THE KOREAN COUNCIL IN SAN FRANCISCO! (4)

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With the Bataan Legacy History Society, the Korean Council conducted a mini symposium on the war crimes during the World War II at the Golden Gate University School of Law on September 21st.

Cecilia Gaerlan, founder and executive director of the Bataan Legacy History Society, explained the Japanese military’s war crimes of the Bataan Death March and the movement to have the California State Board of Education to include the history of World War II in the Philippines in the U.S. history curriculum framework for grade 11.

*The Bataan Death March is a war crime committed by the Japanese Imperial Military since April 9th, 1942, during which the Japanese Imperial Military occupied the Bataan Peninsula, forcibly mobilized around 76,000 Filipino soldiers and prisoners for more than 120km, abused, and killed them.

More information can be found here: https://bataanlegacy.org/index.html

The author of Rampage and a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, James M. Scott and the author of Honor: the Legacy of Jose Abad Santos, Desiree Ann Cua Benipayo presented on the Japanese Imperial Military’s massacre of civilians in the Philippines, abuse of war prisoners, and war crimes against women.

Yoon Meehyang, representative of the Korean Council, presented the historical truth of the Japanese military sexual slavery and shared the domestic and international efforts to resolve the issue. She also pointed out the impunity of the perpetrators, social stigma, and other factors that hinder the just resolution of the issue and emphasized the importance of solidarity.

In the afternoon, guests from the Japan’s Kansai Network and students from the San Francisco University visited the exhibition.