Chapter 471

Chapter 471

The comfort women, who are now elderly, greeted Jin-hoo Kang, Ellie, and reporters with their finely dressed up.

“Oops! Is CEO Kang Jin-hoo here?”

“I didn’t have anything to laugh about these days, but I still laugh because of our CEO.”

“Last time I saw you kicking Okamoto out, I heard that you felt refreshed.”

“Now and then, I was just waiting for the day I would die, but now I feel like there is some hope.”

Jinhu Kang greeted her grandmothers and her one by one.

“Just call me Jinhoo comfortably. It’s a representative of the company, not here.”

Several volunteers had already come to the House of Sharing, and some of them were Japanese. Jinhoo Kang and Eli looked around the House of Sharing while cleaning with the volunteers in the morning.

After lunch, the real testimony began.

The grandmothers recalled the horrors of those days and said:

“I wasn’t the only one dragged from Hamgyeong Province. Six people, including myself, were taken from our village, including a 12-year-old boy. When we arrived, a Japanese military officer said, ‘Are you going to devote your body and soul to the Great Japanese Empire from now on and become a sex slave?’”

It seemed that time had taken everything away, and it was a calm voice that no longer felt anger or sadness. However, only the content was not.

Ellie covered her mouth and burst into tears, and after the earthquake, she tried to look as calm as possible, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from blushing and trembling around her eyes.

Her foreign reporters who were present were also shocked. Before coming here as she had been a knight, she had thoroughly researched what the comfort women had been through.

Even so, the stories I heard in person were even more terrifying and cruel. It was hard to believe that humans had done it to humans.

When one of her grandmothers told her that the Japanese had stabbed her in the thigh because she did not spread her legs, and showed her scars on her thigh as she pulled up her skirt, a BBC reporter screamed and fainted.

After the half-day testimony was over, Jinhu Kang held her grandmother’s hands and said,

“I heard you today. If you hear this today, I think that Japan will also actively seek reparation for apologies. So you must stay alive until then.”

* * *

Kang Jin-hoo’s meeting with her comfort women was still an international issue.

Time magazine featured interviews with comfort women and survivors of forced labor, and other foreign media also focused on it.

During colonial rule and war of aggression, Japan committed numerous crimes. But among them, the comfort women were nothing more than an Achilles heel.

It is a crime against humanity that targets women, and the victims are still alive, and photos and documents exist.

As the testimony and evidence were so clear, Japan also could not deny the existence of the comfort women itself, but took the position that there was no state intervention or forced mobilization.

Whenever this issue became an international issue, Japan blocked it by lobbying in all directions based on its enormous economic power.

A typical example is that when private organizations from eight countries, including South Korea and China, applied for registration of comfort women records with UNESCO, they even withheld payment of the contribution.

The idea was to bury this fact, at least as long as the survivors were alive. Once all survivors are dead, the demand for apologies and reparations will also weaken.

Aren’t the dead speechless?

However, as Jin-hoo Kang stepped in, the situation seemed to grow out of control.

Unlike foreign media that reported headlines and major news, the Japanese media did not comment much.

However, no matter how much it was hidden, there was no way that the articles that had become an international issue could not be known in Japan.

The Japanese were shocked when they read the article.

– Did you say that your country has committed such a crime?

– As a Japanese, I sincerely apologize. No matter how much I apologize, their pain will not be healed, but I do apologize nonetheless.

– This is a fact that most Japanese were unaware of. Thanks for letting me know now. We will not forget this fact and will inform the people around us.

– It’s too embarrassing and terrifying. Can Japan still be called a developed country?

The opposition from the right was not uncommon.

-It’s all lies! Fake fact! Don’t be fooled by the lies of the Joshenzings!

– It wasn’t that I was forced to bring it, I came here on my own feet and sold my body to make money.

– The income of the comfort women was several dozen times that of the soldiers.

-It’s been decades, and it’s already over! The people who committed the crime are all dead, so why are you asking us to apologize?

– It’s all over with the comfort women agreement!

– That’s why you gave me money! I gave you money, what more can I say?

-Among other powers, which country has paid as much compensation as Japan?

