A court here ordered a halt to sales of a book on “comfort women” by a Korean professor, ruling that certain passages hurt the honor of the victims. The Seoul Eastern District Court on Feb. 17 said sales and publication of “Comfort Women of the Empire,” written by Park Yu-ha, a professor of Japanese literature at Sejong University, can resume only after the passages are deleted.
Nine people, including many former comfort women, last year filed for a court injunction to halt sales and publication of the book. They argued that the book dishonored them. The book was first published in South Korea in 2013. “Comfort women” is a euphemism for women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II. Many of them were from the Korean Peninsula.
The court accepted the argument that Japan and the imperial Japanese military forced the comfort women to work in military brothels, and that their sufferings as victims were fundamentally no different from those of “sex slaves.” The ruling said some of Park’s descriptions in her book ignore this essence.
Preface
I first confronted the comfort women issue in 1991. It was near the end my study in Japan. As a volunteer I was translating former Korean comfort women's testimonies for NHK. When I returned to South Korea, Kim Young-sam was the president, and Korean nationalism was on the rise. Anti-Japan lobby "Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan" or "Chong Dae Hyup" (정대협 挺対協) in Korean was really gaining momentum. Its leader said publicly it was determined to discredit Japan for the next 200 years. Its propaganda turned me off, so I stayed away from this issue for years. I regained my interest in this issue in the early 2000's when I heard that Chong Dae Hyup was confining surviving women in a nursing home called "House of Nanumu." The only time these women were allowed to talk to outsiders was when Chong Dae Hyup needed them to testify for UN interrogators or U.S. politicians. But for some reason I was allowed to talk to them one day in 2003. I could sense that women were not happy being confined in this place. One of the women (Bae Chun-hee) told me she reminisced the romance she had with a Japanese soldier and the sorrow when he died in combat. She said she hated her father who sold her. She also told me that women there didn't appreciate being coached by Chong Dae Hyup to give false testimonies but had to obey Chong Dae Hyup's order. When Japan offered compensation through Asian Women's Fund in 1995, about 60 former Korean comfort women defied Chong Dae Hyup's order and accepted compensation. Those 60 women were vilified as traitors. Their names and addresses were published in newspapers as prostitutes by Chong Dae Hyup, and they had to live the rest of their lives in disgrace. So surviving women were terrified of Chong Dae Hyup and wouldn't dare to defy again.
1. The origin of comfort women
With Japan's victory in Sino-Japanese war (1894 - 1895) the Korean Peninsula was no longer under the control of Qing Dynasty China. As Japanese military personnels and male workers began to spend time in Korea, women (mostly from Nagasaki and Kumamoto) followed to comfort them. Most of these women were from poor families.
2. Korean comfort women
At first comfort women were all Japanese. But after Korea became part of Japan in 1910, ethnic Korean women (Japanese citizens) also became comfort women. By 1920's Japanese women along with Korean women traveled abroad to comfort Japanese men and ethnic Korean men there. These Korean women were the predecessors of who later became known as Korean comfort women.
3. Comfort women and female troops
Although women were working as prostitutes, some of them had accumulated enough savings to lend money and rent places for secret meetings to men who were fighting for the nation. That is why they were also called female troops(娘子軍)and they took certain pride in their contribution.
4. Comfort stations
One shouldn't think comfort women system was created suddenly by Japanese military in 1930's. At first Japanese military licensed existing prostitution houses in Manchuria as comfort stations. As Japan advanced into China and Southeast Asia, more comfort stations were needed. So Japanese military commissioned prostitution brokers to recruit more women and create more comfort stations. Japanese brokers recruited Japanese women in Japan. They owned and operated comfort stations employing Japanese women. Korean brokers recruited Korean women in Korea. They owned and operated comfort stations employing Korean women. (See footnote *3, *4)
5. Two types of comfort women
There were two types of comfort women. (1) Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese women (all Japanese citizens) They were not coerced by Japanese military. (2) Local women in the battlefields (Dutch women in Indonesia, Filipino women in the Philippines, etc.) Dozens of them were coerced by lower ranked Japanese soldiers. These two types should have been treated differently. But when the comfort women became an issue in the early 1990's, all women who provided sex to Japanese military were treated uniformly, and that created a big confusion.
