Overcoming Pain to Demand Peace and Rights

Kim Bok-dong (90) was abducted by the Japanese Army when she was just 14 years old and forced to serve as a “comfort woman” through China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore among other places. She registered with the Korean government as a victim in 1992 and participated in the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, as well as a testimony rally around Japan. She continues her activities to this day, calling for peace and human rights.

The former “comfort women” are victims of history that have lived in silence for too long. In the past, the now elderly women would hide their suffering, but today they are no longer silent victims. Today they are living testaments educating the world about the atrocities they’ve suffered at the hands of the Japanese, caretakers of women in other countries suffering similar pain, and also activists for peace.
A total of 238 “comfort women” victims have registered with the Korean government. Only 48 (43 Koreans and 5 foreign nationals) are still alive today with an average age of 89 (as of July 2015).

On March 8, 2012, International Women’s Day, Kim Bok-dong, along with fellow victim Gil Won-ok, founded the Nabi (Butterfly) Fund and pledged to spend every penny of compensation received from the Japanese government to help wartime sexual violence victims around the world. The Nabi Fund is currently supporting sexual abuse victims in Vietnam and Congo.

Ms. Kim’s lifelong regret was that she did not receive a proper education as a consequence of being forced into sexual slavery as a “comfort women” at such a young age. In June 2015, she donated her life savings of 50-million won to educate children in conflict areas and train peace activists.

In May 2015, Kim Bok-dong was chosen as one of the world's 100 heroes fighting for freedom by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) and AFP of France. Together, they selected 100 recognizable activists around the world and profiled them in a photo book titled "100 Heros pour la Liberte de la Presse," to commemorate the RWB’s 30th and AFP’s 70th anniversaries.
In the book, Ms. Kim is listed among other global heroes including Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi.

In late April 2015, “comfort woman” victim Lee Yong-soo joined a protest rally comprised of Korean, American and Chinese civic groups in front of the US Capitol. It was to demand a public apology from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for Japan’s past invasion and forced sexual slavery and call for compensation for the victims. After the rally, Ms. Lee watched Abe’s speech to the American Congress in the Capitol.

Ms. Lee was just 16 years old when she was kidnapped while home asleep and taken to Taiwan as a “comfort woman” in 1943. Traumatized by her experience and pain, she shunned society even after liberation. However, since testifying before the first congressional hearing on “comfort women” in the US on February 15, 2007, she’s continued to share her testimonies about Japan’s wartime atrocities around the US and Japan.

During her visit to the US to observe Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech before a joint session of Congress and to demand Japan’s apology, Lee Yong-soo (88) held a meaningful reunion with a Holocaust survivor she first met 4 years ago. Ms. Lee had met with Ethel Katz and Hanne Liebmann in a historic meeting in New York back in 2011. Upon meeting again, Ms. Lee and Ms. Katz expressed gratefulness for the reunion. They added that they want to help heal each other’s emotional wounds, something that they share in common.

"It (comfort station) was not a place fit for human beings. It was a slaughter house." (In front of the “Comfort Woman” memorial” in Bergen County, US)
"My country has been liberated, but we have yet to be. We are still at war." (Berlin, Germany)
"I was forcibly abducted, but they say I received money. Then I should be rich, but look at me." (Kyoto, Japan)

“Comfort woman” victim Yi Ok-seon (88) gave those testimonies overseas. She was abducted by the Japanese military during World War II and was forced into “comfort woman” sexual slavery at the age of 14. When Japan lost the war, the Korean “comfort women” victims in China were abandoned, so Ms. Yi lived there until 2000 before returning home to Korea where she had already been declared dead.

Despite her advancing age and chronic illnesses, Ms. Yi has been working as a fervent and fiery human rights activists since 2002, traveling around the world to spread the truth.