South Korea, Japan reach agreement on 'comfort women'
By KJ Kwon, Junko Ogura and Holly Yan, CNN
Updated 1009 GMT (1809 HKT) December 28, 2015
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| cnn.com |
(CNN)Japan and South Korea have reached an agreement over the long-standing issue of "comfort women" -- the term used to describe sex slaves used by the Japanese military during World War II.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will give 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to a fund to help those who suffered.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said as long as Tokyo sticks to its side of the deal, Seoul will consider the issue "irreversibly" resolved.
In addition, the two governments "will refrain from criticizing and blaming each other in the international society, including the United Nations," Yun said at a joint press conference Monday.
Kishida said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."
Previous aid and criticism
Japan helped establish the Asian Women's Fund in 1995, which is supported by government funds and provides assistance to former comfort women.
But Tokyo had resisted direct compensation to the victims, prompting activists and former comfort women to say Japanese leaders were avoiding officially acknowledging what happened.
Today, only a few dozen of the women are still alive.
One comfort woman's story
Kim Bok-dong was a 14-year-old girl when the Japanese came to her village in Korea.
She said they told her she had no choice but to leave her home and family to support the war effort by working at a sewing factory.
"There was no option not to go," the 89-year-old woman told CNN's Will Ripley this year. "If we didn't go, we'd be considered traitors."
But instead of going to a sewing factory, Kim said she ended up in Japanese military brothels in half a dozen countries.
There, Kim said, she was locked up and ordered to perform acts no teenage girl -- or woman -- should be forced to do.
She described seemingly endless days of soldiers lined up outside the brothel, called a "comfort station."
"Our job was to revitalize the soldiers," she said. "On Saturdays, they would start lining up at noon. And it would last until 8 p.m."
Kim estimated each Japanese soldier took around three minutes. They usually kept their boots and leg wraps on, hurriedly finishing so the next solider could have his turn. Kim says it was dehumanizing, exhausting, and often excruciating.
"When it was over, I couldn't even get up. It went on for such a long time," she said. "By the time the sun went down, I couldn't use my lower body at all."
Kim believes the years of physical abuse took a permanent toll on her body.
"There are no words to describe my suffering," she said. "Even now. I can't live without medicine. I'm always in pain."
日韓在「慰安婦」這長期存在的議題下達成了結論，慰安婦是指二次大戰間日本軍隊專屬的性奴隸。
日本外相表示日本政府將會提供10億日圓補償受害婦女。
南韓外交首長則認為日本只要堅持在這次協議下的立場，首爾會考慮將解決這無法逆轉的議題。
除此之外，星期一南韓外交首長也表示，兩國之間仍會在慰安婦議題上一再重複指責對方在國際社會上的作為，包括聯合國。
日本外相轉述安倍再次對所有作為慰安婦，面對無法衡量及痛苦的遭遇與無法治癒的身心創傷表達最誠摯的歉意以及懊悔。
先前的協助與批評
1995年日本協助成立亞洲婦女基金，由政府資金支持並對慰安婦提供協助。
但東京拒絕對受害者直接補償，他們影響參與行動的人與慰安婦認為日本領導階層只是官方避免去承認之前發生的事。
而今只剩下不到十幾個慰安婦還活著。
一位慰安婦的過往
14歲的時候，Kim 遇到日本軍隊來到韓國的村莊。
他說日本人跟他講自己沒有任何選擇，只要他離家跟親人去縫紉工廠工作來支持作戰就好。
「沒有方法可以不去，如果我們不去，我們就會被當成叛軍。」89歲的Kim告訴CNN。
他們非但沒去工廠，Kim說他在日本軍隊在鄉村俱樂部裡的的妓院前停了下來。
他說他被鎖了起來等待執行女孩或女人都不該被逼著去做的事。
他描述著那些數不盡的日子，官兵們排隊站在妓院，被稱為是「慰安站」的地方外等著。
「我們的工作就是讓官兵們恢復元氣，每到星期六中午，他們便開始排隊，一直到晚上8點。」Kim估計每一位日本士兵大概花3分鐘，他們通常穿著靴子跟綁腿，快速完事好輪到下一個士兵。Kim說這工作使人喪失人性，難以忍受而且疲累不堪。
「結束後，我甚至無法起身，得等上好一陣子，等太陽下山了，我的下半身都沒知覺了。」他說。
Kim相信這些年的性虐待在他的身上刻上了一個永久的傷痕。
「沒有任何文字可以表達我所承受的痛苦，即使到了現在，我還是得靠藥物才能過活，我一直好痛苦。」
irreversibly (adv.) 不可逆轉地
anew (adv.) 重新，再一次
remorse (n.) 懊悔
traitor (n.) 叛徒
brothel (n.) 妓院
revitalize (v.) 使恢復元氣
dehumanize (v.) 使喪失人性
excruciating (adj.) 難以忍受的
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