6. The Myth "Korean comfort women were coerced by Japanese military"
The Korean woman who first claimed this in the early 1990's belonged to Chongsindae during the war. Chongsindae (also called Teishintai in Japanese) was a group of teenage girls conscripted by Japanese military. They worked in factories to manufacture military equipments and uniforms. Since she was conscripted, she thought comfort women were also conscripted. It wasn't that she fabricated the story. It was an innocent mistake on her part. When I examined initial testimonies of former Korean comfort women, none of them claimed she was coercively taken away by Japanese military. It should be noted, however, that Korean brokers sometimes lied about description of work. (They sometimes hinted women would be working as nurses and so on) So although Korean comfort women were not coerced by Japanese military (Japanese military was NOT in Korea), some of them were recruited on false pretenses by Korean brokers. Other Korean women were in the world's oldest profession, and they did volunteer to earn good money.
7. The Myth "200,000 young girls were coerced by Japanese military"
Two hundred thousand was the number of factory workers conscripted. About 150,000 of them were Japanese and 50,000 were Koreans. Many of them were teenage girls. Common misunderstanding in the West of "200,000 young girls were coerced by Japanese military" arose because Asahi Shimbun mistook factory workers for comfort women in August 11th, 1991 article, which inflated the number. The estimates of comfort women numbers vary from 20,000 to 70,000 depending on the historians. Most of the comfort women were Japanese, Koreans and Taiwanese, and they were not coerced by Japanese military. In the battlefields of Indonesia and the Philippines, dozens of Dutch and Filipino women were coerced by lower ranked Japanese soldiers. (Those soldiers were court-martialed, and some of them were executed) Most comfort women were not teenage girls but were in their 20's. So the correct statement should instead be "Between 20,000 and 70,000 served as comfort women, of which a few hundred were coerced by Japanese military."
8. Japanese military and Korean comfort women
Korean comfort women worked in kimono using Japanese names. Since they were working for Japan's victory, lower ranked soldiers committing violence to women were punished by higher ranked officers. Korean comfort station owners exploiting Korean women were also punished. Korean women typically made about 750 yen a month including tips. (A house in Korea cost 1000 yen at the time) Women attended sports events, picnics and social dinners with both officers and men. They were also allowed to go shopping in towns. Romances between Korean comfort women and Japanese soldiers were common, and there were numerous instances of proposals of marriage and in certain cases marriages actually took place.
9. Korean prostitution brokers
There is no evidence to support that Japanese military permitted Korean prostitution brokers to lie or use violence when recruiting Korean women or operating comfort stations. In fact there are documents which indicate that Japanese military sent orders to police in Korea to crack down on Korean brokers who engage in illegal recruiting. (See footnote *6, *7) Any coercion, violence or confinement was exercised by Korean brokers against the orders. So if one wants to use the term "sex slaves" to describe former Korean comfort women, they were sex slaves of Korean brokers who owned and operated comfort stations. They were not sex slaves of Japanese military. Japanese military personnels visited comfort stations only as customers. As for dozens of Dutch and Filipino women who were coerced by Japanese soldiers in the battlefields, sex slaves of Japanese military is an appropriate expression.
10. Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910
Some argue that since not all Koreans agreed to this treaty, it is not legally binding. However, even if some Koreans did not like this treaty, official Korean representatives did sign the treaty, and treaty documents do exist. So it is not reasonable to say this treaty is not legally binding.
11. Japan-South Korea Treaty of 1965
1965 Japan-South Korea Treaty was concluded to decide how to distribute assets. Japanese government asked South Korean government during treaty negotiation to identify and separate individual claims from the treaty because Japanese government wanted to make sure victims received compensation by delivering compensation directly to them. South Korean government declined, accepted the entire sum of 800 million dollars in place of its citizens and spent all of it on infrastructures and so on. Therefore it is not reasonable for South Korean government to keep asking for additional compensation from Japan.