When a member of the Democratic Party of Japan asked a question about the matter in the Japanese National Assembly, Prime Minister Okazaki said.

“The issue has already been resolved with the comfort women agreement. Korea must keep its promises between countries. It is unfair to ask for any further apologies.”

This is what he said whenever the comfort women issue came up.

“Even if the Prime Minister is right, it was an agreement between Japan and South Korea, not North Korea, right? Japan should agree on all issues, including North Korea and the comfort women, from the beginning. What is the government’s response to this?”

While the Japanese political circle was bustling, the Korean political circle was also noisy.

The Liberal Kuomintang took a negative stance on inter-Korean economic cooperation and focused on attracting public opinion. However, as the comfort women issue emerged as an issue in the Claims Agreement between North Korea and Japan, sparks suddenly erupted.

Criticism has once again surged against the South Korea-Japan comfort women agreement that was overruled by the previous administration.

CEO Yeon Na-kyung said as if it was unfair.

“It is not desirable for Korea-Japan relations to deteriorate further. For now, we need to move toward the future rather than judging the past. The activist diplomacy led by those who were obsessed with pro-North Korea is leading our diplomacy to anti-Japanese. In the end, the damage will come back to our people. It is time for politicians to think calmly whether they are using anti-Japanese sentiment politically.”

The remarks were strongly opposed in Korea, but Japan’s right wing and haters praised it.

International public opinion was clearly turning against Japan.

The Japanese politicians were busy preparing countermeasures, but it was difficult to find an appropriate countermeasure.

The reason Korea has not been able to respond strongly to Japan in the past or the Dokdo issue is that if the dispute between Korea and Japan grows, Korea will suffer more losses than Japan. However, after Kang Jin-hoo appeared, the situation changed significantly.

A member of the Japan Innovation Association ordered the government to take tough measures.

“We need to impose strong export sanctions on Korea for all items!”

It was unrealistic.

If Japan again threatens the export of materials and parts, OTK Company will respond in the same way.

Even if you were prepared for damage and put it into action, it could not be as effective as before.

In the first place, Japanese companies were able to grab hold of Korean companies in the fields of materials and parts because there was a belief that Korea and Japan were economic partners regardless of the political situation.

However, Japan has shown that it can use its economy as a weapon according to the political situation.

As there is no law prohibiting the same thing from happening again in the future, Korean companies have diversified their import sources to Europe and the United States for materials and parts that had been dependent on Japan under the leadership of OTK Company, while at the same time supporting small and medium-sized enterprises by cooperating with large companies. Started to foster domestic materials and parts companies.

In fact, despite the lifting of export restrictions on South Korea, exports showed no sign of recovery. Exports to Korea in the last quarter decreased by more than 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

For Japanese companies, it was absurd. Because the government was greedy not to sell, he lost a big-time customer who had been buying well!

The problem did not end here.

Other countries also rely on Japanese-made materials and parts. Watching the trade dispute between Korea and Japan, these countries also realized how dangerous their dependence on Japan is.

Many countries have reduced their trade with Japan, instead increasing their trade with South Korea.

In fact, such a result was almost as expected from the time the export sanctions were imposed. Even if Korea had surrendered and Japan had won, it would have been the same.

You didn’t get anything to gain, you just took your own instep.

If they do the same thing again, there is a risk that the Japanese economy will collapse completely.

“We need to ask the United States to mediate. We must actively inform that the deterioration of Japan-Korea relations also poses a threat to the security of the United States.”

America’s most important Asian ally is also Japan, not South Korea. So, the US has secretly sided with Japan in the dispute between Korea and Japan. The comfort women agreement reached under the previous administration was also largely due to the influence of the United States.

However, South Korea has now been elevated to an ally of the United States, not behind Japan, and the United States has no longer sided with Japan.

In fact, even now, they are lobbying the Washington government by sprinkling huge amounts of money, but neither Democrats nor Republicans budge.

Prime Minister Okazaki requested a visit to North Korea and a Japan-North Korea summit to find a breakthrough. However, North Korea lightly ignored the request and issued a statement of condemnation through Chosun Central TV.

