70 Years of Liberation, 30 Years into the Future
The Road to Reconciliation and
Cooperation
Uncovering the historical truth is key to the peace and prosperity of Northeast Asia.
Over 2 decades have passed since the late Kim Hak-sun became the first person in the world to testify as a victim of the Japanese Imperial Army’s “comfort women” sexual slavery on August 14, 1991. Since then, a rally has been held every week on Wednesdays in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul by the former “comfort women” victims to demand an apology from the Japanese government. It has since become the world's oldest rally with a single theme. However, the Abe government not only continues its refusal to accept responsibility for its wartime atrocities, but is also taking steps to turn Japan into a nation capable of waging another war.
Celebrating the 70th Independence Day, KBS World Radio aims to share the views of director Cho Jung-rae, who is currently working on a film on “comfort women” titled Gwi-hyang (Spirits’ Homecoming) and actress Seo Mi-ji, who indirectly experienced the pain of the “comfort women” victims through her role in the movie. Through the vivid testimonies of the victims and the efforts of civic groups and experts in and outside of the country, we wish to inform Japan that future partnership and peace in Northeast Asia will only be possible when it faces its past.
Monument at Palisades Park in New Jersey
Director Cho Jung-rae; artist Steve Cavallo, organizer of the Palisades Park memorial activities; Baek Young-hyun, president of 1492 Green Club; actress Seo Mi-ji
Director Cho Jung-rae; actress Seo Mi-ji: Lee Cheol-woo, chairman of the Korean American Public Affairs Committee, organized the installment of a monument dedicated to "comfort women" in New York’s Eisenhower Park
"Comfort Women" memorial at the Fairfax County Government Center in Washington DC
Producer Yoo Kwan-mo, Congressman Mike Honda, who led the passage of House Resolution 121 on "comfort women"; actress Seo Mi-ji; director Cho Jung-rae;
Professor Alexis Dudden of the University of Connecticut spearheaded the joint statement of global historians criticizing Japan for distorting history
Han Ji-soo, representative of Media Joha, which translated "Can You Hear Us? Stories of Twelve Women", a collection of testimonies by "comfort women" victims and distributes the book for free in the United States
Kim Dong-seok, founder of Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE), which organized the hearing and contributed to the passage of House Resolution 121 on "comfort women"
Director Kim Hyun-jun and the staff of the off-Broadway musical "Comfort Women" during rehearsal
Rehearsal of the off-Broadway musical "Comfort Women"
Billboard of the off-Broadway musical "Comfort Women"
Asano Kenichi, co-representative of Japan’s "Peace Constitution League"
Japan’s "Peace Constitution League" conducting the Wednesday Demonstration
Leaflet for the 13th Asian Solidarity Conference
"Comfort women" victims Gil Won-ok, Kim Bok-dong and Lee Yong-soo attending the 13th Asian Solidarity Conference
"Comfort women" victim Kim Bok-dong testifying at the 13th Asian Solidarity Conference
Filipino "comfort women" victim Fedencia David at the 13th Asian Solidarity Conference
The 13th Asian Solidarity Conference for the resolution of the issue of military sexual slavery by Japan
Peace Butterfly Concert
Student volunteers at Peace Butterfly Concert
Program Marking the 70th Anniversary of Korea’s Liberation of Japanese Colonial Rule: I’m not a ‘Comfort Woman.’
Part 2: Peace
N: A ceremony was held at the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. on July 28 to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the passage of a resolution on comfort women. During the ceremony attended by some 100 people, including US Congressmen, Director Cho Jung-rae introduced his film “Spirits’ Homecoming.” When the screening of the six-minute preview was over, the participants had to swallow their emotions in a solemn atmosphere. In fact, Congressman Mike Honda invited director Cho to this ceremony after seeing the film in early July. Let’s hear from Honda talking about the power of cultural content.
The movie is a very powerful movie. I've met the director and the movie star. In New York, there is a Broadway musical called 'Comfort Women.' So, it's a hit musical. And this is how we are going to get the story out, through the media. So, we have to constantly pressure Prime Minister Abe to do the right thing. Thus, he is the key to turn the whole thing around to make it right again.
