Memorial park for former sex slaves opens in Seoul

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) — A park commemorating the victims of Japan’s sexual enslavement during its occupation of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45) opened at a mountain in central Seoul on Monday, marking the 106th anniversary of the colonization.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government held an opening ceremony at the park located on Mount Nam, or Namsan, together with a committee which has been in charge of creating the memorial park since last year.

The site of the park is the former residence of Japan’s colonial-era resident-general, where the annexation treaty was signed on Aug. 22, 1910. The pact went into effect a week later.

The ceremony was attended by the victims Kim Bok-dong and Kil Won-ok, along with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea.

“The ceremony held on the day the country formally was annexed by Japan aims to highlight a resolve to never again suffer the pain endured during the colonial era,” Mayor Park said.

Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese troops during World War II. The victims are euphemistically called comfort women.

Former sex slave Kim Bok-dong (R) and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon touch a memorial where testimonies of “comfort women” are written at the newly opened memorial park on Mount Nam, central Seoul, on Aug. 29, 2016.