Comfort Women_Story 2. About 'Japanese Military Sexual Slavery'

 Continuing from the post ‘A girl’s story’_ Story one’

After they came back, they hid the fact that they were ‘sexual slaves’ because they were shameful. Then on June 1990, when Japanese government proclaimed that Japanese military have nothing to do with ‘Military Sexual Slavery’, one of the victim named ‘Hak soon Kim’ stood up to witness the truth of ‘Japanese Sexual Slavery’ and expose her life as a ‘sexual slave.’ After her, a lot of victim of ‘Japanese Military Sexual Slavery’ have started to raise their voices to reveal the truth of the incident.

Script

 

It was the time when Koreans were suffering from colonial exploitation and oppression.

 

Japanese Occupation Period (Aug. 29. 1910 ~ Aug. 15. 1945)

 

Her dream was to meet a caring man and have an ordinary marriage.  

 

She dreamed of making a happy family with adorable children.

 

She used to draw on the ground with her fingers, dreaming of becoming an artist someday.

She was just an ordinary girl with ordinary dreams. 

She was only 12.

 

“I was told that I could make money and go to school, if I go work at a silk factory in Japan. So, I took the chance.”

 

However, where she arrived wasn’t Japan. It was Harbin, China.

 

“Prevent the rape of local women and STDs, and boost military morale!”

 'Comfort Woman'

All of the sudden, she was given the title, “comfort woman”.

 

『Military Sexual Slavery by Japan』

Her job was to serve as a military sex slave for the imperial Japanese Army.

『Military Sexual Slavery by Japan』 

System of forced military prostitution by the Japanese government

 

The victims were brought to military camps by Japanese soldiers, with no idea where they were going or what they were going to do. 

An estimated 200,000 Asian women fell into this vicious trap.

 

The largest human trafficking case of such unprecedented scale in the 20^th century

 

A tiny dark room with a blanket and wooden plank walls

 

All the dreams of the young girls were suddenly lost in a 35-square-foot space.

 

“We got there in a truck, escorted by military officers.

Over 100 soldiers were lined up in front of each door. 

 

“When a soldier came into my room, I screamed in fear and tried to escape.”

“Then, the comfort station manager slapped my face until my nose started bleeding, and locked me in a small room with no food.”

 

“I was nothing more than an animal. If the Japanese soldiers saw me as a human being, they couldn’t have done what they did to me.”

 

 

Mass rape

Forced abortion

Mutilation and murder

 

The heinous war crimes changed the life of innocent civilians forever.

 

Many Korean girls lost the ordinary life that they deserved.

 

The defeat of Japan in WWII

 

The subsequent independence of Korea

 

The defeated Japanese soldiers returned home, leaving the Korean girls in China.

 

Japanese history is covered with the blood of countless innocent victims.

 

Japan has tried to cover up the tragic stories of the innocent girls.

 

Attempts to introduce ‘a resolution on the comfort women’ to the U.S. House of Representatives

 

These attempts were unsuccessful due to Japanese lobbying efforts.

 

 

In 2001 and 2005, two resolutions to the House were abandoned with no result.

 

In 2006, a resolution on the comfort women was finally introduced to the House, but it was again abandoned with the end of a congressional session.

 

March 1, 2007

“There is no evidence to prove there was coercion (in recruiting the comfort women)”

- Former Japanese Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo

 

There is no historical document to prove that those women were forced against their will into prostitution, and many of them were better paid than field officers and even generals.

- Paid Advertisement in the Washington Post (June 14, 2007)

 

450 thousand U.S. dollars

‘560 million Korean won’

 

The amount of money the Japanese government spent to block the resolution on the comfort women - Sankei newspaper (August 30, 2009)

 

It is clear evidence of Japan’s effort to cover up historical truths.

 

Due to the lobbying of the Japanese government, the victims’ international appeals kept being rejected. 

However, the Korean victims did not give up.