N: Director Cho also went to a rehearsal for the musical “Comfort Women: A New Musical” that Honda just mentioned. For director Cho, it’s just amazing that his movie has been invited to the U.S. Congress, while a musical with the same poignant theme is being staged on Broadway.
N: The comfort women issue is no longer a matter of past history shared by Korea and Japan, but a universal concern that still remains controversial and attracts global attention today. The change is all thanks to those who are making efforts in their own areas to pass on peace, not war, to future generations by restoring the dignity of the elderly victims.
N: Welcome to our special program on KBS World Radio. Marking the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, we present a special two-part program, “I’m not a Comfort Woman.” This is part two titled “Peace.”
N: On July 4, American Independence Day, director Cho set foot on U.S. soil for the first time in his life. He was accompanied by actress Seo Mi-ji, who played the role of Young-hee in his film “Spirits’ Homecoming.” Their first destination was Palisades Park in New Jersey, where a monument dedicated to the victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery was erected on October 23, 2010. The monument stands on the lawn of a municipal library in the city. In front of the memorial, the visitors made a deep bow to the souls of the young victims.
N: This monument is the world’s first memorial commemorating comfort women. According to Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo, the memorial bears yet another important significance.
And if you really look at Palisades Park, that is the only monument that’s dedicated to someone not from Palisades Park. There was some concern from some of the long-time residents of the town, but when I also started to tell them the story, started to make them understand that this was more of a human rights issue, this was more of a story that needed to be told because things that happened in war should never happen, this is what needed to be told and when I explained it to them they supported the project right away.
N: The memorial plaque reads, “In memory of the more than 200,000 women and girls who were abducted by the armed forces of the government of Imperial Japan 1930’s-1945 known as “comfort women,” they endured human rights violations that should not be left unrecognized. Let us never forget the horrors of crimes against humanity.”
Carved on the plaque is a picture of a girl crouching as low as possible, turning her back on a Japanese soldier extending his hand toward the girl in an intimidating manner. There, director Cho and actress Seo could see the very girls who appeared in their movie, such as Jung-min, Young-hee, Sun-shim and Ok-bun. It was Steve Cavallo, then-art director for the library, who designed the memorial, a brass plaque on a piece of stone. The visitors wondered why an American artist designed the comfort women memorial.
Well, my first reaction was did this really happen being we’ve never heard about it in history class going through school here in America. And I heard about the comfort women issue back in the 90’s, I didn’t start painting until 10 years later. It was something that stayed with me, so it’s just something that never left my mind. I heard a horrible thing, just like you might hear something on the news 20 years ago, it never leaves you.
N: After paying tribute at the memorial, Cho and Seo moved on to a nearby exhibition room, where some 20 paintings by Cavallo were displayed. The explanation of one painting, in particular, had a long emotional resonance. The picture depicts a woman squatting and plucking grass. Behind her, soldiers are lined up at a comfort station.
And lastly this is one of the older ones from 2009, this is the testimony of a woman who said in ‘Silence broken; that she would go out in the morning and pick fresh grass to put up her nostrils to avoid the stench of the unclean soldiers getting on top of her, which was such a powerful statement and it just gives you an idea of what these women endured.
N: Actress Seo says the painting reminded her of Boon-sook, one of the movie characters.
Looking at the picture, I recalled Boon-sook. In the movie, she is a very strong woman and she always consoles the girls who are younger than she is. But when they are not around her, she often puts grass in her nose because she hates the smell of the soldiers. I imagine she made great efforts to clear herself of shame and humiliation in any way.
N: 21-year-old Boon-sook was like a big sister to the girls. To save them, she even chatted up a Japanese soldier. It seems as if this young woman is sitting in Cavallo’s painting. The world’s first monument dedicated to comfort women created a big stir. About two years after the establishment of the monument, the then-consul general of Japan in New York came to visit Mayor Rotundo.
So when the gentleman came and they would like to do things together and I said “that’s great” “you know we would like to donate books to the library, or plant some (cherry blossom) trees, Japanese trees in the town and do some stuff together to show that we’re united” and I said “that’s fine” and he said the one request I’m going to ask you is that if we could take down the monument. And I said well that’s not going to happen.
N: After the consul general’s visit, some parliament members from Japan presented a petition signed by Japanese people and requested the removal of the memorial. They even presented a petition to the White House and claimed the monument would damage Japan’s reputation. But there demands were not met.
