Korean American Coalition
  • About
    • Mission
    • History
    • Who We Are >
      • Board of Directors
      • Advisory Board
      • Honorary Board
      • Staff
    • Annual Reports >
      • 2019 Annual Report
      • 2017 KAC Annual Report
    • KAC: Where Are They Now
  • COVID-19 Resources
    • Public Health & Safety
    • Housing
    • Employment
    • Food
    • Racism/Xenophobia
    • School
    • Small Business Support
    • Technology
  • Civic Engagement
    • Voter Engagement >
      • Information | Videos
      • Resources
      • In-Language Resources
    • Citizenship
    • Advocacy >
      • Promoting Fair and Transparent Voting
      • KAC in Solidarity with the Black Community
      • K-Town ED Joint Statement Against Anti-Asian Hate
      • KAC's Timeline of A Bridge Home Homeless Solutions in Koreatown >
        • What is the Bridge Home Program?
        • Bridge Home Facts and Q & A
      • AHCA
  • Census 2020
    • KAC Census Information Center >
      • Census Data >
        • Language and Education
        • Demographics and Citizenship
        • Industry, Employment, and Income
        • Economic Contribution and Civic Engagement
        • Housing and Health
    • KAC Census Videos
    • 2020 Census FAQs
    • Learn More >
      • U.S. Census Bureau
      • We Count LA
    • LAUSD-EVERYONE COUNTS
  • Programs
    • Alternative Dispute Resolution Center
    • Internship Program
    • IgniteNextGen Fellowship
    • Model United Nations (MUN) >
      • MUN 2020-2021
    • National College Leadership Conference (NCLC) >
      • Apply
      • Testimonials >
        • 2019 NCLC Testimonials
        • 2017 NCLC Testimonials
        • 2016 NCLC Testimonials
  • Donate
    • Support Us
    • Our Supporters
  • 한국어
  • Updates
    • Press Release
    • News
  • Awards
    • Luminary Award >
      • 2019 Recipients
      • 2018 Recipients
  • Get Involved
    • Membership
    • Career Opportunities

Press Release

Korean American Coalition Opposes Comfort Women Article by Harvard Professor

2/16/2021

 

The Korean American Coalition - Los Angeles (KAC) stands with the Asian and Asian American communities in condemning the article (“Contracting for sex in the Pacific War”) and op-ed written by Professor J. Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, which attempts to undermine and deny the lived experiences of comfort women who were forced into Japanese military sexual slavery before and during World War II. 

Professor Ramseyer’s revisionist claims of comfort women as voluntary prostitutes are a grave distortion of historical facts, as there is overwhelming evidence, living proof, and even UN recognition that proves the existence of systematic sexual slavery. He fails to consider the Japanese government’s deliberate efforts to erase this history in their demand of the dismantling of comfort women memorial statues, the removal of any mention of comfort women in Japanese textbooks and their attempts to do so with U.S. textbooks, and position to steer clear of official government recognition and compensation. 

About 200,000 women, primarily from Korea, but also from other Asian countries, including the Philippines, China, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan, were forced into systematic sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II. Through coercion, violence, and deception, these women and young girls were abducted and forced into sexual slavery in inhumane conditions. Post-World War II, comfort women survivors suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, sexually transmitted diseases, infertility, and damaged reproductive systems. The majority of these women and girls faced intense stigma upon return, and whether it be due to trauma, shame, or desire for privacy, many were reluctant to speak about their experiences. In his article, Ramseyer utilizes terms like “women,” “prostitutes,” and “contracts,” to neutralize the the horrific accounts of organized sexual violence against young girls, teenagers and women who were kidnapped, raped, and severely abused. In doing so, he undermines the accounts of survivors who spoke up about their  horrific experiences. Furthermore, he deliberately dismisses a diverse range of existing scholarship on a settled historical account.

KAC recognizes the value of academic freedom.  However, “academic freedom” is not an excuse for indefensible scholarship.  Publications in respected journals carry the imprimatur of credibility. Issues subject to reasonable debate are fair game for academic publication.  Publishing demonstrable falsehoods, however, falls outside this scope.  By publishing this article, Elsevier and the International Review of Law and Economics, convey the message that the forced slavery of women during World War II is not a settled fact, but rather a supposition open to debate.  No publication should give credence or legitimacy to this level of blatant falsehood and historical revisionism. Rather than simply delaying print publication of J. Mark Ramseyer’s problematic paper, KAC calls for the complete withdrawal and condemnation of this paper.​
KOREAN | 한글로 보기

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Korean American Coalition - Los Angeles
3727 W. 6th Street, Suite 305,
Los Angeles, CA 90020

Tel: (213) 365-5999
Email:
 info@kacla.org

  • About
    • Mission
    • History
    • Who We Are >
      • Board of Directors
      • Advisory Board
      • Honorary Board
      • Staff
    • Annual Reports >
      • 2019 Annual Report
      • 2017 KAC Annual Report
    • KAC: Where Are They Now
  • COVID-19 Resources
    • Public Health & Safety
    • Housing
    • Employment
    • Food
    • Racism/Xenophobia
    • School
    • Small Business Support
    • Technology
  • Civic Engagement
    • Voter Engagement >
      • Information | Videos
      • Resources
      • In-Language Resources
    • Citizenship
    • Advocacy >
      • Promoting Fair and Transparent Voting
      • KAC in Solidarity with the Black Community
      • K-Town ED Joint Statement Against Anti-Asian Hate
      • KAC's Timeline of A Bridge Home Homeless Solutions in Koreatown >
        • What is the Bridge Home Program?
        • Bridge Home Facts and Q & A
      • AHCA
  • Census 2020
    • KAC Census Information Center >
      • Census Data >
        • Language and Education
        • Demographics and Citizenship
        • Industry, Employment, and Income
        • Economic Contribution and Civic Engagement
        • Housing and Health
    • KAC Census Videos
    • 2020 Census FAQs
    • Learn More >
      • U.S. Census Bureau
      • We Count LA
    • LAUSD-EVERYONE COUNTS
  • Programs
    • Alternative Dispute Resolution Center
    • Internship Program
    • IgniteNextGen Fellowship
    • Model United Nations (MUN) >
      • MUN 2020-2021
    • National College Leadership Conference (NCLC) >
      • Apply
      • Testimonials >
        • 2019 NCLC Testimonials
        • 2017 NCLC Testimonials
        • 2016 NCLC Testimonials
  • Donate
    • Support Us
    • Our Supporters
  • 한국어
  • Updates
    • Press Release
    • News
  • Awards
    • Luminary Award >
      • 2019 Recipients
      • 2018 Recipients
  • Get Involved
    • Membership
    • Career Opportunities