Korean Comfort Women Under Imperial Japanese Rule

Comfort Women (위안부 ・ 慰安婦) are women that were coerced into providing sexual services or "comfort" to members of the Japanese Imperial Army as a result of an institutionalised system of sexual violence against women. While it is estimated that there were over 200,000 comfort women from all across Asia including Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Korean women comprised the majority, making up approximately 80% of the total.

The Annexation of Korea and the Asia-Pacific War

Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 and was under Japanese imperial rule until the end of World War II in 1945. Prior to annexation, Korean diplomacy had been largely controlled by Japan for several years through the Protectorate Treaty of 1905 and the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1907. From this time until the direct annexation of Korea, Japanese authority in Korea was met with a variety of reactions, with the majority of the Korean population rejecting Japanese authority. Despite Japanese attempts at "co-prosperity" and Korean-Japanese harmony, they were met with overwhelming resistance. As a response to this resistance, the Japanese resulted to military measures, drastically increasing Japanese military presence and eventually formally annexing the nation in 1910.

Between 1932 and 1945, Japan was involved in the Asia-Pacific War, which was the Pacific front of World War II. During this time, in 1938, the National Mobilisation Law was passed, putting all resources in Korea under Japanese control, allowing the Japanese government and Army to transfer Korean people to Japan and abroad for various purposes. As a result of this law, the Japanese government established military brothels in multiple Asian and Pacific countries in order to prevent Japanese soldiers from raping local women. This was enacted following the highly publicised atrocities that occurred in the Rape of Nanjing in 1937. While the exact number of comfort women or military brothels that the Japanese Imperial Army operated is unknown, it is estimated that the number ranges from 80,000 to 280,000.

Experiences of Korean Comfort Women

Recruitment and Enslavement

At the dawn of the Asia-Pacific War, the Japanese army brought Japanese prostitutes along with them to the frontlines. However, many Japanese prostitutes at the time suffered from venereal diseases, and so to protect Japanese soldiers from contracting such diseases, the Japanese brokers started to recruit young Korean village girls.  As the war progressed, brokers started indiscriminately kidnapping Korean women and children from factories or farms, and sending many of them to the frontlines.

The Korean women that were "recruited' were confined to brothels, and were regarded as sexual slaves for the Japanese soldiers to use to their pleasure. Testimonies have revealed that each women were made to service up to 40 soldiers a day, and were regularly subjected to physical violence in the form of beating, burning, and torture. They were surveilled strictly, and escape was near-impossible. There is also evidence that Korean women were forcefully stripped of their nationality, called by Japanese names, and were forbidden to speak in Korean.

After the War

Japan surrendered World War II following the detonation of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When Japanese soldiers retreated from the frontlines, many Korean Comfort Women were abandoned or even killed. It is said that only less than 30% of what could have been close to 300,000 women survived the end of the war. While a lot of victims died due to abuse, drugs, AIDS, murder, or suicide, a large majority of Comfort Women died when the war ended and they were left behind or killed. There is evidence that shows that many women were not even told of Japan's defeat.

Despite this, many victims returned to Korea after the war. However, victims suffered mental, physical, and emotional trauma. Many committed suicide, unable to overcome feelings of fear and shame, and many struggled with their marital lives due to infertility or fear of men. Many former Comfort Women would also lead lives as prostitutes in postwar Japan.

Testimonies and Evidence

Testimonies

In August 1991, Kim Hak-Sun became the first Korean woman to publicly testify her experience as a former Comfort Woman. Later that year in December, three former Korean Comfort Women, including Kim, filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government through the Tokyo District Court. They requested compensation for their sufferings, apologies, prosecution of perpetrators, and a revision of history and education to include the systemic rape of women by the Japanese Imperial Army. Dozens of women have followed suit by publicly or anonymously testifying. Many victims choose not to reveal their identities as many have kept that part of their lives a secret from their spouses, children and family, and many sexual abuse victims face stigma and prejudice.

Evidence of Institutionalised Sexual Slavery

Despite these testimonies, the government of Japan continued to deny involvement in the operation of military brothels and "Comfort Stations". It was not until Professor Yoshiaki Yoshimi of Chuo University in Tokyo discovered official Defence Agency documents linking the Japanese Imperial Army with the brothels that the Japanese government admitted to the crimes committed.

Since the discovery of those documents, former members of the Japanese Imperial Army have come forward to provide witness testimony to the plaintiffs' claims. Active redress movements in not only Korea, but in other nations where the Japanese Imperial Army held "Comfort Stations" have been proceeding since it was made clear that the Japanese government and the Imperial Army were complicit and guilty in institutionalised sexual slavery, violence, and violation of human rights.

Attempts at Reconciliation

The Japanese government admitted its involvement in institutionalised sexual slavery in 1992, following the discovery of Defence Agency documents by Professor Yoshimi. However, the government continued to deny involvement in the coercion and kidnapping of Korean women by the state in order to "recruit" comfort women, and refused to make compensations to victims. The Japanese government states that the San Francisco Peace Treaty and following postwar agreements have settled all claims and issues regarding Colonial Japan, therefore no follow-up claims can be made. However, as the Japanese Imperial Army clearly breached fundamental human rights, Japan has a duty to compensate the victims of their crimes through reparations. In 1994, the International Commission of Jurists recommended that the Japanese government pay an interim fee of $40,000 (USD) to search survivor. The Japanese government responded to this by setting up the Asian Women's Fund and collecting non-government funds to pay reparations to the survivors. However, this proposal was rejected by the Korean side as this was not an official government reparation. Since then, various attempts have been made by both sides in order to reach a solution, but the issue remains unresolved.

To this day there remains conflict over the Comfort Women issue, which is one of the most significant points of conflict between the neighbouring countries of Japan and Korea. This is clearly symbolised by the "Statue of Peace", which represents comfort women, standing directly in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.