You know it was even at a time when a group said “well what if they offer you 10 million dollars”. I said “again they can keep the money and we’ll keep the monument”. And we explained to them that the California University, one of the professors there was instrumental in providing information to my staff and to give us the correct stories that we felt were true and believable. And when I asked the Japanese official I said “well give us your version”. I said “well give it to us”, if you’re coming from Japan with on your agenda to try to meet me to persuade me to take something down, you would come with some information but they had nothing to offer. And we had documents proving our side and we believed in the research that we did.
N: Rotundo also suggested to the Japanese legislators that they visit the House of Sharing together to confirm the fact. They refused, and they never contacted him again.
Our hope would be that this monument, which had begun and is still growing, got the word out across the World and I know that that monument started that. The small little monument that we have has got a big voice and I’m very proud of it.
N: The memorial controversy caused by Japanese politicians only served as a catalyst in bringing awareness of the comfort women issue to American society. Han Ji-soo, the president of Media Joha, began to show interest in the history of comfort women because of this memorial. Media Joha is a New Jersey-based Korean-American social enterprise. He started operating a cyber history museum and published an English-language book containing accounts of victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. He has been distributing the copies of the book titled “Can you Hear Us?: The Untold Narrative of Comfort Women” to politicians, historians, libraries and ordinary citizens for free.
At first, people were rather reluctant to deal with the comfort women issue. But this issue has been increasingly perceived in light of human rights in the U.S. and more and more local politicians have become aware of it. I think more than 90 percent of U.S. politicians I contacted were willing to accept the book. History professors were also very thankful when they received the book. I thought ‘OK. That’s what I have to do.’ Books like this should be spread widely, so we can enhance publicity on this issue and citizens can join the drive. But it was quite difficult to introduce the book in libraries, especially famous ones. I thought that the book should first appeal to those in politics, the economy and culture, so I began to distribute the copies of the book to people in those areas. Most of them were deeply impressed.
N: Following the establishment of the Palisades Park memorial in New Jersey, similar monuments have been created across the U.S. to commemorate the victims who were forced to serve Japanese troops during World War II. In fact, it is far from easy to build a memorial in a public area in the U.S. Feasibility studies must be conducted and the envisioned memorial should contain certain educational values. Also, the plan requires approval of residents, as well as, district councils and the heads of local governments. Only when these requirements are met, can a memorial be created in a particular public area. Behind the establishment of comfort women monuments all across the nation, the passage of a resolution played a big part. The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved the resolution on comfort women on July 30, 2007.
N: The resolution is simple and clear. The resolution calls on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and apologize for coercing women into sexual slavery for its wartime military, to compensate the surviving victims as they wish, and to educate the current and future generations, so this horrible crime will never happen again.
Director Cho and actress Seo drove five hours from New York and arrived in Washington D.C. Their purpose was to meet Congressman Mike Honda, who spearheaded the adoption of the resolution on comfort women.
N: With soft looks, Representative Honda warmly welcomed the visitors from Korea, with his sense of humor. But he had a serious look on his face when he shared his opinion about the sexual slavery issue during the interview.
I think the Japanese government through the military, in the thirties and in World War 2, had a systematic process by which they captured, kidnapped, coerced girls from their homes and used them as sex slaves. Comfort woman is a euphemism; it’s not the proper terminology. So I think the proper terminology instead of saying Wi-an-bu(위안부) should be really Seong-No-Ye(성노예) and that’s the position that I have.
N: Congressman Honda said the Korean words “Wianbu” and “Seongnoye” meaning “comfort women” and “sex slave,” respectively. He appeared to be infuriated as if the history of the elderly victims had been his own. To him, those elderly ladies, or halmeoni, are always his sisters.
Welcome our sister for traveling from South Korea to be here with us today. To witness Prime Minister Abe have the privilege of addressing the joint congress, the joint session of Congress. And so today he has that wonderful opportunity to apologize to the World, to apologize to our sister here.
N: Lee Yong-soo, one of the elderly victims, went to the U.S. in April to see Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivering his speech at a joint session of Congress. At the time, Rep. Honda urged Abe to apologize to her, calling her “my sister.”
