The planned seminar to be honored with the presence of the victims of "comfort women" reflected the ardent patriotism and firm will of the women in the north and the south to once again fully expose such hideous crimes committed against Koreans as the horrible sexual slavery enforced by the Japanese imperialists in the past and pressurize Japan to liquidate its past crimes by the concerted efforts of the Koreans, the statement said, and went on:

But, the south side's authorities obstructed the preparations for the seminar as evidenced by their action taken to "selectively disallow" the south side's representatives to participate in a working contact between women's organizations from the north and the south for fear that the seminar might provide an occasion in stirring up the anti-Japanese sentiment throughout Korea. And they went the lengths of blocking the seminar in the end under the unreasonable pretext of the "present situation of the inter-Korean relations" and "personal safety."

This behavior is a blatant challenge to the just struggle of the women in the north and the south to regain the dignity of the women which had been violated by the Japanese imperialists and boost the solidarity and alliance for national independence and the country's reunification. And it is an intolerable treacherous act to break all the Koreans' will to settle accounts with Japan and arrest their anti-Japanese struggle.

The Korean nation will never pardon the acts of the south side's authorities against the nation, reunification and history as they are persistently violating the legitimate rights of the women in the north and the south and suppress their just solidarity activities for reunification, while shielding and conniving in a humiliating manner at the behavior of Japan evading its responsibility for settlement of the past wrongdoings.

The women in the north and the south will as ever intensify the joint actions for settling the "comfort women" issue in the UN and other international arenas and unfailingly realize the seminar within this year and thus fully demonstrate the strong anti-Japanese patriotic will and might of the Korean women in the eyes of the anti-reunification forces and pro-Japanese lackeys inside and outside Korea.