(Note: Korean victims recently sued South Korean government claiming that 300 million of the 800 million dollars were meant for them)
12. Kono Statement
Kono Statement acknowledged that some Korean comfort women were recruited on false pretenses by Korean prostitution brokers. But it did not acknowledge that Japanese military coerced them. Therefore, there is no need to revise Kono Statement. Some might argue that if some Korean women were recruited on false pretenses by Korean brokers, why was it necessary for Japanese government to apologize via Kono Statement. Well, no matter who recruited Korean women, they still suffered. So Japan's apology was a good gesture.
13. Asian Women's Fund
Asian Women's Fund was established by Japanese government in 1995. (Compensation came with a personal letter of apology from Prime Minister of Japan) As for Korean women, although they were not coerced by Japanese military and all individual claims were settled in 1965 Japan-South Korea Treaty, Japanese government still offered additional compensation to Korean women through Asian Women's Fund as a good gesture. Ironically every nation involved except South Korea accepted compensation through Asian Women's Fund and reconciled with Japan. (Note: South Korean government and Korean women wanted to accept Asian Women's Fund as well, but anti-Japan lobby 'Chong Dae Hyup' blocked the deal.)
14. Why has it been so difficult to resolve this issue only with South Korea?
Anti-Japan lobby Chong Dae Hyup (정대협 挺対協) opposed Asian Women's Fund claiming it did not go through a legislation vote in the House. But considering all individual claims were settled in 1965 Japan-South Korea Treaty, a cabinet member decision was the best Japanese government could do. (A legislation vote in the House would have breached 1965 treaty) Chong Dae Hyup has had a very close relationship with North Korea. (The leader's husband was arrested as a North Korean spy. See footnote *8) In my opinion, the real reason why Chong Dae Hyup opposed Asian Women's Fund was because it wanted to use the comfort women issue to block reconciliation between Japan and South Korea. Japan-South Korea discord is precisely what North Korea wants. The dynamics of South Korean politics is very difficult for foreigners to grasp. South Korean politics is split 50/50 between right and left. The right is pro-U.S., anti-North Korea and anti-Japan. The left is anti-U.S., pro-North Korea and anti-Japan. Chong Dae Hyup is a radical element of South Korean left. So South Korean right does not like Chong Dae Hyup. But when you compare anti-North Korean sentiment and anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea, anti-Japanese sentiment is stronger. That is why South Korean right (especially media and politicians) shies away from criticizing Chong Dae Hyup even though it knows Chong Dae Hyup's propaganda is not based on facts.
15. World's view
Instead of accepting Japan's apology and compensation, Chong Dae Hyup (≒ North Korea) and its U.S. affiliate KACE have appealed to the world by dragging former Korean comfort women (now in their 80's and 90's) around the world as exhibitions. UN reports such as Coomaraswamy report and U.S. House Resolution 121 were issued based solely on materials provided by the Korean lobby. (False testimonies of women who were coached by Chong Dae Hyup. Reference) Most Western media and scholars bought Chong Dae Hyup's (North Korean) propaganda and believe "200,000 young girls including Koreans were coercively taken away by Japanese military." Obviously this world's view is not based on facts. Japanese military did coerce dozens of Dutch and Filipino women in the battlefields of Indonesia and the Philippines. But not 200,000! And Korean women were not coerced by Japanese military because the Korean Peninsula was not the battlefield and therefore Japanese military was NOT in Korea. (Korean brokers recruited Korean women in Korea and operated comfort stations employing them) Japan apologized and compensated, and Netherlands, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan had all accepted Japan's apology and reconciled with Japan. So there are no comfort women issues between those nations and Japan. The comfort women issue remains only with South Korea because Chong Dae Hyup refuses to accept Japan's apology and continues to spread the false claim of "200,000 young girls including Koreans were coerced by Japanese military" throughout the world. Chong Dae Hyup is a very powerful special interest group in South Korea, and Korean politicians are scared to death to defy it. But South Korean government must somehow distance itself from Chong Dae Hyup if this issue is to be resolved. After all, Chong Dae Hyup has no interest in the welfare of former Korean comfort women. Its goal is to discredit Japan and to block reconciliation between Japan and South Korea.
