South Korean buses carry comfort women statues

Sending a message: A comfort woman statue (right) is placed on a bus to mark the 5th International Memorial Day for Comfort Women in Seoul, South Korea. — AP

Seoul: Buses installed with a sta­tue symbolising South Korea’s wartime sex slaves began running through the capital Seoul a day before the anniversary of independence from Japan’s 1910-45 occupation.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea but also other parts of Asia, were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.