 

The Korean girls, now old ladies, stepped forward to testify about their experiences.

 

Domestic and international NGOs and overseas Koreans began offering voluntary support.

 

However, Japan’s effort to block the resolution was intense and persistent.

 

Korean American communities started aggressive actions to counter Japan’s lobbying efforts.

Every weekend, they visited congressmen to persuade them.

 

They also produced a documentary about the comfort women.

 

On June 26, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution on the comfort women.

 

Despite much adversity, the resolution was approved with a vote of 39-2.

 

Japan made intense lobbying efforts under the lead of its prime minister.

However, Koreans’ sincere appeals defeated Japan’s powerful lobby.

 

The Government of Japan should formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force’s coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to the world as ‘comfort women’.

-   U.S. House Resolution 121

 

Every Wednesday, gray-haired former Korean comfort women come out to protest in front of the embassy of Japan in Seoul.

 

“I wasn’t born to be a comfort woman. I was a precious daughter of my parents.”

 

What they want is not money.

 

What they want is for the Japanese government to accept its faults and make a sincere apology.

 

A sincere apology will help them to put an end to their painful past.

 

They want to live the rest of their life in peace. 

They want to ensure that a similar tragedy won’t happen again by sharing their experiences with the world. 

The more you try to cover up the truth, the deeper you will fall into darkness.

 

The more colors you add on a finished drawing, the uglier it gets.

 

That is the lesson that the Japanese government should recognize.

 

The Japanese government should stop historical distortion and accept the truth.

 

It should make a sincere apology to the wounded women.

 

Let’s help them put an end to their painful past.

 

They want to go back to being ordinary women, as they were.

They will just be living witnesses of hidden historical truths.

 

All of us have a responsibility to help them recover their ordinary life.  

Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) is looking for young Koreans who will help Korea overcome its historical pain.

 

With VANK, you will become the hope for the people of the world.

 

Even money and power couldn’t defeat the sincere appeals of the brave Korean women. 

Korea’s historical truth was presented to the world.

 

History tells us.

Have a dream to go with truth!  

Remember not to repeat such tragic history.  

Dear young people,

You should respect the dreams of other people.

 

You should walk on a path for true history and peace!

 

There are young Koreans who have a dream to go beyond Korea and influence Asia and the world.

If you are one of them, you are our proud peacemakers.

A girl's story_ Story one. About 'Japanese Military Sexual Slavery'

 

Have you heard about ‘Japanese Military Sexual Slavery’? During the World War II, Japan mobilized their army to use Korean girls as the sexual slaves for their soldiers. They locked the girls in rape center and raped them. The girls didn’t know that this horrible incident would happen to them because they were told that they can have jobs and earn money if they followed the soldiers. Yes, the girls were deceived. Some of the girls were even kidnapped. Their average age was just 13. They were sexually assaulted until Japan unconditionally surrendered. But the girls were left behind. Some of them came back on their own; some of them went to another country because they were shameful, but most of them died.

I strongly assert that you guys should know about this. This is the thing that might happen again somewhere in global village if WE don’t have any ideas about it! I will mention what happened next on my second letter. Until then, take care!

 

-Script-

1.      This is the story of what actually happened in a city in July 2012.

2.      This city is a capital of a country.

3.      In fact, it is a metropolitan area where over ten million people live.

4.      Right now, they are going about their busy lives.

5.      Some time ago, a statue of a girl was placed in this city.

6.      It was in front of the Japanese embassy.

7.      One day, it was raining heavily in the city.

8.      The girl was getting rained on.

9.      She was not a real girl though.

10.  So, nobody cared about the girl in the rain.

11.  But, one man noticed her and walked up to her.

12.  He started staring at her.

13.  After a while, he didn’t see a statue anymore.

14.  To his eyes, there was a real girl in front of him.

15.  He couldn’t stand looking at her getting soaked in the rain, and put his umbrella over her.

16.  Someone took a picture of them, and tweeted the picture.

17.  The picture started to rapidly spread on the internet.

18.  Some cried for the girl.

19.  Some were overwhelmed with emotion from what he did for her.

20.  Most of all, many felt sorry for the girl.

21.  As the picture was spreading, unusual things started happening.

22.  People started following his example.

23.  A student put a scarf around her neck to protect her from cold.

24.  An old lady left flowers in front of her.

25.  A boy left her a gift with a letter.

26.  Such miracles are happening every day in this busy city.

27.  People asked the man who started this.

28.  “What made you hold the umbrella over the statue?”