N: The resolution on comfort women was actually first proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives back in 1997. But for the next ten years, it had been scrapped each time, not even being laid on the table, due to Japan’s tenacious lobbying. The resolution passed at last, thanks to the behind-the-scenes efforts by Korean Americans, who suggested a congressional hearing.
I have forgiven the Japanese for what they did to me, but I will never forget. But this is the one thing that Japan has never done; their apology has never been followed by action.
N: You heard from Jan Ruff O'Herne, a Dutch victim of the same atrocity, who was the first Western woman to reveal the fact that she had been a comfort woman. She says she forgave the Japanese for they had done to her, but she will never forget it. On February 15, 2007, she testified before a House subcommittee in a congressional hearing, along with two Korean women, Lee Yong-soo and Kim Gun-ja. She talked about her horrible experience in detail. Kim Dong-seok, the steering committee chair of the New York Korean American Civic Empowerment, recalls the moment as follows.
We brought the elderly Dutch lady to the congressional hearing. Her appearance turned out to be quite a momentum. The hearing played a decisive role in attracting the attention of the mainstream media in the U.S.
N: Through the testimonies of the elderly women, American politicians realized that the comfort women issue moves beyond the past history shared by Korea and Japan, in fact it is a universal concern of human rights abuse. The ethnic Korean community in the U.S. played a significant role in eliciting this change. Some people ask Rep. Honda why he tries to touch on a thing of the past so often.
So, the government is an organic being responsible for its past, its present and its future. So, people ask, “why are you talking about something that happened in the past?” Because the government still exists and the government is still responsible for what happened and the government should be held responsible for an apology. What I do know is that a government sometimes makes mistakes or sometimes they do it on purpose and when they do that they need to apologize.
N: Only then, the veteran politician stresses that people can correct a distorted history and prevent tragedies from reoccurring. At the end of the interview, he was shown the trailer for the movie, “Spirits’ Homecoming.”
N: When it was over, Honda’s eyes turned red. He couldn’t speak for a while.
It was a difficult thing to see. Difficult. So I think this is going to be an important piece of work to share not only with people in Korea, but also especially in Japan. You could have it translated into Japanese; it would be a powerful movie, a powerful movie.
N: As a gift, the Korean director and the actress gave Rep. Honda a DVD containing the movie trailer and a traditional accessory that is given to Jung-min by her mother in the film.
N: The next morning, upon turning on his cell phone, director Cho heard the unfortunate news that another elderly victim had passed away.
We have sad news that Choi Geum-seon, another victim, died about two and a half hours ago.
N: For the director, it is all the more depressing to hear the news about the victims’ death, while in the U.S. As of now, there are only 48 surviving Korean victims.
N: The next stop was Connecticut. Professor Dudden teaches history of Northeast Asia at the University of Connecticut. She came to learn the history of comfort women through the testimony of the late Kim Hak-sun in 1991.
I’m still learning everything from them. One woman had scars (the Japanese soldiers made) to punish her, so that she would be disfigured. Now, that made it a very different kind of history for me. There is no piece of paper, ever, that will say this action was ordered because of why… and this happened. They spoke about their scars as evidence in a way that again, no piece of paper will ever convey the reality of the brutality of being whipped, of being cut, of being tortured, as much as the remnants on your body.
N: Professor Dudden says no record will ever show the reality as brutally as the scars on the bodies of the surviving victims. Is there any other expression that can describe the fears and pain the girls went through more realistically than this? In March this year, Professor Dudden published a joint statement in the official periodical of the American Historical Association, along with 19 U.S. scholars, to criticize the Abe government’s attempt to distort history.
It became clear that the government of Japan would try to censor an American textbook and would use Japanese tax money through its Foreign Ministry officials in New York, to visit a publishing house and ask for the removal of certain passages. And so, a number of us, who are professional historians working in a number of countries got together to discuss whether this was in fact a very different kind of act. So we agreed that it was, and we wrote our letter in support of our colleagues in Japan who also tried to tell the story without being censored.
N: In an American history textbook, it is written that the Japanese military forcibly mobilized and recruited 200-thousand women as comfort women. It turned out that the Tokyo government requested the textbook publisher to delete the phrase from the textbook.
(The Japanese government might say,) “Take it down, and then it won’t have happened”... But that’s not how history works. You can’t erase it once we all know it happened.
