Women suffering; then and now

July 5th 2016
This was our only "official" day off during our six week stay. I spent the morning updating this blog, then we spent the afternoon exploring Seoul. There are a large number of markets throughout the city. Jonathan and I successfully found an antique market and then took a bus around the outskirts of the city. It's monsoon season so it poured rain all day. Seoul is a giant city and we're getting a pretty good grasp of where things are located. We could see how visitors would enjoy a week of shopping and sight seeing in Seoul.

 

July 6th 2016 
This morning we started out in PROK (Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea) offices. We were fortunate to meet with the General Secretary of the denomination. Then we heard presentations from two of the ecumenical workers, one from Rev. Frank who is an ecumenically worker originally from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines who is working on migrant and ecumenical issues with the PROK and another from Rev. Catherine Christie who is originally from the United Church of Canada and splits her time between the PROK offices and the National Council of Churches in Korea offices.

The presentations focused on the upcoming trip to the United States to collect and deliver signatures supporting the reunification of the Korean Peninsula. In 1953 when the Korean war was moving towards a reduction in hostilities, an armistice agreement was signed by China, Russia, North Korea, and the United States (acting on behalf of the United Nations). The armistice agreement was not signed by South Korea. It was also a temporary cease fire agreement that stated that within three months the signing parties would come back to the negotiation table to sign a peace accord thus ending the Korean War. Unfortunately, the negotiations never continued and the Korean peninsula has been living under a temporary armistice agreement that was not even signed by both of the effected regions. For this reason the churches across Korea are asking for the countries who did sign the armistice agreement, including the United States, to come back to the negotiating table and draw up a final peace accord, even now, sixty three years later.

Additional information and a link to sign the petition for Korean Peace can be found at: http://www.koreapeacetreaty.com/

Our afternoon was spent learning about the plight of Japanese "Comfort Women" this euphemistic term is what Japan used to refer to Korean  and other women who were captured from their homes and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army. Every Wednesday for 25 years the "Comfort Women" have been gathering at noon outside of Japan's Embassy in Seoul waiting for an official apology.  The apology has never come even though Japan has been indicted in several international courts for their systemic abuse of women.

We were honored to meet two of the comfort women who continue to sit waiting. I personally cannot imagine the tragedy that they have endured in their lives. Additionally, I was grateful for the opportunity to speak at the Wednesday protest, supporting the woman's dignity and diligence and recognizing that women's bodies continue to be used as weapons of war across the globe.

Additional information on the harrowing story of Japanese Comfort Women can be found at: http://www.awf.or.jp/e-guidemap.htm

We continued our education on the plight of the "comfort women" by visiting the War and Women's Human Rights museum in Seoul. The museum was a powerful testimony to historic wrongs. The tour began with a walk on a gravel path that showed images of young women being whisked away on one side and faces of elderly women on the other. The stairs down to the basement were lined with drawings the women drew themselves of their captures. The basement had audio of women telling their stories. Upstairs the museum showcased numerous Japanese documents sanctioning the comfort stations including packages of condoms issued to Japanese soldiers. As one progressed through the museum the tour focused on the demands for an apology started when the first group of women began to publicly tell their stories in 1992. The tour ended with a world map showing locations across the globe where rape and torture of women continues to be an all too common strategy in war.

The butterfly fund was established by two of the woman from Korea raped by the Japanese who committed any future reparations be given to women in the Congo experiencing the same treatment. Read this article to learn more: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/03/665_184527.html As powerful as this act of feminine solidarity is, it is still a painful truth that such injustices continue to exist.

The combination of visiting the Filipino women currently lured into the sex industry in Korea on Monday and seeing the damaging effects of the Korean women mistreated by the Japanese military has left our hearts heavy.









Oh God, who has created us male AND female. God who cared for Hagar in the wilderness. We ask that you continue to protect women across the globe. We ask for dignity and honor to be given to all humanity regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. The world is in need of your healing presence God for those whose bodies have been ravaged by war. May this end and your shalom be known. Amen.