The comfort women issue has once again gained the attention of international media this week, after the Korean Women Lawyers Association and the Women’s Forum for Peace and Diplomacy announced a joint plan to nominate 53 surviving former comfort women from Korea for the Nobel Peace Prize.
While the South Korean media praised the plan as a way to spread awareness about the issue worldwide, Korean netizens expressed concern that the nomination will be laughed at internationally and cause further pain for the survivors. 2chan and Yahoo! Japan users were even harsher in their reactions.
From Yahoo! Japan:
In Korea, 53 Former Comfort Women Put Forth as Nobel Peace Prize Candidates – Korean Internet: “The World Will Laugh At Us Again,” “Stop Stirring Up People’s Anti-Japan Sentiments!”
On April 29, 2015, the South Korean newspaper Segye Ilbo reported that the Korean Women Lawyers Association and the Women’s Forum for Peace and Diplomacy will press forward with their plan to recommend the surviving former comfort women of the Japanese military as Nobel Peace Prize candidates.
On April 28, the Korean Women Lawyers Association and the Women’s Forum for Peace and Diplomacy stated, “We are discussing a plan to recommend Lee Yong-soo and 53 other women as Nobel Peace Prize candidates, with the intent that we should recognize the comfort women victims who have served the cause of women’s rights and regional peace through various activities.”
The news has received positive coverage from the South Korean media, with statements such as, “We can spread the message worldwide that unless we resolve the comfort women problem, it will be difficult to maintain peace in Northeast Asia.”
In response, there was a flood of critical comments from Korean internet users.
“Don’t turn these poor old ladies into a laughing stock.”
“I feel like this is not for the sake of peace…”
“The world will laugh at us again. I support the activities of the comfort women victims, but they do not fit the goal of the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“The Nobel Peace Prize is a stretch. Are they making fun of the comfort women victims? Don’t they find it shameful to do that?”
“Alfred Nobel is crying in heaven.”
“So is the plan to recommend the Sewol victims after the comfort women victims?
“This is basically in the same spirit as saying, ‘make a Nobel Women’s Prize!’”
“It’s a good idea, but I wonder if they’ll put it into action? Won’t it just bring up difficult memories for the old ladies?”
“If it weren’t for Japan, South Korea wouldn’t have made it this far. From now on, stop stirring up people’s anti-Japan sentiments.”
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
oka*****:
Thank you for yet again providing the joke material for my day.
sak*****:
Why would they be able to get a Nobel Peace Prize for selling their bodies? Is it “Love & Peace” or something? No matter how you think about it, these people are outrageous. I think Anti-Korean views will just become more and more of a global trend because of this.
sak*****:
This is incredible in that it shows that people can really become this shameless.
kqq*****:
No matter how you think about it, far from getting a Nobel Peace Prize, I think it’s much more plausible that they’ll be cited for fraud by Interpol. I completely don’t understand how living witnesses are supposed to be evidence.
よけろナッパ:
Just wait, next year it will have increased to 54 people.
gsa*****:
Please do your best. Because I’m looking forward to this becoming the cornerstone of a gigantic boomerang effect.
fuk*****:
No matter how you look at it, they’re crazy!
che*****:
I don’t really care either way, but doesn’t this mean that ranking has become necessary even within the victim business?
she*****:
So naturally this will include what happened in Vietnam too, right?
oct*****:
Anyhow, shouldn’t “comfort women in their 60s” be making an appearance? Because there are also people who “worked as comfort women until 1947”. If that’s the case, this might be amusing.
Comments from 2ch.net:
レインメーカー(庭)＠＼(^o^)／:
Go ahead and apply to Monde Selection, too.
キドクラッチ(長野県)＠＼(^o^)／:
Was what they did for the sake of peace?
トペ スイシーダ(東京都)＠＼(^o^)／:
Added to Article 9 of the Constitution, the Nobel Prize sure is popular w
ニールキック(家)＠＼(^o^)／:
A Nobel Prize for prostitutes?
トラースキック(愛知県)＠＼(^o^)／:
53 Nobel Prize recipients in one go? www Way to go ww You’ve overflowed the pedestal wwwwwwwww
ハーフネルソンスープレックス(東京都)＠＼(^o^)／ [in response to above]:
When I imagined it, I doubled over
ファルコンアロー(西日本)＠＼(^o^)／ [also in response to above]:
魔神風車固め(沖縄県)＠＼(^o^)／:
LMAO
I definitely want them to win it. w
フライングニールキック(庭)＠＼(^o^)／:
Isn’t this a good opportunity? They should investigate everything and then let the whole world know. By all means, go for it.
ジャンピングDDT(茸)＠＼(^o^)／:
Isn’t this a good chance to expose those assholes’ lies to the whole world?