16. Empire and comfort women
Today wherever U.S. bases are located, there are women who provide sex to U.S. military personnels. The only difference between former comfort women for Japanese military and women for U.S. military is whether women did it for nation's cause or not and whether it was during the war or not. Just like empires were created by European powers and Japan in the past, the United States has military bases all over the world, and its military interventions in Vietnam, Iraq and so on had caused suffering to local people especially to women. It is rather ironic that the U.S. keeps coming up with resolutions to criticize Japan and comfort women statues keep going up in the U.S. Meanwhile Japan should recognize that its imperialism in the first half of 20th century was the root cause of women's suffering.
(*1) The following is excerpts from Korean comfort woman Mun Oku-chu's memoir. Her memoir shows what it was like to be a comfort woman.
scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/2014/10/former-korean-comfort-woman-mun-oku.html(*2) The following is a U.S. military report. Except for the part where it says "Japanese agents recruited women and Japanese housemasters operated comfort stations," this report is accurate. (It should have said "ethnic Korean agents and housemasters." The U.S. military interrogator must have thought they were Japanese because their surnames were Japanese)
ww2db.com/doc.php?q=130(*3) The following article reports that Professor Ahn Byong Jik of Seoul University had discovered a diary written by a Korean comfort station manager. Comfort station owners that appear in his diary are Oyama from Seoul Korea, Ohara from Daegu Korea, Uchizono from Korea, Murayama from Korea, Yamamoto from Daegu Korea, Nozawa from Korea, Matsumoto from Daegu Korea, Kinoshita origin unknown, Mitsuyama from Korea, Kanai origin unknown, Oishi from Korea, Nishihara from Korea. So although they all had Japanese surnames, most of them if not all were Koreans. The diary also mentions that whenever they needed more comfort women, owners themselves went back to Korea to recruit women. Professor Ahn Byong Jik confirms in this article that Korean comfort women were recruited by Korean prostitution brokers.
archive.today/1jcC4(*4) The photo below is a recruitment ad in Korean newspaper Maeil Sinbo (매일신보 毎日新報) on October 27, 1944 by a Korean prostitution broker. There are dozens of ads like this.
(*5) The photo below is a record of how much a typical Korean comfort woman made.
(*6) The photo below is an article in Korean newspaper Dongailbo (동아일보 東亜日報) on August 31, 1939. It says, "About 100 Korean women were abducted by Korean prostitution brokers but were rescued by Japanese military police." There are dozens of articles like this. (other articles)
(*7) The photo below is an order sent by Japanese military to police in Korea to crack down on Korean brokers who engage in illegal recruiting. Professor Yoshiaki Yoshimi (with close ties to China and North Korea) deliberately misrepresented this document as proof that Japanese military coerced Korean women. Confronted by other scholars, Mr. Yoshimi admitted to Japanese media that he lied, but he never did so to Western media. New York Times in its 2007 article used his initial statement as proof that Japanese military coerced Korean women. Many scholars have demanded New York Times to retract the article, but NYT has refused to do so.
(*8) The photo below shows the relationship between anti-Japan lobby Chong Dae Hyup and North Korea.
Asahi Shimbun (left-wing Japanese newspaper with close ties to North Korea) published a series of fabricated articles on comfort women in 1980's. Based on these articles, anti-Japan lobby Chong Dae Hyup was formed in South Korea in 1990. Then out of nowhere a woman named Kim Hak-sun came forward in 1991 and claimed she was abducted by Japanese military. There is clear evidence (recorded tapes) that suggests she was coached by Chong Dae Hyup to give false testimony. If Korean women were indeed abducted by Japanese military, it is rather odd that not a single woman claimed anything for over 45 years after the end of WWII. Former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo said in 1993 interview with Bungeishunju, "Asahi Shimbun created the comfort women issue out of nothing, provoked Korean nationalism and infuriated Korean people."