On Wednesday, the day before International Women’s Day, protesters gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul with 30 photos of ordinary women’s faces merged with the image of the comfort woman statue. The images were called “Uncomfort Women.”

The 30 photos represented the number of the remaining 30 comfort women in Korea. The rest have passed away due to age.

“This is a campaign to let the world know that these women are here, the women who were called comfort women but were driven to the opposite of comfort themselves,” called out the organizers.


 

The faces on the photos were selfies taken by women who stand for justice for the victims of Japanese sexual slavery during World War II. The “Uncomfort Women” project is an online social movement started by workers in Seoul who could not make it to the weekly Wednesday gatherings in front of the Japanese embassy, but who still support the women with their hearts.

“We have created an online campaign for these people so that we could combine all their support to create power,” said the organizers.

Photos can be made on www.uncomfortwomen.com. These photos are updated to the UncomfortWomen Instagram account every Wednesday before the weekly protest in Seoul. By tagging the photo with global locations, the uncomfort woman statue with the participants‘ faces, can sit in front of global landmarks including the UN headquarters in New York.

“Never again should war sacrifice women and people,” the organizers said, urging people to spread word of the campaign.

The organizers also mentioned the spreading #MeToo movement in Korea, calling the comfort women the original Me Too activists who have been protesting against silence for 27 years now.

Written by Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
Photo by Park Hyun-koo (phko@heraldcorp.com)