29.  In his interview with a radio station, he explained the reason.

30.  “I saw the rain falling into her eyes and turning into tears.”

31.  “I felt like she was really crying.”

32.  “I knew it was actually rain, but I still felt sorry for her.”

33.  So, I put my umbrella over her and wiped the rain off her face.

34.  He felt sympathy for her and tried to share her sadness.

35.  The statue of the girl actually represents “a comfort woman.”

36.  The story goes back to WWII.

37.  The statue was erected to commemorate the girls who lost their youth and dreams during the war.

38.  Japan forced many Asian girls into sexual slavery for the Japanese military.

39.  They lost their youth in military brothels, and have now become elderly women. 

40.  We remember the massacre of the Jews by Nazi Germany during WWII. It is called ‘the Holocaust.”

41.  Terrible war crimes also happened in Asia. “Comfort women” was one of the worst.

42.  More than 200 thousand women were forcibly taken to military brothels.

43.  They were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. 

44.  Their souls and dreams were lost to inhumane slavery.

45.  The war eventually ended with the defeat of Japan and Germany.

46.  After the war, the German government took full responsibility for the Holocaust.

47.  Germany made a sincere apology and compensated the victims.

48.  However, the Japanese government simply denies the existence of “comfort women.”

49.  Japan refuses to take responsibility. No apology has been made to the victims.

50.  International organizations, such as the UN, and NGOs have come forward to help.

51.  They urge the Japanese government to acknowledge its responsibility and compensate former “comfort women.”  

52.  The Japanese government continues to refuse to take responsibility.

53.  Surviving victims, now elderly women, also came forward.

54.  From 1992 to the present, their destination is always the same, the Japanese embassy.

55.  Every Wednesday for the past 20 years, they have held a protest in front of the embassy.

56.  Citizens of this city erected the comfort woman statue to remember the lives of these victims.

57.  The statue came into existence thanks to voluntary donations from citizens.

58.  The girl of the statue represents those who had to live in sexual slavery during the war.

59.  She sits on a chair alone. The empty chair embodies the lost time and dreams of those women.

60.  Many years have passed, and those girls became old ladies with deep sorrow.

61.  Passing by the statue, citizens of this city hear her voice.

62.  The statue is not just a cold, bronze statue. 

63.  In the minds of the people, she turns into a real girl and starts speaking.

64.  Would you sit by me and listen to my story?”

65.  She doesn’t just talk about the past.

66.  My story is not just about a girl from a country that lost its sovereignty over 100 years ago.

67.  It is a story for all of us who are concerned about peace in Asia and the future of the world.

68.  The city in this story is Seoul, the capital of Korea.

69.  The girl in the story is Korean, who lived here in the 1900s.

70.  But, it is not just about this one girl.

71.  She speaks for many other people, who suffered from Japanese imperialism.  

72.  Many Asian countries still live with the wounds of their past.

73.  Without the proper settlement of historical issues, history can repeat itself in unwanted ways.

74.  Thus, this is a story for all of us who are concerned about the future.

75.  Imagine yourself sitting by the girl. She will start talking to you. “May we speak?”

76.  VANK hopes for your attention to the victims of Japanese imperialism.

77.  Please listen to our story and give us your support.

78.  Please become our friends and support our effort to settle historical issues. 

79.  Your support will help us build sustainable peace in Asia.

80.  Together we will build peace in the world.