The Korean Council for

Women Drafted for

Military Sexual Slavery
by Japan

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True Stories of the Korean

Comfort Women

Edited by Keith Howard

Testimonies compiled by the Korean Council for

Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan
and the Research Association on the Women Drafted for
Military Sexual Slavery by Japan,
and translated by Young Joo Lee

T
CASSELL
Cassell
Wellington House
125 Strand
London WC2R OBB

215 Park Avenue South

New York, NY 10003
Korean original © Korean Council for the Women Drafted for
Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and the Research Association on the
Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan 1993
English translation © Cassell 1995

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans-

mitted any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including
in
photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

English translation first published 1995

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 0-304-33262-3 (hardback)

0-304-33264-X (paperback)

Typesetting and Design Ben Cracknell

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn
Contents

Introduction: keith howard v

1. A Korean Tragedy 1
KEITH HOWARD
2. Korean Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan 11
CHIN SUNG CHUNG

Survivors Tell Their Stories

3. Bitter Memories Am Loath to Recall
I 32
KIMHAKSUN
4. I Have Much to Say to the Korean Government 41
KIM TOKCHIN
5. I WillNo Longer Harbour Resentment 50
Yl YONGSUK
6. I Would Rather Die 58
HASUNNYO
7. I Thought Was Going
I to a Textile Factory 65
OH OMOK
8. I Want to Live without Being Treated with Contempt 70
HWANG KUMJU
9. I So Much Wanted to Study 80
MUN P'lLGI
10. Return My Youth to Me 88
Yl YONGSU
11. Taken Away at Twelve 95
YlOKPUN
12. Back to My Wretched Life 104
MUN OKCHU
13. It Makes Me Sad That Can't Have Children
I 115
YISUNOK
14. I Came Home, But Lost My Family 124
Yl SANGOK

15. Wandering around Manchuria, China and Sumatra 134

YITUNGNAM
16. I Thought Would Die
I
143
Yl YONGNYO
17. Death and Life Crises 151
KIM T'AESON
18. Hostage to My Past 158
PAK SUNAE
19. Silent Suffering 168
CH'OEMYONGSUN
20. From the Women's Volunteer Labour
Corps to a Comfort Station 1 75
KANG TOKKYONG
21. Shut Away Close to Home 185
YUNTURI

Appendix: Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and Issues in Law 193

ETSUROTOTSUKA
Introduction
Keith Howard

The bulk of this book comprises a collection of life stories originally pub-
lished in 1993 in Korean as Kangjero kkidlyogan Chosonin kunwianbudul
[The Korean Comfort Women Who Were Coercively Dragged Away
for the Military]. 'Comfort women' is a euphemism, translating the
Korean wianbu and the Japanese ianfu, that will regularly be repeated
in the pages which follow. An alternative Korean term, chongshindae
[literally, 'voluntarily offered body corps'], is also encountered both in
literature and when talking to Koreans. The meaning of both terms
becomes clear in the title of the body responsible for collecting these
interviews, Han'guk chongshindae munje taech'aek hyobuihoe [The Korean
Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan] and,

one of its constituent bodies, the Chongshindae yon'guhoe [Research

Association on the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by
.

Japan]
Rumours about the coercion of women as prostitutes for Japanese
forces have circulated for a long time, but it has only recently been

demonstrated that the policy began in the early 1930s - as the empire
began to spread its tentacles beyond Korea to mainland Asia - and lasted
until the end of the Pacific war. No reparation has been made by Japan to
any of the Asian women. Estimates of the numbers involved spiral

upwards to a high of 200,000. It is usually considered, following recent

revelations and a 1939 account by a military surgeon, Aso Tetsuo, that
between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of comfort women were Korean.
This, then, is a Korean tragedy, unique in terms of the numbers of
women used, although examples of the military appropriation of women
areknown from elsewhere in the world. At the time of writing, accounts
of mass rape emerging from the conflict that has engulfed the former
Yugoslavia suggest that similar abuse continues.
Korean society, as it emerged after liberation in 1945, knew many
stories about the comfort women. Indeed, the term wianbu continues to
be used today to describe the prostitutes who work near the perimeters
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

of American army bases in South Korea, particularly Uijongbu and

Kunsan, and to some extent for those in Seoul's red light districts. Yet the
issue was, for almost 50 years, brushed under the carpet. Until recendy,
the South Korean government argued that no documentary evidence
survived the defeat of Japan, hence the issue should not detract from
the need to normalize Korean—Japanese relations. Those who studied the
issue knew very little, and until the early 1990s many considered that
coercive recruitment largely followed the setting up of a Women's
Voluntary Labour Corps in 1944. The Corps was established ostensibly
to provide labour for Japanese factories; according to Yun Chongok,
writing in a Council publication, the recruits were 'forced to comfort the
divine imperial troops at the battlefront while subsisting on day labour by
2
laundering the soldiers' uniforms and cleaning the military mess'. In
January 1992, the Korean newspapers Tonga ilbo and Choson ilbo reported
the confession of a Japanese school teacher, Ikeda Masae, who recruited
six pre-teen girls in 1944 in obedience to an imperial edict. The apparent
discrepancies caused by supposing such a late date largely went un-
noticed, even with suspicions roused by the knowledge that many
Korean women were displaced to Japan in the 1920s and 1930s as
labourers.
3
Further, female labourers, as with comfort women and the
Corps, mostly had received little or no education. 4
Public debate in Korea was further stymied by the lack of testimonies.
By the end of 1991, only three Korean women had admitted their past as
comfort women. The tragedy, then, was exacerbated by silence. The

