BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

"Comfort women” is a term that has been applied to women who were forced into prostitution for Japanese servicemen during World War II. Some locals have problems with a planned tribute to the women.

A planned memorial to the women in Fort Lee has raised objections from local Korean organizations and is being delayed.

North Jersey.com reports that the Korean American Civic Empowerment group and the Comfort Women Memorial Committee are not happy with the design of the memorial or its inscription. The inscription reads, “In remembrance of over 200,000 women from every country in East Asia who were forced into sexual service by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.”

The proposed memorial shows a Korean woman with the Japanese Imperial flag in the background. Critics are saying to remove the flag and make the woman’s image more undefined to tribute all female war casualties, to focus more on women’s rights. NorthJersey.com reports that they are also asking for the phrase “sexual service” to be replaced with “sexual slavery,” and want each country that the victims came from to be named separately.

There is a memorial to the “comfort women” in Palisades Park. According to KBIA, there is an exhibit of a South Korean’s photographer's photos of women at the Korea Press Center there. Palisades Park has a large South Korean population.

Japanese officials have called for that memorial’s removal, according to an Associated Press report on nj1015.com. A memorial was also opened in Bergen County in March.

Photographer Ahn Sehong’s exhibit can be seen at the Korea Press Center, located at 7 Broad Avenue in Palisades Park, through April 18. “I’m an American,” organizer and new American citizen Mac Han said, according to the New York Times. “In a country of justice, where civil rights exist, I wanted to open this up to everyone, to look at this history that no one can deny.”