N: In May, she led a group of 187 internationally renowned historians of Japanese studies to issue a joint statement denouncing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s perception of history. Some 500 scholars majoring in various fields from 16 different countries have signed the statement so far.
Particularly the history of the former sex slaves of the Japanese military was the defining content of our concern. We recognized that there was an international component beyond Japan, Korea, China that we wanted to make clear to the world… and one that we more broadly wanted to draw attention also to an atmosphere that those of us who work deeply in Japan have noticed affecting both academic freedom and freedom of the press. But we, each of us, has deep engagement in this place and deep engagement with Japanese scholars, Japanese friends. It’s half of our lives, if not all of our lives, and our thinking lives that is. We’re not Japan bashing. We wrote our letter first to the Japanese Prime Minister to incent it first to the official residence to make clear that we’re working as people deeply engaged with this country, and it’s an open letter of support in that respect.
N: It’s been eight years since the adoption of the resolution on comfort women. While the Abe government’s historical revisionism has come under criticism, the Japanese Prime Minister has drawn global attention again. On April 29, 2015, Abe addressed the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. He was the first Japanese prime minister to do so.
I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences... Our actions brought suffering to the people in Asian countries.
N: People listened to the address over and over again, but the Japanese Prime Minister never mentioned the 200-thousand innocent girls, who unjustly became victims during the war. Lee Yong-soo, who was watching Abe delivering the speech in the audience on the second floor, beat her chest.
No, no. Definitely not. Just look at me with open eyes. I’m living proof. I am here. Abe wants all the victims to die. But will this really come to an end when the women die? No. The history remains as it is. So does the crime.
N: Rep. Honda also lashed out at Abe, saying that Abe missed the opportunity to be reborn as a leader of a democratic country.
And then during the time that he was speaking, I was hoping that he would approach the subject and apologize. Use this opportunity to become a world leader by acknowledging their mistakes of their past, very much like what Germany had done. But Prime Minister Abe chose not to and I think that was an opportunity that he missed.
N: Under the San Francisco Peace Treaty that took effect on April 28, 1952, Japan acknowledged the illegality of its colonial war and restored its relations with the international community. But Professor Dudden notes that the Abe government is making a serious mistake by denying this now.
The minority view that Prime Minister Abe espouses as his world view is very serious. Again, a minority view in Japan, but a powerful minority. It is very clear that the San Francisco judgment is illegitimate. However, the San Francisco system that went into place by naming certain Japanese war leaders, war criminals and declaring the illegitimacy, the illegality of Japan’s war effort was critical to the world community reengaging with Japan. So, Japan’s 70 years of success are predicated on the then-government of Japan accepting the terms. So for today, Prime Minister Abe to have his supporters try to argue that that historical moment was wrong is a real problem because it does not acknowledge how the world community reengaged with Japan. And it is, by way of comparison to Germany, unimaginable in this context. For Germany today, for example, to say, “Hey, you know, the Nurernberg Tribunals were illegitimate. And we’re just not really happy with how they happened.” And so, it’s odd. It’s truly odd.
N: In fact, Japan did admit its forcible recruitment of women, as comfort women, and its colonial occupation before Shinzo Abe came to power. In 1993, then-Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged that Japan had mobilized women, by force, as sex slaves in the Japanese military. In 1995, then-Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama formally apologized for Japan’s colonial rule and war of aggression. These acknowledgements are written in history as the Kono Statement and the Murayama Statement, respectively. However, the current Abe administration denies the forcible mobilization of comfort women and distorts history. It is even attempting to revise Article 9 of the Pacifist Constitution.
N: Article 9 of the Constitution bans Japan from waging war and possessing a regular military force. It also stipulates Japan’s renunciation of the use of armed force, as a means in international disputes. The Abe government passed some security bills that would allow an expanded role for the nation’s military in the lower house of the Diet on July 16. Abe claimed that the bills are essential to prevent a war before it breaks out.
N: If the bills are finally approved by the Upper House in September, it would make it possible for Japan to wage war. If that happens, Japan, in effect, will break the promise ‘of becoming a peaceful state’ that it made to the international community after World War II.
