During the Vietnam War, Korean soldiers raped and impregnated thousands of Vietnamese women and girls as young as 12. While many of these women have since passed away, there are over 800 victims that are still alive, and waiting for an apology from the South Korean government.
Many of the remaining victims are too old to be social media experts who can tweet out their struggles like many others can, and they need official governmental support to continue their fight for equality, as well as for an official apology from the Korean government.
However, this sad reality means that they cannot fight this fight all by themselves. To this day, the Vietnamese government refuses to acknowledge the sexual war crimes which were committed against these innocent women or offer them equal educational and job opportunities.
The reason is simple, it is the Vietnamese government’s interest to maintain good bilateral trade ties with South Korea, and seeking an apology from the South Korean government means putting those at risk.
The unfortunate consequence of ignoring the Lai Dai Han’s struggles means that the descendants of thousands of Vietnamese women who have been sexually abused during the Vietnam War will remain unseen and untreated, as the government continues to turn a blind eye to their situation.
You may be asking yourself an important, yet simple question – how could the government of Vietnam help the Lai Dai Han?
The answer is quite simple as well, the government of Vietnam should step up and demand an official apology from the South Korean government, as well as compensation for the victims and their descendants, that were deemed to live a life of inequality due to reasons that were out of their control.
An apology from the South Korean government will not only provide the Lai Dai Han with some consolation for their unfortunate past, but it will also set a precedent to the importance of combatting sexual war crimes, as they still pose a severe issue in 2021.
Help us help the Lai Dai Han by signing our petition to bring justice to this community by demanding an official apology from the South Korean government.