뉴스레터

On April 14, NAHF and Research Institute on Japanese Military 'Sexual Slavery' Issue at Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea(hereinafter referred to as WHRIK) held an international conference to jointly respond to the Ramseyer's Paper. In this conference, we reviewed the current status of Korea, Japan and the United States on Ramzier's papers and discussed 'academic integrity' as a premise of academic research and discussion. We also reaffirmed that a new history writing on the sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army has begun from the perspective of peace, human rights, and gender. And shared common opinions on the importance of history awareness and education. The presenters of this conference include Alexis Dudden(professor at University of Connecticut), Chelsea Szendi Schieder(professor at Aoyama Gakuin University), Song Yeon-ok, professor emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University, Yoon Myung-sook(acting director of Research Institute on Japanese Military 'Sexual Slavery' Issue at WHRIK), Park Jeong-ae(Research Fellow of NAHF).

"Ramseyer's paper attempted to manipulate history without evidence, so it is impossible to make meaningful interpretations." Professor Alexis Dudden noted. She also said, "Research without academic integrity can not claim freedom."

Professor Chelsea Szendi Schieder spoke about how five Japanese researchers wrote a refutation letter by judging Ramseyer's paper as a case of denial of historical research. She suggested that this issue is very important in political and educational contexts beyond academia and that it should be overcome from the perspective of history education.

Professor Emeritus Song Yeon-ok said: "Ramseyer borrowed the concept of ‘licensed prostitution’ to deny the victims’ damage as sexual slavery, but that is not in the opposite direction of sexual slavery." She also examined the licensed procedure that existed according to time, region, political position, and interests, and pointed out the fiction of the claim that 'comfort women = prostitutes'.

Yoon Myung-sook, acting director, analyzed the actual condition of the recruitment of 'comfort women' from late 1937 to early 1938. She argued that the dichotomous frame of 'coercion and voluntary' in relation to the recruitment of 'comfort women' is a stumbling block to the historical perception of 'comfort women'.

Park Jung-ae, a Research Fellow, reviewed and criticized the contradiction of the way in which historical negators such as Ramseyer cite the victim's oral language to deny the damage of sexual slavery.

This international conference discussed the meaning of studying and educating history based on academic integrity. Through this, it was an opportunity to look back at the response of our society to the denial of damage as a 'sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army' by analyzing 'the situation and phenomenon of the Ramseyer's paper'.