We cannot forgive an act of violence passing the bills for the sake of the prime minister’s personal power. I’ll risk my life to protect the Constitution. I’ll do that with all my strength as long as I live.
N: Former Premier Tomiichi Murayama, who is dubbed as the “living conscience of Japan,” took to the streets with citizens on July 23. The 91-year-old politician said that Japanese people can never forgive the arbitrary, violent move to pass the bills on collective self-defense in total ignorance of public opinion.
N: On May 20, the 1,179th Wednesday Rally was held. This particular edition was organized by a Japanese civic group called “Constitution Article 9- To the World, To the Future.” The anti-war, peace-advocating group is dedicated to defending Japan’s Pacifist Constitution, with the purpose of discouraging the country from waging war ever again. Sexual enslavement of women for the military is one of the most serious and brutal war crimes
We, Japanese people, will band together with people in South Korea and those in Northeast Asia who suffered damage from Japan’s colonial occupation. We’ll work hard to make the Japanese government and parliament inherit the Kono Statement and the Murayama Statement, so that Japan can live peacefully in Asia and come up with a solution to be accepted by all elderly victims. We’ll be with them to the end. Thank you.
N: That was Kenichi Asano, the group’s co-president. If people join forces, they will be able to produce strong power.
N: The Asian Solidarity Conference for the Issue of Sexual Slavery by Japan was held in Seoul on May 22. This strong alliance has been giving testimonies in public and supporting the victims since its first conference in 1992 with the purpose of resolving the issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of women in Asia and the Pacific region during World War II.
I want to say to the entire world that justice has never been given to us. So many fellow victims died, and they weren’t given justice, either. This is my message toward the world. Of course, it is important to make the Japanese government take responsibility. But it is also important to elicit international support for this issue.
N: A small, thin old woman is testifying that she was once a comfort woman, crying out for justice. She is Fedencia David from the Philippines. The lecture hall is filled with people who are listening carefully to the elderly women’s testimonies. Among them, many Japanese are spotted. The reason is found in the remarks of Mina Watanabe, co-president of the “Japan Action for the Resolution of the Comfort Women Issue.”
I became actively engaged in work related to comfort women because I’m a Japanese national. Most importantly, the Japanese government, which had inflicted damage on so many people, should face up squarely to this issue and recognize responsibility, so it can teach the next generation not to repeat things like that ever again. I believe this is also the responsibility of each and every one of Japan’s citizens.
N: Japanese journalist Toshikuni Doi also talks about Japan’s conscience through his documentary.
N: His documentary film “Live with Memory” was screened in Tokyo on June 7.
N: Director Doi captured the lives and deaths of six sexual slavery victims on film for about two years from 1994. He edited it into a documentary film that lasts three hours and 35 minutes before releasing it.
I could say that I don’t know what happened during the war. But I can’t be free from the reality that I’m a Japanese man. As a journalist of Japan, the perpetrator, I feel a sense of immense responsibility. I want to convey the pain of each victim through the film.
N: This film, reflecting the journalist’s conscience, is striking a chord in the hearts of Japanese viewers.
The Japanese government will reportedly issue a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. I’m wondering what kind of statement it will be. I’m afraid that the government is moving in a dangerous direction this summer. We have to figure out exactly what the problems were. We’re also responsible for informing our future generations of the problems. To this end, we need to see this film and learn about the problems once again.
N: Sometimes, cultural content can create a bigger stir than legal disputes or rallies, this is visible in the documentary “Live with Memory,” the film “Spirits’ Homecoming” and the musical “Comfort Women: A New Musical.” Professor Dudden showed keen interest in the film “Spirits’ Homecoming.”
I have goose bumps. You really accomplished something amazing, imagining, bringing to life the real violence that occurred. And something that none of the documents and nothing written can ever convey.
N: The professor now talks about truthfulness that can only be conveyed by visual materials.
And obviously, there is the famous mini-series in American television history called “Roots,” which really for the first time exposed many Americans who, you know, probably would say, “Oh, well, yes, slavery was bad, but didn’t really have a sense of the physicality.” This compounded with the blockbuster movie “Amistad,” which for the first time really I think to many Americans conveyed the horror of the Middle Passage. And there are some scenes, which still when I show my classes make my students deeply disturbed even know intellectually they know that slavery was bad. But at the same time there is something that only in film can make people stop worrying about their preconceptions and really connect with victimhood.
