CWNU hosted a cross-country march to raise funds to construct a comfort women monument in Changwon. The General Students’ Association put on the event. It lasted eight days and seven nights from August 18-25. 41 CWNU students and staff members viewed cultural assets, as well as army activity, while walking 139 km along JirisanDulle-gil.

The long march started in Gyeong-nam Hadong-gun, Okjong-myeon, went through Jeonbuk, Namwon-si, and ended in Gurye-gun, Sandong-myeon. The total funds raised was 2,279,600 won, of which students made 1,139,800 won by walking for 200 won per km. Lee Chan-gyu, the president of CWNU, donated the same amount. Lee In-gil, president of the General Students Association, delivered the funds to Lee Gyeong-hee, the chairman of the Comfort Women Monument Committee in Changwon, on August 25th, the last day of the march. Lee Gyeong-hee and Kim Jong-dae, a city council member in Changwon, attended the ceremony.

Jeong Yeong-tae, a section chief at the Office of Student Affairs, said, “All the students had strong minds, and finished the course with stoicism. I feel that our students will be the people who contribute to society in many events, and I am sure that they will play a pivotal role in community, with this sort of attitude. Lee In-gil said, “We did this because we heard about the lack of funding for the monument. At first, we couldn’t promote the event fully and the number of applicants was too low to hold it. Then, it rained cats and dogs during the long march and we got lost on a mountain path. However, we finished the course with the belief that we wouldn’t give up.”

CWNU also held a meeting with Jason Kim, deputy mayor of Palisades Park, and the former comfort women last April, to express concerns about the comfort women problem.

by Seong Jaeho, reporter

Seong Jaeho  zzangpkpk@naver.com

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