By Kim Se-jeong/ The Korea Times
A special exhibition on the Korean victims of Japanese sexual slavery during World War II will open at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul, Saturday.
Highly publicized comic illustrations that were presented at the Angouleme International Comics Festival in France in January will be part of the display.
“I am glad these works are for public viewing. I hope that people will remember history by learning more about what happened to these women,” said Cho Yoon-seon, the minister for gender equality and family.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is a co-organizer of the exhibition, which will run until April 13.
Visitors will also be able to see booklets listing the names of those forced into sexual slavery in China, a diary written by a Japanese administrator and a collection of court testimonies by the victims.
This collection is a timely reminder of a tragic part of history which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other Japanese right-wing politicians are trying to deny.
Abe has reportedly said that Japan forcibly mobilizing women from neighboring countries for sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during WWII was a groundless claim.
This angers many in South Korea, including the government which has been campaigning vigorously to raise awareness about the issue internationally. The festival in France was hailed as a triumph, having deterred Japan’s attempt to cancel the presentation of more than 20 comics and videos depicting the suffering of the victims.
The campaign is likely to continue this year.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has doubled its annual budget allocation for this issue this year.
The opening ceremony for the exhibition will start at 2:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.much.go.kr.
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