뉴스레터

     What is clear is that victim-centered problem solving does not mean 'solution while the victim is alive'. We responded to the victim only after the 1990s, and we had a sense of problem with the structure of history that made women unable to live as free and autonomous. Within the category of 'Sexual Slavery Victims' problems, ‘Gonnyeo’ of Goryeo, ‘Hwanhyangnyeo’ of Joseon, and ‘the MeToo movement’ of sex crime victims today are mentioned together. This is because there was a sense of awakening of history that caused the 'Sexual Slavery Victims' problem to recur, and that the violence must be stopped. And all public power and social power associated with the time when each case recurs must be held accountable for harm. So I decided I should keep the victim's memory on record. I met them in person and wrote about the contents of the oral statement, and began to write stories of the family of deceased and missing, the villagers or witnesses who had relationships around the victim. And the story of the people who composed the contents to solve the problem of 'Sexual Slavery Victims' and expanded the value was also told to the public as a researcher and activist. I tried to convey as it is, not as a representative of the victim, but as a messenger, even if their various stories sometimes contradict. Because readers wanted to find their lives throughout the victim's life and be involved in it. Furthermore, as a historian, I tried to reveal the full picture of the temporal and spatial meshes that intertwined the stories. This was to collect voices to cut off the ring of structure that would continue to cause victims. In the end, solving the 'Sexual Slavery Victims' problem is solving the problem that we have come to. Remembering and not forgetting the victim's memory is an act of constantly reminding what is important in the process. I hope that these articles, which convey the story of the victim, will contribute to the consideration of our respective roles. I was a writer, and I was happy and miserable." border="0" style="width: 500px; border: 0px solid;">

A list of people affected at Comfort Station in Michina, Burma. 

Allied forces discovered in August 1944.

The victims have been talking about it all along

From the past, I was uncomfortable with the word '240 Korean victims'. Now we all need to be aware. These are only the number of victims registered with the Korean government as survivors to receive support for life stability under enacted and implemented in June 1993. This law is based on the principle of supporting survivors in Korea. That is why the number does not include any victims who died before the law was enacted, who were missing and could not know about the person, or who continued to live in the area where they were taken after the war and did not get Korean nationality.

So when I heard the word “victim-centered” sexual slave Victims problem solving, the number of victims I recognized was not limited to just 240. Not all of them made public remarks saying I was a victim. The 18 testimonies left by the victims of Koreans during the colonial period include not only the testimonies of those who died before registering with the Korean government(Bae Bong-ki, Hong Kang-rim, Cho Yoon-ok, etc.), but also the testimonies of those who are not registered victims. In 1995, North Korea collected 40 testimonies out of 219 people who reported the damage as 'Sexual Slavy Victims' and published them as books.

The victims who told their stories as survivors are almost dead. But through testimony, through documentaries, through retrospectives of activists and families who have lived with survivors, we can always get to know the victim's message. There are also stories of victims who have been living privately after registering as victims, life in forced mobilization and 'comfort station', and survivors of colleagues who met at the time of returning to Korea. And there are stories of those who remain only in the name of the list related to 'Sexual Slavery Victim'. I thought that listening to their stories in the documents, images, and spaces and analyzing and dismantling the historical structure that caused the damage and suffering to repeat, was a way to restore both the victim and us to humans with 'freedom' and 'autonomy'. I thought, only if we did this, our future could be saved against the victim's history.

A collection of testimonies with photos of Hong Kang-rim on the cover. 

Hong Gang-rim died before being registered with the Korean government 

as a Sexual slave victim for the Japanese Imperial Army.

The Post-Survivors era, Should We Be Different?

Of the 240 mentioned above, 2019, when the number of survivors was beginning to be less than 20. From then on, it began to be said that we should worry about the "Sexual Slavery Victims" problem solving movement in the post-survivor era. I could not agree with the words that I had already been exposed to the story of the victim through various media. What did the survivor mean to us? Why do many people think that the “Sexual Slavery Victims” problem-solving movement without survivors will have to change?

The word “we need to solve this problem while the victims are alive” is only partially correct. The problem of the victim's damage will be clarified by revealing the contents and characteristics of the perpetrator's 'harm'. All those who have done the wrong thing to the victim, the indecent ruling system of public power, the social structure that colluded with the system, should apologize and work hard to prevent recurrence whenever their mistakes are revealed.

The scene of telling the victim to 'prove the damage yourself', doubting the victim's words, and whether it is real or not is truly grotesque. Moreover, the victims of Koreans were in the magnetic field of patriarchy in the 1930s and 40s, were excluded from institutional education, and lived every day in poverty where there was no solution. Most of them were mobilized in their teens and twenties, so it was difficult to decide their own fate by negotiating with the people around them.

Reviewing the victim's oral statement, there are a lot of unclear cases of when they left, where they were taken, what route they went, and how they returned. The people who know the truth of the case best are those who created the Sexual Slavery Victims for the Japanese Imperial Army system, those who operated and used it, and those who intervened as the executors. The victim who testified only mobilized all the information she knew to reveal the pain and anger she had not told. Meanwhile, the victim's words were limited to "a range that the listener may not distort the essence of the word."

When I recalled the victim's words, their biggest wind was "Returning to life before being taken to Sexual Slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army". But those who have to apologize to them have offered money in the name of 'reward or compensation' instead of genuine apology. Some victims wanted to stop at this level, and some victims were insulted by the money that the perpetrator, who tried to sneak over and apologize for trying to soothe with nice words. In addition, some people wanted to receive a promise to prevent recurrence with a clear apology, and some people were struggling in the pain, appeal, and silence of their families who had different experiences and thoughts from themselves. If you think atonement for a living victim is an important process in solving this problem, you must respond according to the victim's will. You'll have to look back when more victims are alive, and they're making a variety of voices. I hope you will reflect on the times when you have heard many of the victims' words and have not even thought about the response.

Remembering and not forgetting the victim’s memory

What is clear is that victim-centered problem solving does not mean 'solution while the victim is alive'. We responded to the victim only after the 1990s, and we had a sense of problem with the structure of history that made women unable to live as free and autonomous. Within the category of 'Sexual Slavery Victims' problems, ‘Gonnyeo’ of Goryeo, ‘Hwanhyangnyeo’ of Joseon, and ‘the MeToo movement’ of sex crime victims today are mentioned together. This is because there was a sense of awakening of history that caused the 'Sexual Slavery Victims' problem to recur, and that the violence must be stopped. And all public power and social power associated with the time when each case recurs must be held accountable for harm.

So I decided I should keep the victim's memory on record. I met them in person and wrote about the contents of the oral statement, and began to write stories of the family of deceased and missing, the villagers or witnesses who had relationships around the victim. And the story of the people who composed the contents to solve the problem of 'Sexual Slavery Victims' and expanded the value was also told to the public as a researcher and activist.

I tried to convey as it is, not as a representative of the victim, but as a messenger, even if their various stories sometimes contradict. Because readers wanted to find their lives throughout the victim's life and be involved in it. Furthermore, as a historian, I tried to reveal the full picture of the temporal and spatial meshes that intertwined the stories. This was to collect voices to cut off the ring of structure that would continue to cause victims. In the end, solving the 'Sexual Slavery Victims' problem is solving the problem that we have come to. Remembering and not forgetting the victim's memory is an act of constantly reminding what is important in the process. I hope that these articles, which convey the story of the victim, will contribute to the consideration of our respective roles. I was a writer, and I was happy and miserable.