VOA常速英语2015--韩国年轻人就慰安妇问题举行集会

韩国年轻人就慰安妇问题举行集会

SEOUL— Protesters gather in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every week to demand an apology and reparations from Tokyo for the thousands of South Korean women who were forced into prostitution during World War II. Although this year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, these protesters have helped keep the issue of comfort women alive and made it difficult for Japan to move beyond its past wartime atrocities 1.

There are only a few surviving elderly women in South Korea who were forced into sex slavery during World War II. But the demonstrations 2 in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul are attracting more young people, like 16-year-old Kwon Oh-ryung, who have become passionate 3 about the issue.

二战期间被迫沦为慰安妇的韩国老妇中只有少数仍在世，但首尔日本使馆前面的游行吸引了更多年轻人，像16岁的Kwon Oh-ryung就对这个问题非常愤慨。

“Japanese doing this is such a crime to us, so we couldn’t stand it. We couldn’t bear it,” she said.

“日本对我们犯下这样的罪行，所以我们不能忍受，不能容忍。”

It is estimated that over 200,000 women from across Asia were forced to become comfort women for occupying Japanese soldiers during the war.

估计二战期间整个亚洲地区有超过20万妇女被迫成为占领日军的慰安妇。

Rally organizer Yoon Mi-hyang, with the Korean Council for The Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, said they have been protesting now for nearly a quarter century.

游行的组织者Yoon Mi-hyang就职于“韩国挺身队问题对策协议会”，她说他们已经为此抗议了近25年。

"The reason why we stand here until now is that the Japanese government has not accepted its crime and not offered an official apology and legal compensation which victims have been asking for,” she explained.

“我们之所以到现在还站在这里，是因为日本政府至今没有承认其罪行，没有如受害者所愿进行官方道歉并提供法律赔偿。”

The comfort women issue has become even more contentious 4 since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted a less apologetic tone toward Japan’s wartime past. His visit to a war memorial last year that included the names of war criminals angered his neighbors.

自从日本首相安倍晋三对日本战争历史采取更不谦卑的态度后，慰安妇问题的争议更加激烈。安倍去年访问了一个战争纪念碑，碑上包括一些令邻国愤怒的战争罪犯的名字。

Abe also alienated 5 China, South Korea and other Asian countries by questioning Japan’s past apologies on the comfort women issue. Some of his conservative allies have suggested that not all the women were forced into prostitution.

安倍还对日本过去对慰安妇问题的道歉表示质疑，这就令中国、韩国等亚洲国家更加疏远日本。他的一些保守派盟友表示，不是所有慰安妇都是被迫沦为妓女的。

More recently, South Korea criticized Abe’s visit to Jerusalem, including a holocaust 6 memorial for victims of German war crimes, saying that he will be taken seriously when he addresses Japan’s atrocities.

最近，韩国批评安倍访问耶路撒冷，期间他拜访了德国战争罪受害者的大屠杀纪念馆，他说他会严肃对付日本的暴行。

Prime Minister Abe suggested he may alter a 1995 statement from former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, giving a broad apology for wartime damage and suffering, when he makes his own statement in August on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

首相安倍表示他可能会修改前首相村山富市1995年的声明，对战时破坏和苦难进行广泛的道歉，他在8月份二战结束70周年的声明中这么表示：

"As it is now 70 years since the end of [the second world] war, the Abe cabinet will be reflecting on what we did wrong in the last war and also on our progress as a peace loving nation,” he said.

“今天是二战结束70周年，安倍内阁将反思我们在这场战争中的错误，并反思作为一个爱好和平的国家我们取得的进步。”

At the rally, a chair was left empty for a comfort women victim who recently passed away. Yoon Mi-hyang said this new generation of protesters would not let Korea’s sense of outrage 7 dissipate after all the survivors 8 die.

在这场集会上，一把空椅子是为最近刚过世的一位慰安妇保留的。Yoon Mi-hyang说年轻一代的抗议者不会让韩国的愤慨在所有幸存者过世后就烟消云散。

“The purpose of our activity is to not repeat such a tragic 9 event like the comfort women issue, and it is also what the victims want,” said Yoon.

“我们活动的目的是让慰安妇这样的悲剧不要再重演，这也是受害者所希望的。”

The protesters said they would not forget and not forgive until Japan makes amends 10.

抗议者称他们不会忘记，也不会原谅，直到日本做出补偿为止。