N: “Comfort Women: A New Musical” portrays a Korean girl deceived by a Japanese man. He told her she could work and earn money. But instead she was forced to live as a sex slave in Indonesia before escaping. Actress Sandra Lee, who performed the role of the heroine Ko-eun, actually had a painful experience similar to that of the sexual slavery victims.
Well, a little bit of background information on me. I was in the US army for 8 years and I’m a survivor of military sexual trauma, and so that subject in itself is something close to me and something that I’ve been through. In relation to that and the topic of comfort women it’s very similar and it’s important. It’s a very important story that not many people know. It’s surprising when I talk to people about Comfort Women, they don’t know what that is and when I explain to them they’re shocked. It’s important to get it out there, to get the conversation going, so that more people are aware.
N: Early this year, the musical debuted in front of a sellout crowd at Broadway’s supper club “54 Below” in New York. Due to its strict performance conditions, it is often called the gateway to Broadway. Here is Kim Hyun-jun, who wrote and directed the musical.
Miraculously, tickets were sold out, only two weeks after sales started. January, February and March are considered the slow season in the performing arts scene. This musical was the only show that was sold out during the season. Ticket prices were rather expensive, ranging from 80 to 90 dollars. I was very surprised that the tickets were all sold out. I wondered who got the tickets, and it turned out that the audience members were mostly Western people.
N: How could this musical with the unfamiliar theme of comfort women successfully make its Broadway debut?
As a matter of fact, this isn’t a problem that only existed 70 years ago. Sexual enslavement occurred in many wars, with humans repeating it constantly. This isn’t unique to Korea. Rather, it is universal history of mankind. People tend to show indifference because they think it is only part of Korean history. That’s not really true. It should not be simply regarded as a thing of the past. Some victims are still alive.
N: The musical was able to appeal to American society, as it approached the audience from the viewpoint of the universal issue of human rights. A form of popular culture, namely, musical, was combined with the most basic ethical value of human rights. And the combination worked. The musical is now being staged at an off-Broadway theater in New York City. It opened on July 31 and runs through August 9.
N: Global interest in the comfort women issue has grown in recent years. But the change didn’t come overnight. In the U.S., which wields great influence upon Japan, the ethnic Korean community and American politicians made great efforts for a long time to resolve this humanitarian problem. Conscientious Japanese citizens, world-renowned historians, as well as journalists and artists have put pressure on the Tokyo government. Those people have made tireless efforts together to realize justice, and their efforts have come to bear fruit.
But it would be fair to say that everything started from some courageous elderly victims!
N: On Parents’ Day, May 8, a celebratory event was held at a shelter for elderly victims, “Our Peaceful Home.” It was a very rare occasion that their favorite song filled the house.
N: Young people visit the place and sing for the old women, as if they were their own sons, daughters and grandchildren. When the old ladies watch them singing, they feel like normal women who have lived a comfortable life without any worries. Kim Bok-dong, among others, appears to be very happy.
Of course I’m happy. We don’t have any children to visit us. But these young people warmly welcome us and try to share our suffering. Their kindness makes me cry. I have no words to thank them enough.
N: These women were once the miserable victims of war. But they have now turned into the guardians of world peace and human rights activists.
These women are victims, but they are also activists advocating women’s rights at the same time. I see them as anti-war, human rights activists, my perception about those women has completely changed.
N: On June 24, Kim Bok-dong gladly donated 50 million won, which is about 45-thousand US dollars. The donation will be used to help female war victims who are in pain and agony, just like Kim herself.
N: In the movie, director Cho expressed the souls of the young girls as butterflies. Now, young people in the next generation will become butterflies themselves and be with the girls… until the day when the elderly victims restore their dignity and lasting peace is settled in the entire world.
When a nation loses its sovereignty, its people are not treated as humans. We’re so glad to see our next generation doing a great job. We’re delighted beyond words. We’re thankful to young people for doing well.
We sincerely hope that Korea will become a peaceful state, so that what happened to us will never occur again. We also hope our descendants will grow up in peace and comfort to become decent citizens and defend this country.
N: That wraps up the second part of our special program marking the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Thank you for tuning in. Goodbye, everyone.