The Pros And Cons Of Korean Comfort Women

The documentary entitled “Habitual Sadness” directed by Byun Young-Joo highlights the manner with which comfort women, or Chongsindae, were both accepted by society as a result of the stigma surrounding their societal categorization. The documentary portrays the experiences of a particular group of comfort women at the Sharing House whilst providing the viewer with a vivid first hand account of the puissant recollections of the treatment encountered by the women upon their reentry into Korean society.

The war crimes Japanese soldiers inflicted upon the people of Nanking are one of the most heinous examples of this idea of extermination, resulting in the loss of an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 lives. Thousands of women were raped, forced to take pictures with their assailants in pornographic poses, shamed and seen as being dirty, viewed as being subhuman. Soldiers were warned to eliminate the women they had raped, disposing of the evidence of what they had done. “‘Perhaps when we were raping her, we looked at her as a woman,’ Azuma [a soldier] wrote, “‘but when we killed her, we just thought of her as something like a pig’” (50). Rape was often rooted in superstition, the belief that the violation of virgins would provide strength and

“Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood”, is an extremely valuable novel. The novel, written by Richard E. Kim, focuses on a young Korean boy who lives during the Japanese colonization before World War II. Korea itself was under Japanese rule from 1910 until Japan surrendered in August of 1945. The way the Japanese colonized the Koreans was ruthless; not only did they drive fear into their hearts through physical threats, they also struck fear by manipulating their culture, their educational system, and using psychological threats to really put the Koreans under their thumb. The Japanese did not just colonize the Korean people; they began to turn them into another sect of the Japanese race. They took the Korean’s names, their religion, their language, they took their entire culture away and forced them to accept the Japanese way of life in hopes that they would not fight back, and that they would be completely under control in the Japanese rulers. They were successful too, as their reign lasted more than a few decades. “Lost Names: Scenes From a Korean Boyhood”, details that time in Korean history on a very personal and intimate level, and shows how terrifying colonization can be, in regards to the emotional and cultural condemnation by the Japanese people on the Koreans. The quote that is used in the third question prompt, “the real force of colonization comes not through physical coercion, but

Korea was Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945. Korea had to endure many adversities and hardships during the Japanese colonial period. Japanese did not treat Koreans as a human. They fiercely ignored and brutally harassed Koreans, as they wanted to. At a similar time, during World War II, Japanese did nasty and cruel brutalities to the Chinese as they did to the Koreans. After the World War II, Chinese still have many problems that have not been apologized by Japanese. One of the problems that Chinese faced during the war was the rape. Women were the most vulnerable existence during the war, and they were easiest existence to control. We can learn how the horror of the war affects on women. Through out the Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking and the three of the art works during World War II, which are Henri Matisse’s Daisies in 1939, Wilhelm Freddie’s Portable Garbo in 1941, and Jean Dubuffet’s Two Nude Woman in 1942, we can recognize how the book and art use the same object, women in different point of view.

In “Prisoner Number 600001”, Tessa Morris-Suzuki argues that Matsushita Kazutoshi, a Japanese soldier who fought in the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean wars, shows the harsh truth of the treatment of prisoners of war by the forces of the United Nations. After abandoning his country, Kazutoshi became a prisoner of war to both China and Korea. Most people don’t think about all of the things that prisoners of war had to go through and how the things that they had to do would scar them for life. They were forced to fight in wars that they had nothing to do with and fulfill any other needs that they had. Suzuki shows Kazutoshi’s life journey through his time as a POW, which also sheds a light on how deeply involved each country was involved in its neighbors’ business during the wars.

While attending the Comfort Women session, I immediately felt agonizing pain and several heartaches after being informed about the atrocious experiences those women faced. Based on the information shared by the speaker, comfort women were women who were forced into sexual slavery by members of the Japanese army during World War II. The women were used to please army members in any sexual way with little or no pay at all. Comfort stations were located in various areas throughout the

