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On May 30, 2014, an international academic conference on 'comfort women' was held in Yanji (延吉), China. There are a number of factors that motivated China to host this conference. The first is their expectation that Japan's apology for its past wrongdoing would effectively lead to building trust with its neighboring countries. The second is their intention to deal with a number of issues arising from the recent international political situation in East Asia while understanding and remembering history correctly through the 'comfort women' issue. The third must be that the 'comfort women' issue is not only of academic importance but also closely linked to the Asia of today. The final factor is their intention to identify and understand Japan's unreasonable move to distort historical facts.

Researchers from North Korea, South Korea, and China Gather Together to Share Their Research Findings

Past conferences on this topic so far had been international ones addressing it as an issue of international human rights, typically involving Western as well as conscientious Japanese researchers as participants to share their research findings. On the other hand, this conference was, most importantly, participated by researchers from only those countries that had suffered under Japan. It was also a very significant gathering of researchers from North and South Korea and China for the discussion of the 'comfort women' issue. Lastly, it is worth noting that China has shown keen interest in the 'comfort women' issue. Chinese researchers, although they studied this topic, had been reluctant to openly discuss it and present their arguments and opinions in the international academia. Recently, however, I could see that with the growing conflict between China and Japan, China was actively conducting research and studies.

On the academic aspect, the conference served as an important occasion to present interdisciplinary research combining history and social sciences. And at this conference, it was wished that the history of suffering experienced by the victims and victim countries would be overcome, and that reconciliation would be reached and trust built in Northeast Asia. The event also served as an opportunity to discuss the 'comfort women' issue in the regional context of the Korean Peninsula and China. In particular, China's paying attention to the 'comfort women' issue, I believe, indicates a move beyond the Cold War and ideology and toward sharing the common experience of Northeast Asia. And it led me to expect that it would also help invigorate the local community.

China's Systematic Study of the 'Comfort Women' Issue

The discussion at the conference was very serious, specific, and advanced. A Chinese researcher made a presentation on the documents prepared by the Japanese government. First of all, he mentioned "The Journal of the Ministry of Army of Japan," explaining that the Japanese military was running the military sexual slavery in perfect structure. Secondly, he presented a document prepared by the Japanese military, explaining the significance of the material about Japan's Kwantung Army MP, Northern China MP, Central China MP, Southern China MP. and Java MP stored in the Jilin Province (吉林省) archive as follows. This material is the evidence that the Japanese government and military were the ones that enforced the sexual slavery, proving that 'comfort stations' were universal facilities wifely established in many regions and that 'comfort women' were mobilized by force like slaves. And this material, he explained, includes the testimonies and statements of former Japanese soldiers who sexually abused the victims.

This conference gave me the impression that by addressing the 'comfort women' issue, China signaled that they would continue their historical dispute with Japan with more determination. It also gave me the chance to see that China's research in the 'comfort women' issue had been conducted in a systematic manner for quite a long time.