Japan and South Korea come to an agreement on 'comfort women,' a look at 2015 as the year of the drought, education and immigration intersect in 'East of Salinas.'
The history of Japan and South Korea's dispute over 'comfort women'
Today, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea announced that they had reached an agreement to end their dispute over Korean women forced to serve as sex slaves for Japan's Imperial Army.
As part of the deal, Japan made an apology and promised a payment of $8.3 million dollars to an organization that the South Korean government will form to provide services to former "comfort women."
Alexis Dudden, professor of history at the University of Connecticut, joined Take Two to discuss the history of the decades-long dispute between the two countries.
To hear the full interview with Alexis Dudden, click the link above.
LA group representing Korea's WWII sex slaves denounces 'comfort women' deal
A Los Angeles-based organization that has been demanding an apology from Japan for its World War II-era treatment of Korean women as sex slaves — or "comfort women" — is denouncing an agreement between the governments of Japan and South Korea.
The foreign ministers of the two nations announced a landmark agreement Monday to resolve the dispute over Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japan's Imperial Army.
According to historians, tens of thousands of so-called "comfort women" were forced to work in brothels from the early 1930s through the end of World War II.
Victims began to come forward in the 1990s and in the years since have called on the Japanese government to accept responsibility and apologize for forcing them into sexual slavery.
As part of today's deal, Japan made an apology and promised a payment of $8.3 million, but some former comfort women disagreed with a concession from Seoul to refrain from future criticism of Japan over the issue.
In a statement, the Korean American Forum of California, an advocacy organization for victims, decried today's agreement:
"We wholeheartedly agree with the activist victims who are affectionately known as "Halmonis" or 'Grandmas,' who immediately denounced the agreement as a sham. One of the most prominent and leading activists, Grandma Yongsoo Lee, denounced the agreement stating, 'This agreement seems to have been made without having the victims in mind. I dismiss it in its entirety.'"
Phyllis Kim, the group's executive director in Los Angeles, told KPCC's Take Two show that the apology from Japan does not go far enough.
"What the Grandmas have been demanding during the weekly demonstrations — over 20 years in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul ... since the early 1990s — was for the Japanese government to accept official responsibility as the government who committed these war crimes against the women and forced them into this military sexual slavery, and officially apologize to them.... That is what [the Grandmas] saw as the method of recovering their dignity and human rights."
Kim said the women want an apology approved by the Japanese government as a whole, not just statements and agreements by individual government officials.
"The reason why the Grandmas have been still demanding an apology was because there was never a cabinet-approved apology," Kim said. "It was always an individual apology from individual prime ministers from time to time."
The women are also seeking reparations, she said, "to symbolize that Japan takes the full legal responsibility about what happened during the wars — exactly like what Germans did for the Holocaust."
The surviving victims are also concerned by Japan's demands in the current agreement that call for the removal of a statue in front of Japan's embassy that commemorates the comfort women, Kim said. News media in Japan have also reported demands that a similar statue in Glendale be taken down, she added.
"So, if you're apologizing for the past war crimes, and if you are willing to make reparations, why are you making a demand to something that equals erasing the history, as if to make it something that never happened?" Kim said.
"What is more important for these Grandmas is to educate future generations about what happened."
Listen to Take Two for the full discussion:
- , executive director of the Korean American Forum of California.
Looking back at California's drought in 2015
In California, the drought dominated many months of headlines. For a look-back at 2015 and the year of drought, we spoke to Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and SCPR's science and environment editor Stephen Gregory.
On the Lot: Star Wars continues to dominate the box office
The Force remains strong, and it's being propped up by interest from female movie goers; a much anticipated animated movie from one of Hollywood's quirkiest writers is coming out; and we remember a talented, and very strong willed cinematographer this time on On the Lot, our weekly round up of news from the film business. Joining us, as always, is
of the LA Times.
The 'digital dissenters' who want to better the Internet
For many, technology and the Internet have made lives easier, freer and empowering. Information access and the ability to buy anything are just some the conveniences that are now at our fingertips.
But what are we trading for that privilege? Privacy, and maybe growing slices of our humanity — and the only way to get it all back is to push the reset button. This sentiment is being expressed by a group of people that can be described as "digital dissenters."
Joel Achenbach wrote about them in the Washington Post, and he joins Take Two with more.
Could doping allegations hurt the Peyton Manning brand?
The sports world is once again buzzing about how far athletes are willing to go to win after a report from Al Jazeera named several top athletes as being involved in using banned performance enhancing substances, such as human growth hormone or HGH.
The highest-profile name in the report is Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
The allegations come from an Al Jazeera America investigation called "The Dark Side: The Secret World of Sports Doping." Peyton Manning has denied the allegations, telling Sports Illustrated that the allegation is "a total fabrication." The Denver Broncos have also said they they support Manning "100 percent."
For more, we're joined by Courtney Brunious, associate director at the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California.
Reading by Moonlight: post-holiday book picks and literary news
In this edition of Reading by Moonlight, David Kipen shares his reading picks of the month:
- "Surfing" by Jim Heimann
- "The Heart" by Maylis de Kerangal and Sam Taylor
- "Leonard: My Fifty Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man" by William Shatner
- "Better Living Through Criticism" by A.O. Scott and more.
He'll also tell us more about some big upcoming news in the world of literature.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Is Disney's 'Playmation' the future of play?
Disney's new system – Playmation – is a cross between laser tag, make believe and video games. It gets kids outside, and at the same time, keeps them tethered to Disney products. It uses Disney characters, like Iron Man, and tries to keep kids engaged for longer by updating the platform through an internet connected app. It's a cross between what's old and what's new in the toy world, but is it also a signal of the future of play for kids?
To find out, A Martinez talked to a toy expert, visited one of LA’s oldest toy stores and took a trip to Disney in Burbank.
To hear the full piece click on the audio link embedded at the top of this post.