신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin

The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - 'Comfort Women' Mark 900th Protest at Japanese Embassy

'Comfort Women' Mark 900th Protest at Japanese Embassy

Kim Hak-sun, a former "comfort woman" forced to work in brothels serving the Japanese military during World War II, held a press conference at the headquarters of the Korean Women's Association United on Aug. 14, 1991. Facing a throng of reporters, Kim recalled the painful memories of being dragged away to China by Japanese soldiers when she was just 17 and forced to have sex with four to five soldiers a day. She was kept under watch 24 hours a day and was beaten almost to death after several failed escape attempts. "Until now, I did not have the courage to speak," Kim said, "I still shudder when I see the Japanese flag or hear anything related to comfort women." 

After invading Manchuria in 1931, the Japanese military dragged close to 200,000 Korean women to battlefields in China and Southeast Asia. Ahead of former President Roh Tae-woo's visit to Japan in 1990, women's rights groups in Korea demanded an investigation, apology and compensation from the Japanese government for mobilizing the comfort women. The Japanese government denied any involvement, saying the atrocities were committed by "civilians." The following year, Kim became the first former comfort woman to go on the record speaking about the injustices she suffered. Soon, other former comfort women stepped up to deliver their testimony.

Former comfort women held their first protest rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Jan. 8, 1992, just before then-Japanese prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa visited Korea. Five days later, Japan's chief cabinet secretary delivered a statement acknowledging the involvement of the Japanese military, and Miyazawa apologized to Roh during their summit. But the Japanese government did not deliver an official apology and compensation as demanded by the former comfort women, so they continued their protest rallies every Wednesday.

The 900th protest rally takes place this Wednesday. It has been 18 long years since the first one. There were people who scoffed at the movement at first, but the protests, held every Wednesday come rain or shine, have gained international attention and become a living reminder of Japan's reluctance to atone for its past atrocities.

Over the years, the numbers of survivors declined from 234 in 1993 to just 87 now. Many of them are between the ages of 80 and 90 and no longer have the strength to attend the rallies. But the Japanese government has yet to offer a formal apology, while rightwing groups are trying to delete all references to "comfort women" in Japanese school textbooks. Will the passage of time wash the stains off Japan's history? The answer lies in the words of former comfort woman Gil Won-ok, who said, "If Japan refuses to repent for its past deeds, I'll come to the rallies even after I'm dead."

By Chosun Ilbo columnist Kim Tae-ick

englishnews@chosun.com / Jan. 13, 2010 12:53 KST

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My next event: The Loft Literary Center, 10 am with Bao Phi and as a table host at lunch on 2/30/10

Saturday, February 20, 9:00 AM

a la carte: a Writing Buffet for Beginners

Acclaimed Writers from the Loft—Workshops, Performances, & Presentations

Open Book

TBA

a la carte: a Writing Buffet for Beginners
Saturday & Sunday, February 20 & 21, 2010

Have you always wanted to write a screenplay or a novel? A book for children or a poem?…but you don’t know how to begin? Let acclaimed writers from the Loft—the nation’s largest independent nonprofit literary arts center—show you how!

Like a banquet table filled with tempting appetizers, delicious main courses, sweet deserts, and tasty sides, the Writing Buffet for Beginners allows you to sample all our literary fare. Your menu choices include:
        • Children’s Literature
        • Graphic Novel
        • Novel
        • Poetry
        • Memoir
        • Screenplay
        • Short Story
        • Teleplay
You can try your hand at poetry writing in the morning and experiment with novel writing in the afternoon. Mix-and-match from our menu of sessions, served up with insights and inspiration for the writer’s appetite.

You’ll also learn about the writing life—how to start and keep writing, how to deal with rejection, and how to revise your work—from award-winning writers, along with a wealth of information about local resources for writers just starting out. Details and registration available in early November.

via loft.org

Asian American Poetry and Writing

via www.aapw-la.org

pinkstinks - Role Models - Film

facts

Over four years, the percentage of women working as directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors on the top 250 U.S grossing films declined from 19% in 2001 to 16% in 2004.

In 2005, women comprised 17% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This is the same percentage of women employed in these roles in 1998. 

Women accounted for 7% of directors in 2005. This represents an increase of two percentage points over 2004. However, this is less than the recent historical high of 11% recorded in 2000.

From The Celluloid Ceiling

via www.pinkstinks.co.uk

The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - Gender Imbalance 'to Reach Crisis Point in 2014'

Gender Imbalance 'to Reach Crisis Point in 2014'

One in every five men is likely to have trouble finding a spouse by 2014, a study suggests, when the ratio of men to women at the ideal marriage age will reach a record high.

The study by the Gyeonggi Province Family and Women's Research Institute put the ideal age for marriage at between 29 and 33 for men, and between 26 and 30 for women.

The number of men in the age group stands at 1.98 million this year, some 70,000 more than women (1.91 million), but that gap will widen to 134,200 next year and reach a record 381,300 in 2014, the institute forecast.  

It attributed the imbalance to the country's traditional preference for boys. It was the most conspicuous among the third and fourth child in a family. The overall gender ratio stood at 106.4 boys to 100 girls last year, within the normal range of between 103 and 107. The ratio for the first and second child also fell in the normal range with 104.9 and 105.6 boys to 100 girls.

But for the third and fourth child, the institute said it was an "open secret" that couples have pre-natal sex screening and sex-selective abortions. "In addition, a continued growth in the number of single women over the proper age for marriage is making the situation worse," it added.

via english.chosun.com

Important organization: About the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Home

ABOUT CCFC HIGHLIGHTS & HISTORY  

 

 

Who we are

 

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents, and individuals who care about children.  Headquartered at the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston, CCFC is the only national organization devoted to limiting the impact of commercial culture on children.  CCFC’s staff and Steering Committee are activists, authors, and leading experts on the impact of media and marketing on children.&n

via www.commercialfreechildhood.org

The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - Stratospheric Cost of English-Language Kindergartens

Stratospheric Cost of English-Language Kindergartens

The monthly tuition fee for English-language kindergartens is an average of W720,000, triple the cost of ordinary Korean-speaking preschools (US$1=W1,174).

