韓国ふざけんな

Nine Taiwanese women forced to work as sex slaves for Japan's wartime troops are taking the Tokyo government to court this week, demanding 10 million yen (81,706 US dollars) each in compensation and an official apology.

"We believe this is the step we must take in order to make our voice heard," said Wang Ching-feng, a lawyer in charge of the case.

"The Japanese government must admit its wartime atrocity against these women in World War II, and we want the rest of the world to know about it," she told AFP.

Wang is an advisor to Taipei Women Rescue Foundation, a private organization fighting for the rights of the comfort women since 1992.

Wang, foundation chairman Chuang Kuo-min and five of the nine former sex slaves are flying to Japan Monday and will launch their action at Tokyo district court Wednesday.

It will be the first civil suit filed by Taiwanese victims following the footsteps of those from South Korea, the Philippines and the Netherlands.

At least 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced to work as comfort women but only some 40 had the courage to disclose their grief.

Some had died while others had chosen to bury their trauma being shamed or afraid to be despised by their families and the society, Wang said.

"What we demand is an official apology from the Japanese government. And we will continue our fight until the day they apologize in the Japanese way - down on their knees," she said.

"Justice must be served ... they (Japan) had ruined the best years of my life and destroyed the rest," said the oldest of the nine Taiwanese victims, known by her alias of A-chu.

A-chu, now 78, had served as a comfort woman for ten years since she was 27. She was forced to have sex with at least ten soldiers a day, which had left her infertile and suffer from chronicle diseases for the past 50 years.

A-chu later became a mistress of a local man. She is the first in Taiwan to openly talk about her life in horror as a comfort woman in 1992.

"They (Japan) must be held responsible for what they did or else I will not be able to die in peace," said another victim identified as A-tao.

A-tao was recruited as a nurse by the Japanese army in 1943 when she was 20, but was later forced to provide sex service for two years. She too became infertile and is in poor health.

A-tao, now 76, is one of the very few former comfort women who was able to live a normal marriage life later.

A landmark ruling made in favor of three South Korean victims by a Japanese court in April last year also encouraged their Taiwanese counterparts to take action, the lawyer said.

Yamaguchi District Court in western Japan ordered the Japanese government to pay 300,000 yen each to three of 10 South Korean plaintiffs, who had demanded a total of 564 million yen.

The court, however, turned down their demand for an official government apology.

Japan has so far refused to apologize or grant state compensation to the comfort women, offering only two million yen to each victim through the privately sponsored, but government backed, Asian Women's Fund.

But none of the Taiwanese victims had taken the money, Wang said.

"Money is not our main concern because no money can make up for the pain and suffering of these women," she said.

The vast majority of survivors among the estimated 300,000 - 400,000 wartime sex slaves - also including those from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and North Korea - had refused to accept compensation from the fund, she said.

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