A memorial event on Aug. 14 honored the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese military at the Kim Koo Museum & Library in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District. Shown are statues of such victims at the House of Sharing in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Kyoung Mi

A memorial event to honor the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese military on Aug. 14 was held at the Kim Koo Museum & Library in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District.

Aug. 14, 1991, is when the late Kim Hak-soon was the first such victim to give public testimony on her ordeal as a sex slave for imperial Japan. To restore and honor the dignity of the victims and preserve their memory, the government in 2017 designated Aug. 14 as International Memorial Day for Comfort Women. 

Those attending the event included another victim, Lee Yong-soo, guardians of surviving victims, representatives from related civic groups and academia, and the public.

On the theme of this year's ceremony, "The Values of Human Rights and Peace that We Built Together with Wings of Hope," the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it means that future generations can inherit the victims' message of human rights and peace so that they can fly powerfully with wings of hope.

To mark the day, events were held across the country such as international conferences and memorial festivals on the issue.

"I hope that this memorial day is an opportunity to renew the values of human rights and peace," Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family Shin Young-sook said. "We will continue efforts to ensure a comfortable and stable life for the victims of Japan's sexual slavery and restore their honor and dignity."

km137426@korea.kr