. Later she changed her testimony and said she was abducted by Japanese soldiers.
Show us any objective evidence.
Pakku Rareman
12:28 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Thirty nine (39) comfort women and their supporters were arrested in Korea by Korean police for their fraud. They raised about 1.2 million dollars from about 30,000 Korean citizens saying that they can collect a lot of compensation money from Japan and they can give back a lot of money to the citizens. Of course they could not get compensation and could not distribute the "profit" to those people.
They also looked for candidate "comfort women" who just lived the WWII era even though they were NOT comfort women. They said if you lived in the era, you could be a comfort woman to demand compensation to Japan.
Money talks.
fact teller
8:04 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
★Seiji Yoshida’s Creation “comfort women”★
The victims named 'Comfort Women' are fabricated by Seiji Yoshida(communist) & Korea propaganda.
In 1983, a former Japanese soldier(Seiji Yoshida , communist)
suddenly claimed that Japanese soldiers had hunted for Korean women in Cheju to force them into sex service for Japanese soldiers.
However, elderly people who were familiar with the situation during that time denied this claim in the Cheju newspaper in 1989.
One 85-year old woman at that time said that if 15 women had actually been forcibly taken away from a village with only 250 families,
it would have been big news, but, she said, that did not happen.
And even the Japanese soldier in question admitted he lied in 1995.
Korea & KACE(Korean American Civic Empowerment) know this fact , but they keep secret from world people to attack Japanese citizens by fiction.
[慰安婦問題をでっちあげたのはコイツだ!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqffmz7zuWE
Manotaro
10:06 am on Thursday, March 14, 2013
This film is just boring. I despise these old prostitutes telling lies emotionally for just money.
Byeong-jik Ahn of Seoul National University, the professor who collected the testimonies of Korean old women and oversaw the publication of “Testimonies I”–South Korea’s most trusted report of 19 comfort women’s testimonies–declared publicly in Korea that there was no concrete evidence to verify Japanese military’s or government’s involvement.
Guantanamo & Comfort Women [Yujiro 谷山雄二朗 Taniyama]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijYLNvUPU_A
fact teller
8:03 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
★Seiji Yoshida’s Creation “comfort women”★
The victims named 'Comfort Women' are fabricated by Seiji Yoshida(communist) & Korea propaganda.
In 1983, a former Japanese soldier(Seiji Yoshida , communist)
suddenly claimed that Japanese soldiers had hunted for Korean women in Cheju to force them into sex service for Japanese soldiers.
However, elderly people who were familiar with the situation during that time denied this claim in the Cheju newspaper in 1989.
One 85-year old woman at that time said that if 15 women had actually been forcibly taken away from a village with only 250 families,
it would have been big news, but, she said, that did not happen.
And even the Japanese soldier in question admitted he lied in 1995.
Korea & KACE(Korean American Civic Empowerment) know this fact , but they keep secret from world people to attack Japanese citizens by fiction.
[慰安婦問題をでっちあげたのはコイツだ!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqffmz7zuWE
Pakku Rareman
11:30 am on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Korean lies beyond of your imagination.
Asian people know about it but westerners don't know it well. I hate to say this but lying is Korean culture. They also have an inherent culture of grudge, which exacerbates accusation against Japan to retaliate the humiliation: annexation of Korea to Japan.
Quote, "In 2007, Koreans indicted for perjury or calumny totaled 1,544 and 2,171, respectively, compared to only nine and 10 in Japan. Taking into account Japan’s population is about 2.5 times Korea’s, experts said the figures indicate that Koreans commit perjury and make false accusations about 420 times and 540 times the rate of the Japanese.
Law enforcement officials here also complain they are having difficulties with witnesses giving false testimonies."
Source: http://rokdrop.com/2011/08/03/why-do-koreans-lie-so-much/
Pakku Rareman
11:04 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Here is another comfort women / sex slavery issue.
The victims have never gotten any attention/compensation/apology.
I think Bergen County should erect a monument for the victims.
http://youtu.be/KDQrISRFwmc?t=2m18s
Toshiaki Haginoya
4:56 am on Thursday, May 16, 2013
My initial investigation on this matter discovered the following:
1) The overwhelming number of comfort women was comprised of Japanese nationals.
2) Not a single evidence of coercing women into the comfort women system has ever surfaced or given from Korean Government till today.
3) Newspaper recruiting ads for recruiting comfort women remain today. These ads were displayed in 1944 on the major newspaper “Keijo Shinbun” in Seoul by local employment agencies.
4) It was discovered in 1992 that a comfort women “Mun Okuchu” had deposited 26,245 yen at her Postal Savings Bank account by 1945. The average salary of the government officials in Korea at that time was 40-50 yen per month and houses were sold at about 1,000 yen per unit. So, she earned the money worth 26 houses out of her work during the war.
For more details, visit my site:
False Accusation of Comfort Women
http://www.howitzer.jp/korea/page03.html
Toshiaki Haginoya
1:25 am on Sunday, May 19, 2013
I am a Japanese living in Yokohama, Japan. We Japanese hate Koreans because they often conjure up fake stories and with those falsified stories they try to defame Japan. I don’t know exactly what motives drive them to such disparagement. Maybe denying the previous master is part of their culture. Since the U.S is their master today, they are asking the U. S. to punish Japan.
Japan annexed Korea for 40 years but it was before I was born (I’m 57 years old). All through my life they have been stuck to the past and still are today. I really wonder what kind of people they are. All through my life I could hear only one chorus from the Korean Peninsula: Apologize! Pay Compensation! Apologize! Pay Compensation! Apologize! Pay Compensation! like a lengthy mantra.
Japan and South Korea signed the Peace Treaty in 1965 and Japan gave a large economic support, which is more than double the size of their yearly budget and it includes all compensation to individuals.
In my opinion, they are basically saying, “You have to kowtow to me and endure my stomping on your head, otherwise there can be no friendship!” No such friendship can exist anywhere in the universe.
The erection of such memorial is none of our business, but in a few years it will become a symbol of Korean deception and lies. I didn’t know that you Americans are so gullible and defame us so easily.