Kindergartens where native English speakers teach the language to preschoolers are not officially authorized educational institutions under current law and are categorized as language institutes. English kindergartens began emerging four or five years ago in the affluent Gangnam area in southern Seoul.

According to a report submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to Grand National Party lawmaker Suh Sang-kee for a parliamentary audit, average monthly tuition is the highest in Seoul at W980,000. It is W650,000 in South Chungcheong Province, W600,000 in Busan and W560,000 in Gyeonggi Province.

There are 181 English kindergartens nationwide. Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi Province are home to 131 or 72 percent. Those in Seoul's Gangnam District are the most expensive, costing W1.24 million a month. Seocho District is second with W1.18 million, followed by Yongsan with W1.05 million, Jongro with W950,000, Daejeon’s Yuseong District with W890,000 and Euijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province with W880,000.

But Seocho District is home to the nation's single most expensive English kindergarten, which costs W1.64 million a month. Suh said tuition fees at English kindergartens are more than 13 times higher than those of public Korean-speaking kindergartens, proving the widening gap between haves and have-nots for the education of preschoolers.

englishnews@chosun.com / Oct. 06, 2009 10:06 KST

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US: Ratify Children’s Treaty | Human Rights Watch

US: Ratify Children’s Treaty

On 20th anniversary, Convention on the Rights of the Child Embraced by World but Not the US

November 18, 2009

Related Materials: 

Q&A: The Convention on the Rights of the Child

Other Material: 

Big Think: What Rights Should Children Have?

The United States' failure to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child is an embarrassment. It damages the US' reputation as a human rights leader and undermines its ability to improve the lives of children around the globe.

Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch

(New York) - The United States should ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is supported by nearly every other nation in the world, Human Rights Watch said today. The United States and Somalia are the only countries that have failed to ratify the Convention, which was adopted 20 years ago, on November 20, 1989.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child became the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. The United States signed the Convention in 1995, but no US president then or since has sent it to the Senate for ratification.

via www.hrw.org

The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - Dual Nationality to Become Legal

Dual Nationality to Become Legal

The Justice Ministry has completed a draft amendment of citizenship laws that will permit Koreans to hold dual nationality in some circumstances. Under the new law, dual nationality holders born abroad will be allowed to maintain both citizenships provided they do not exercise certain rights and privileges using their legal status of foreigners.

The ministry announced the regulations Thursday.

Those who obtain foreign citizenship by birth will be allowed to maintain it if they submit a written oath by the age of 22 not to exercise the rights and privileges of foreigners in Korea by using their second passport.

After the age of 22, men will be allowed to maintain multiple citizenship only if they complete their military service here. Under the current law, dual citizenship holders must choose one nationality by the age of 22 and submit a written pledge to give up their foreign citizenship if they choose their Korean nationality. The revision is aimed at blocking a drain on military manpower.

Those caught using their foreign passports to enter international schools or invest in Korea as foreigners will be ordered to choose a single nationality and automatically lose their Korean nationality if they fail to give up their foreign citizenship within a specified period.

The regulations also apply for other groups such as foreigners who have immigrated through marriage with Koreans; highly skilled foreigners; senior citizens living overseas; those who have regained Korean citizenship after being adopted by foreign families; and Chinese nationals who were born and have lived here for more than 20 years.

Under the current law, foreigners have to give up their foreign citizenship within six months after they obtain Korean nationality.

via english.chosun.com

The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - More Japanese Feel Need to Say Sorry to 'Comfort Women'

More Japanese Feel Need to Say Sorry to 'Comfort Women'

Japanese who believe that Tokyo should apologize for drafting thousands of Asian woman as sex slaves for the Imperial Army in World War II outnumber those who think otherwise for the first time, a straw poll suggests.

The Northeast Asian History foundation commissioned Gallup Korea to poll 527 Seoul citizens, and 500 citizens each in Beijing and Tokyo from Aug. 1 to 9. In the poll released Monday, 48.9 percent of respondents in Tokyo said Japan should apologize to the "comfort women," while 30.3 percent said it does not need to. 

Some 53.6 percent of Japanese women and 57.8 percent of Japanese respondents in their 30s and 40s said Japan should apologize. Men made up 38.1 percent of those who thought Japan need not apologize, and older people 34.5 percent.

When the survey began in 2007, only 38.4 percent of Japanese said Tokyo should say sorry, with 50.4 percent against.

The poll was held right before the general election, which marked a historic shift from the rightwing Liberal Democrats to the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, some 60.3 percent of South Koreans said relations with China will improve, up from 52.3 percent in 2008. But among Chinese and Japanese the trend was the opposite, from 74.2 percent to 61 percent and from 31.6 percent to 23.3 percent respectively.

Some 44 percent of South Korean and Japanese respondents expected better ties between Seoul and Tokyo. But only 30.1 percent of Chinese respondents saw Korea-Japan ties improve.

Asked about the most urgent historical disagreements to be solved in the three countries, 23.6 percent of South Koreans cited Japan's claim to the Dokdo islets, 12.3 percent of the Chinese picked territorial issues, and 11.2 percent of the Japanese cited the need to foster a proper historical understanding.

The poll had a large margin of error of 4.4 percent and a 95-percent confidence level.

englishnews@chosun.com / Oct. 20, 2009 12:39 KST

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