The kingdom of Korea was destroyed and the Korean royalty were killed or deported by Japan. At times, every Korean was in a difficult situation. There was no exception to a Korean princess who born in 1912. Deokhye was an only daughter of the King. She had to live in Japan, which conquered her country, was forced into a political marriage with a Japanese, and lived most of her life in exile, 38 years after she left. The king was really old when she was born. He had just one daughter. So she was so precious to him. Deokhye was a very bright child. She used to study in the Korean palace. However, she had to study at the school for Japanese nobility, learning lessons, and wearing Japanese or Western clothes. In 1925, she was sent to Japan to join the Crown Prince Youngchin, who was to be married to her. It was just a part of the policy to absorb the royalty of Joseon into the Japanese Imperial family. It was to prevent the Joseon Royal Family from becoming the symbol of the anti-colonial movement. She missed her country and family. Princess Deokhye’s life in Japan was not happy. Even though she was royalty, she was just an imposed one. She was a deported person, always anxious and in fear for her safety. She tried to overcome her loneliness by being with her half-brother’s family, but her loneliness was deep. King Gojong passed away in 1919. Her mother also died in 1929. She could not wear proper mourning clothes for the

Tears ran over the palm of four women, who held each other’s hand tightly. Deep wrinkles and rough skins reflected their rusted agony. The beauty of their youth, torn and frayed, now was hard to be seen; the pain and horror contorted the little flowers even before its bloom. Two had been assaulted, sexually, by Japanese military during the World War II, and the others were the survivors from the massacre conducted by the German dictator. However, sincere apologies and compensations on the human destructions are still hard to be found in many cases. Barren and infertile as an abandoned desert, it has been a dearth of sympathy that veiled the truth of the human destruction from the whole world.

During World War II many traumatic things occurred besides Japan’s actions. Japan invaded Korea and other Asian countries. Japan and many other countries brought and tricked tens of thousands of females into thinking they are going into forced labor to work at a factory. This was false. The Japanese army sent them to comfort camps and began prostitution, or what others call, sex slaves. Millions were killed and many were brutally scarred in the mind, and body, for the rest of their lives in the concentration camps. Korea is complaining about the past. Wanting to sue japan for a few thousand rapes. This cannot be compared to German Nazis killing millions for their religion. Japan shouldn’t have to pay restitution for the comfort women, specifically

Those comfort women had to serve more than 40 men every day. If they could not meet the minimum, they got brutal punishment and sometimes died. As stated by Tanaka in her book, “The Japanese military plan devised in July 1941, 20,000 comfort women were required for every 700,000 Japanese soldiers, or 1 woman for every 35 soldiers daily” (Tanaka 99). Japanese soldiers targeted the age between 13 to 18 years old young girls, and dragged them to their bases. Therefore, young girls in Korea during the colonial period got married early to avoid dragging by the Japanese soldiers. At the first time, Japanese government and military were only targeted the prostitutes and people who wanted to volunteer. However, the demand did not meet the supply so

During the 1930s through 1940s, when World War 2 was happening, Japan invaded Korea and other Asian countries. They brought and tricked tens of thousands of females to thinking they're going into forced labor and work at a factory. This was false. Japanese army sent them to comfort camps and began prostitution, or what others call, sex slaves. This all occurred nearly 70 - 80 years ago. And now, Korea is now complaining about the past. Japan shouldn’t have to pay restitution to the comfort women, specifically Korean comfort women.

Patriarchal society based on Confucianism suppressed women’s rights and deprived of their opportunities. In addition, this tendency reflected in politics which made women’s position weaken. However, women who follow occupations have remarkably increased in recent years and so many female voices are enlarging in South Korea. Ministry of Gender Equality and Family works to protect women’s right and focuses on eradicating discrimination. It was revealed that there were so many sexual harassments in workplaces due to Korean women start to speak their

Before the 1920s, under the colonial rules of Japan, the Korean male intellectuals claimed women’s equal rights because they realized the necessity for the new role of women for the nation building and strengthening. To put it differently, the male nationalists designed and developed the ideal roles of women. As a result, although women were given equal rights, a woman’s role remained in the domestic arena as a “good wife, wise mother.”

The term "comfort women" refers to the victims of a "premeditated systematic plan originated and implemented by the government of Japan to enslave women considered inferior and subject them to repeated mass rapes," said Michael D. Hausefeld, one of over 35 lawyers in his firm representing the former sexual prisoners in a class

The VAWW-NET (Violence Against Women in War- Network Japan), Chinese War Victims Lawyer’s Research Committee (now Chinese War Victims’ Compensation Claim Group), Society to Support the Demands of Chinese War Victims (Rose, 2005, p.77), etc. are all joint-organizations fighting for the rights of the victims and trying to force Japan into taking legal responsibility for its actions and it is still a work in progress today.