Friday, April 06, 2007

Michael Breen tells the Truth to the Truth Commission

Then he told me his story. He had met his Koreans in the 1940s, when he was a prisoner of war under the Japanese. Like thousands of other young British and allied soldiers in World War II, he had been captured in Southeast Asia. The Japanese were unspeakably cruel to those they defeated. I worked in London once with a man who had, as a POW, witnessed guards executing a lineup of Australians with a bayonet up the rectum. Many of the Japanese guards in those camps were from Korea, which, you will know, was part of Japan then.

In fact, my father’s friend told me, the Koreans were the worst. ``Horrible people,’’ he said. I’ve never had the heart to tell my Korean friends this story because it is hurtful. But also because I know they would have no idea what this man might be talking about. But they should. The government of President Roh Moo-hyun is trying to clear up the pain from this period and needs serious help with its moral compass. Take, for example, the outrageous reversal this week by a Korean government panel of the rulings by allied tribunals after World War II on Korean war criminals........They will also tell you that from 1937-42, Koreans in the Japanese army were volunteers _ who included King Kojong’s son, an army general _ and that large-scale forced conscription only started in 1944. The Commission should know that those rounding up comfort women were Koreans and those torturing people in police stations were mostly Koreans. Koreans, in other words, were more ``horrible’’ to Koreans in many cases than the Japanese were11-16-2006/Korea times


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This is the article in November so it is a bit old. I didn't know it.

魚拓

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

BACKGROUND OF 'COMFORT WOMEN' ISSUE / No hard evidence of coercion in recruitment of comfort women
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070331dy02.htm

BACKGROUND OF 'COMFORT WOMEN' ISSUE / Comfort station originated in govt-regulated 'civilian prostitution'
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070331dy01.htm

BACKGROUND OF 'COMFORT WOMEN' ISSUE / Kono's statement on 'comfort women' created misunderstanding
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070402dy01.htm

Sex-Slaves Mystery
http://japan-now.info/society.php?itemid=95

Comfort Women for US Soldiers in Vietnam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c7WF9twOaI&NR=1