Media
Campaign for Justice
At 93 years old, Lee Yong-soo halmoni (할머니 or grandmother) is one of the last known survivors of Japan's imperial military human trafficking and sexual slavery system during World War II.
On February 16, 2021, she urged the governments of Japan and South Korea to refer all outstanding disputes concerning "comfort women" to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest tribunal.
On October 26, 2021, she also urged the South Korean government to unilaterally refer the issue for resolution under the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) for its distortion of wartime history and its ongoing impunity for rape and sexual slavery under international law.
Lee Yong-soo halmoni has vowed to pursue justice for this historic issue of sexual violence in armed conflict until the very end.
Messages from Lee Yong-soo
Follow updates on Lee Yong-soo's campaign for justice on Twitter @leeyongsoo1928
정신대 할머니와 함께 하는 시민모임 (Daegu Citizens Forum for the Halmuni) YouTube channel
Comfort Women Action for Redress and Action / CARE (배상과 교육을 위한 위안부행동) YouTube channel and Twitter
Korean survivors sign statements of support for resolution under the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT)
Photographs of: Lee Ok-seon (b. 1928), Lee Ok-seon (b. 1930), Kang Il-chul, and Park Pilgeun
‘나눔의 집’에 계시는 이옥선(1928년생), 이옥선(1930년생), 강일출 할머니들과 포항의 박필근 할머니의
UN 고문방지협약(CAT) 회부 절차를 지지 사한 서명하시는 모습
UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) Proposal
Unreported World documentary
Press Conference re UN Convention Against Torture
October 26, 2021
UK Channel 4
aired November 26, 2021
International Court of Justice (ICJ) Proposal
Press Conference in Korean
(No Cut News / 노컷브이)
Press Conference with English subtitles
(February 16, 2021)
일본군 ‘위안부’ 생존자 이용수 할머너가 국제사법재판소 (ICJ) 회부를 요구하는 이유
The reasoning behind Japanese military "comfort woman" survivor Lee Yong-soo's plea for referral to the UN International Court of Justice (with English subtitles)
AJ+ Clip
(February 17, 2021)
CARE Executive Director Phyllis Kim, Ethan Hee-seok Shin, and Professor Alexis Dudden (UConn, History) discuss the Seoul Central District Court's dismissal of claims by "comfort women" and Lee Yong-soo's renewed appeal for an ICJ proceeding (April 28, 2021)
Japan's War on Facts
Testimony by "comfort women" survivors Jan Ruff O'Herne, Kim Koon-ja, and Lee Yong-soo to support the passage of U.S. House Resolution 121 in 2007.
Two months after the 2015 Announcement between Japan and South Korea, Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama says there is no evidence that "comfort women" were forced into sexual slavery in front of CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, United Nations Human Rights Council).
The reason why Korea and Japan cannot reconcile their historical issues (1996) -- in Japanese with English and Korean subtitles.
Park Yeong-sim and unknown "comfort women" being rescued on September 7, 1944, by U.S.-Chinese forces in Songshan, Yunnan province, China.
Footage by U.S. military photographer Edward Fay from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, discovered in 2020 by KBS News and researchers from Seoul National University and Seoul Metropolitan City.
See corresponding photograph here.
[TW/CW] Two Japanese imperial military veterans, Kaneko Yasuji and Suzuki Yoshio, testify about the treatment of women and girls during WWII, as part of the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in Tokyo 2000.
Presiding Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald reads the Summary of Findings from the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery, a non-binding people's tribunal held in Tokyo during December 2000.