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Right-wing writer angers World War II comfort women
A well-known far-right-wing writer has once again angered the public, this time by saying "most of the old women claiming to be former comfort women or sex slaves to the Japanese military during World War II are fakes."
Ji Man-won posted two articles on his homepage (www.systemclub.co.kr) on April 13 and 14 and another on April 15 refuting local news reports' criticism of his claims. In the first two articles, Ji grouped the women into three categories: those who were forced to serve as sex slaves by Japan, those who volunteered as prostitutes and the third group who had only physical labor duties and suffered no sexual abuse. Ji said only around 20 percent of the Korean women who sexually served the Japanese military personnel were forced, while the remaining 80 percent volunteered in order to make money. "Many of the senior women who claim to be former sex slaves staying at the House of Sharing in Kwangju, Kyonggi Province, returned to Korea from China. They look too young and healthy to be credible as real sex slaves to the Japanese military," Ji said in his articles. "I've even heard they get paid 30,000 won ($30) for attending a weekly protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul every Wednesday." His remarks have infuriated the senior women as well as the public. "We will never forgive Ji's groundless claims. He tries to distort public opinion through getting the avid attention of the press," the House of Sharing said. "We will meet him face to face and get his official apology in the near future." The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan issued a statement requesting the press not to make an issue of Ji's intentionally biased claims. The council said they are considering filing a compensation lawsuit against the man whom they compare to a mad dog. In March, Ji angered the public by supporting former professor of Korea University Hanh Sung-joe, who wrote an article that praised the 1910-45 Japanese colonialism in Korea in the April edition of the Seiron, a monthly magazine affiliated with Sankei Shimbun, an ultraconservative Japanese daily. "Koreans would have remained just as beasts if it had not been for the precious lessons from advanced countries such as Japan and the U.S.," Ji claimed in his article posted on the Web site.
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![Guo Xicui (in wheelchair), 79, leaves the Tokyo high court March 18, 2005 after the court rejected her claims for compensation. She and many other Chinese women were forced to be sex slaves for the invading Japanese troops during the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-45). [Xinhua]](xin_480302190924768322015.jpg)
