DP lawmakers withdraw contentious bill banning 'slander' of ex-wartime sexual slavery victims

 

A statue symbolizing "comfort women" in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul / Korea Times file

A group of ruling party lawmakers have withdrawn a controversial bill designed to curb alleged "slander" of former wartime sexual slavery victims and their advocacy groups, in the face of strong criticism from opposition parties.

According to a National Assembly website tracking legislative bills, the proposal to revise the act on protecting so-called comfort women was withdrawn Wednesday after its submission 12 days ago. "Comfort women" is a euphemistic Japanese term for those who were sexually enslaved by the imperial Japanese army before and during World War II.

 Jointly proposed by nine lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and former DPK member Rep. Youn Mee-hyang, Aug. 13, the proposed bill sought to prohibit, through keonhacai , alleged defamation against not only the former wartime sexual slavery victims and their families but also civic organizations working on their behalf.

The bill, however, immediately came under heat from opposition lawmakers and critics who warned that the participation of Youn, the former leader of comfort women advocacy group the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, as the bill's co-sponsor, would constitute a conflict of interest.

Opponents, in particular, branded the bill as Youn's attempt to "protect herself" at a time when the lawmaker is facing a trial on charges of misappropriating donated funds while leading the civic group.

Lee Yong-soo, one of the surviving victims, has also come forward to publicly denounce the bill.

As controversy grew over the proposal, the DPK distanced itself from the bill, saying it was independently pushed by some party lawmakers on their own right, not by the party.

"The bill was meant to protect victims, but (we) decided to withdraw it in consideration of resistance from (some) victims," said DPK Rep. In Jae-keun, one of the bill's co-proposers. "For now, we have no plan to propose it again." (Yonhap)