Opposing the "comfort women" statue. Sydney needs things to have people understand each other and get along.

Subject: Opposing the "comfort women" statue. Sydney needs things to have people understand each other and get along.
From: Racn Kel
Date: 23 Jul 2016

Dear the Reverend Bill Crews and Sirs/Madams regarding the Uniting Church in Sydney

We oppose the "comfort women" statue in Sydney you are planning to found.

Sydney doesn't need things to divide people.
Sydney needs things to have people understand each other and get along.

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---- 1. The determination-of-facts is in dispute regarding "comfort women" issue.

--Koreans' assertion:

200,000 women suffered abduction/abuse/rape/massacre. Systematic criminality by the national policy of Japan.

--Japanese's assertion:

No systematic atrocity. Koreans' assertion contradicts the fact.
"Comfort women" were wage workers ( prostitution was legal at that time ). Japanese military was involved in such as transportation and medical checkup. As exceptions, there partly existed lawless soldiers' atrocity. There partly existed human-trafficking between victims' parents and evil brokers (mainly Korean citizens). Japan respects those victims. -- https://goo.gl/v4VgbS

The "comfort women" issue is already settled;
- Legally(criminal): Military trials after the war (-1951)
- Legally(civil): The agreement with Korea (1965), "Agreement Between Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning the Settlement of Problems in Regard to Property and Claims and Economic Cooperation". The treaty with other countries "Treaty of Peace with Japan" (1951).
- Morally: The Asian Women's Fund(AWF) accepted victims' appeals with self-certification basis ( objective evidence not required ). The PM at that time apologized/compensated. (1996-2001) -- http://www.awf.or.jp/e3/index.html

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---- 2. The dispute still continues because Koreans, the accuser, don't show objective/verifiable basis of their accusation.

The absence of the objective/verifiable evidence is one major reason that the issue is still in dispute.
For example, if Koreans' assertion were fact, it would be supposed that many parents, relatives, neighbors, teachers had searched for disappeared women after the war. But there was no record/testimony about disappeared/killed victims. There were no witnesses who saw the abduction of the victims. -- https://goo.gl/I7OjoV

Imagine that, someone said "I was raped by your father though I don't know when and where. There is no other eyewitness."
Then, do you plead your father's guilty ? Or will you do fact-finding by firstly identifying the incidents ?

Japan did the fact-finding. And there found no record/material to endorse the Koreans' assertion.

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---- 3. "Comfort women" monuments came to have the meaning to represent Koreans' assertion.

Some monuments were founded in the United States till now. The Koreans' assertion was engraved on those as such as "In memory of more than 200,000 Asian and Dutch women who were removed from their homes...." ( Glendale City, California )
That is, a monument means the icon to represent Koreans' assertion about this disputed determination-of-facts.

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---- 4. Activity to found monuments has brought conflict to each community in other cases.

There were some activities mainly in the U.S. to found the monuments. Due to the absence of the stable determination-of-facts, the activity has brought conflict to each community.

In Glendale City, California, there was/is conflict;
-between Korean-Americans and Japanese-Americans,
-between Japanese-Americans or Japanese children and other children,
-inside Japanese-Americans,
-between Glendale city and its sister city in Japan,
-inside city council members,

Later, a member of city council stated his opinion, the monument should have not been founded. Then they accused him of not only what he said but also the point he showed his personal opinion. In Glendale, to say something negative about the statue may come to be taboo. Does this situation match the justice you believe ? -- http://www.latimes.com/tn-gnp-weavers-comfort-women-statue-stance-protes...

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---- 5. The monument in Sydney will bring nothing positive but may bring conflict.

Some monuments were founded mainly in the U.S. till now. Then did anything positive happen there ?
They just worsened this issue because that is still in dispute about the determination-of-facts. Now, Glendale City came to be the hated city by part of Japanese people.

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---- 6. We oppose founding the "comfort women" statue in Sydney.

Assume that you will actually be once involved in this "comfort women" issue.
Assume that, later, you'll find other fact than the one now you are believing.

It will be difficult that you'll revert. Uniting Church will face the conflict like the one the Glendale city council member faced. For Uniting Church and Mr. Crews, noted person in Australia through his precious contribution, this will possibly end in the negative episode being exploited as an advertising-tower.

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---- 7. Sydney needs things to have people understand each other and get along.

In Buena Park City, California, the mayor dismissed the plan to found the monument in their city.

She stated (2013);
"We had kids who speak 25 different languages ( in the school she had worked as a teacher before )"
"We don't need things to divide us."
"We need things to have us understand each other and get along."

Sincerely

....

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