Voices of Vietnam Delivers 28,000 Petition Signatures to Korean Embassy Demanding Apology from President Park

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Voices of Vietnam, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of women sexually assaulted by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War, today delivered its Change.org petition with nearly 28,000 signatures of its Change.org petition to the South Korean Embassy in Washington, DC.

The petition, started by Nguyen Thi Bach Tuyet to draw attention to her story of survival after being raped by a South Korean Korean soldier, calls on President Park Geun-hye to apologize for the system rape and sexual assault of thousands of Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War.

"I was only a young girl when South Korean soldiers came to fight in my country of Vietnam as an ally of the United States during the Vietnam War. At the time, my family owned a small tea shop near a Korean military base. One day, while all her children looked on, a South Korean soldier entered our shop and raped my mother. Several months later, another soldier came to our shop and raped me. Both my mother and I got pregnant from our assaults," Ms. Nguyen said in her petition.

"For more than 40 years, the South Korean government has not recognized these atrocities committed by their soldiers during the war -- but I will no longer accept their silence.

"Only 800 survivors like me are estimated to be alive today. Our children are the Lai Dai Han, or mixed Vietnamese and Korean blood. We have struggled for decades without a formal apology, acknowledgement, or reparations from the Korean Government. I fear that soon there will be no one left to tell our stories and that we will be forgotten," she continued.

Co-chaired by Former Congressman Anh (Joseph) Cao of Louisiana, the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress, and Cyndi Nguyen, Executive Director of VIET New Orleans, Voices of Vietnam provides a platform for those that have spent years in silence.

Individuals interested signing the petition or learning more are encouraged to visit our website and watch the first-hand video testimonials of Con Lai Dai Han survival stories at VietnamVoices.org.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151019/278136
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151012/276123LOGO

SOURCE Voices of Vietnam

Related Links

http://vietnamvoices.org/