Korean students hold on-campus protests for comfort women

And... to raise awareness of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women and girls... college students here held demonstrations on campus... for the very first time.
It was a show of solidarity with on-going weekly protests... where Koreans gather in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday.
Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Hwang Sung-hee reports.
It's been 23 years since the citizens of Seoul began standing in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday... alongside the survivors of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement.
To this day, they continue to demand a resolution to the unsettled tragedy.
This week, the voices extended throughout the capital.


"These demonstrations, urging Japan to apologize for its wartime sexual enslavement of women, are being held simultaneously at 12 universities across Seoul.
By doing so, these college students are trying to cast light on the so-called comfort women issue."


"Although the comfort women issue is making headlines at home and abroad, no action has been taken to resolve the issue. I decided to participate,... hoping the students' voices could help resolve the matter."


The issue has become the biggest thorn in Korea-Japan relations.
Seoul stressed Tuesday that Tokyo must take sincere steps in resolving the comfort women issue, amid speculation of a possible summit between the two neighbors at next week's Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague.

Since taking office last year, President Park Geun-hye has refused to meet with her Japanese counterpart, criticizing him for his distorted perception of history.

Around 200-thousand women, mostly Korean, were forced to serve the Japanese military during the Second World War.
Only 55 Korean survivors remain alive today, still waiting for a heartfelt apology from Japan.

Back on campus, the students hope their efforts will contribute toward healing decades of pain.


"I hope the comfort women, whose human rights have been violated, will be compensated and I think our demonstrations will help create a society where justice can be practiced."
Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News.