“The arrogant Okazaki gang is spreading all sorts of nonsense in an attempt to cover up the crime of sexual slavery, which is an extraordinarily large crime against humanity. Before discussing negotiations, Japanese politicians should get down on their knees before our victims and their families and ask for forgiveness. It should be borne in mind that our people are trembling with astonishment and anger over the atrocities of the scoundrels!”

* * *

I entered the Golden Gate building with Taek-gyu.

The passing staff looked at me with a mixture of respect and surprise. When I went up to the branch manager’s office, Hyunjoo’s sister and Ellie were there.

Whatever happened, Ellie was crying with her head bowed.

I was surprised.

“Why are you crying?”

Taek-gyu asked.

“Did your sister hit you?”

Hyunjoo’s older sister screamed.

“I didn’t hit you!”

Turns out, she said that she was once again overcome with emotions while talking about the comfort women. She came back that day, after all, and cried profusely all day.

I hugged Ellie and comforted her.

Hyunjoo noona asked me.

“What are you thinking?”

“This time, I am trying to get an apology and compensation from Japan.”

“As you may know, international order and business are driven strictly by the logic of force, not emotion. There is no point in shouting that the weak are unfair.”

I nodded her head.

“Even an apology requires strength to receive it.”

Unlike Japan, Germany thoroughly punished war criminals and apologized to neighboring countries in terms of past history.

Is this because Germans are good and Japanese are bad?

Germany is located in the heart of Europe and has invaded great powers such as France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. Therefore, it was difficult to survive without cooperation with neighboring countries after the war.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

On the other hand, Japan invaded small countries such as island countries, Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Even after liberation, they were so backward that they desperately wanted Japanese funds to invest. Japan is still the most powerful country in Asia, and the victims were in a position to spread their hands on Japan’s capital and technology. Therefore, there was no time to bring up the issue of past history.

On the other hand, in Korea, it is enough to make a living, so now I am looking for rights.

Taek-gyu asked.

“What about China?”

“They have abandoned the Claims Agreement.”

In fact, it is no different than Japan that created the present Chinese Communist Party.

At that time, the Communist Party, which was on the verge of destruction by the Kuomintang, waged a national-government collaboration for the anti-Japanese struggle, and the Communist Party, which was overthrown, overthrew the Kuomintang and established the People’s Republic of China.

Would Mao Zedong even say thank you for the invasion of Japan?

Since then, China has renounced its claim to Japan, instead of being recognized as the only successor to the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, it is difficult to directly discuss this issue.

Ellie wiped away her tears and sighed.

“Germany alone made countless apologies to Jews, but didn’t even mention the gypsy massacre,” she said. Britain also apologized to China for the Opium War, while not talking about other crimes.”

This is the harsh international reality.

Japan’s denial of the forced mobilization of comfort women, its hate speech, and even calling Dokdo Takeshima and claiming that it is Japanese territory are all because they think it is in the interest of Japan.

So, there is only one thing I have to think about right now. What can be the most profitable thing to do?

Japan uses hatred of Korea in politics, but there is no law prohibiting me from using past history. In the current situation, doing so is very helpful.

Of course, if Japan sincerely apologizes and pays compensation, it will be resolved well… … That’s never going to happen.

In the end, this issue will continue to drag on for a while, and this will be beneficial for inter-Korean economic cooperation.

“How do you see the situation now?”

“Well. It could be just another day like before… … .”

Hyeon-joo noona crossed her arms and thought for a moment. Then after a while she opened her mouth.

“Maybe it could be an opportunity to change the order in East Asia.”

Although Korea has grown enough to rank among the advanced countries, Japan is still far superior to Korea in terms of economic power and international influence.

The GDP gap with Japan is still more than 2.5 times.

In order to reverse this, Korea’s per capita GDP must rise to $80,000, which is difficult even if there are ten more companies like OTK Company.

However, if you form an economic bloc with other countries, the story is different. Korea is geographically located at the gateway between ASEAN and Central Asia.

The problem is that North Korea is blocking the top, but now the problem is showing signs of being resolved. Future growth potential such as Saemangeum development, semiconductor, battery, automobile, TWR, and VRMMORPG is also sufficient.

If the rapid growth of the Korean economy and the power of OTK Company are added to it, can it really change the order in East Asia?