shame of a woman was the shame of her whole family. The poverty of
colonial Korea meant that offers of work had held considerable attraction
to both families and individual women, yet such paid labour countered
woman's place was within the home. The
the traditional view that a
Confucian propriety of Korea stretched beyond economic power, since
men held all legal and social mechanisms to represent their women. The
resulting control and possession have proved powerful tools. Again,
Korean society ascribed to a notion of defilement which expected and
required chastity. Whatever the reason, sexual defilement tended to be
associated with promiscuity.
The debate on comfort women has emerged in South Korea at a time
of domestic realignment. The women's movement has gained consider-
able momentum just aseconomic development has led many to begin to
take a stand against the might of Japan. In North Korea, the state has yet
to normalize relations with Japan, and theissue of forced prostitution is
seen as a potential and useful lever; media coverage, some of which has
broadcast documentaries produced in Europe, has increased public
awareness. On a broader canvas, memories of empire mean that the

vi
 Introduction

resurgence ofJapan is feared throughout Asia. As Japan seeks a higher pro-

file in the international community — and a possible seat on the United
Nations Security Council - the comfort women issue allows smaller and
poorer Asian states to reiterate that the Japanese have not yet atoned for
war crimes. It can be argued that the lack of pressure by America and its

allies on Japan began as an attempt to limit war reparations and aid the
building of a Cold War balance in which Japan was to be a major capital-
ist ally of America and Europe. The issue, therefore, was buried by the

international community for reasons that lie beyond Korea's borders.

Here, our focus is on Korea. Koreans suffered. Nonetheless, this is a
story in which nobody wins, and it is of note that both Koreans and
Japanese took part in coercion. The 19 testimonies which we include tell
a harrowing tale, insistendy hammering home that to this day the

women who suffered have received no appropriate recompense. The

accounts follow a basic schema, covering childhood, recruitment, forced
initiation as a comfort woman, routine and return. They are statements,
given to the Council as a type of reporting, a coming out. They were
collected as evidence, but just as importandy they have had a cathartic
function, since they helped relieve the 50 years' oppression that keeping
silent had imposed on survivors. The names of most victims are real, but
contemporary mean that six accounts — those of Kim
social pressures still

TSkchin, Yi Sunok, Yi Tungnam, Kim T'aeson, Pak Sunae, Ch'oe

Myongsun — are written under pseudonyms.
In this book an overview by Chin Sung Chung expands and replaces a
brief chapter in the original Korean publication. This was prepared at the
request of the Korean Council; Chung is a prominent member of the
Council who holds a PhD in sociology and teaches at Duksung
[Toksong] Women's University in Seoul. We have added an exploration
by Etsuro Totsuka of the legal aspects surrounding the issue, and recent
developments; Totsuka is a lawyer specializing in human rights who has
lobbied at the United Nations in
Geneva and elsewhere on behalf of the
Council. The accounts, as they were first presented in Korean, were
arranged for the Council by a number of scholars and others associated
with the Research Association on the Women Drafted for Military
Sexual Slavery by Japan. Those responsible, with chapter numbers in this
book of the testimony they transcribed in brackets, are: An Yonson (9
and 21),Cho Hyeran (12), Chin Sung Chung (4, 8), Kang Chongsuk
Ko Hyejong (10, 16), Okuyama Yoko (17), So Un'gyong (15),
(18, 20),
Yamasida Yongae (7, 13), Yi Sanghwa (3, 19), Y6 Sunju (6, 11, 14) and
Yun Ch5ngnan (5).
The exigencies of translation, and a desire to keep the colloquial flow,
has required the omission of several repetitive sections and many sub-

vii
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

titles added by the compilers of the Korean volume. Many of the original
footnotes, and a few clarifications, have been worked into the text.
Footnotes are used sparingly to explain details about Korea, Korean
lifestyles and the Japanese occupation of Korea which might otherwise

elude all but a few. Romanizations, except for the given names of
Korean authors, follow the McCune-Reischauer conventions, as recent-
5
lyadopted and revised by the (South) Korean Ministry of Education.
My aim has always been for clarity; the authentic text remains that of the
Korean testimony. Thanks are due to many: Jane Greenwood at Cassell
for patiently acting as go-between between Britain and Korea, to Young

Joo Lee for the primary translations, to the members of the Korean
Council who have contributed their time and energy and most of all to
the living and dead who suffered as sex slaves.
Keith Howard

Notes 3 One by Richard Mitchell, in

figure cited
Tlie in Japan, 30 (Berkeley:
Korean Minority
1 The division of Korea dates from 1945,
University of California Press, 1967), from
hence the testimonies and the historical
1925 suggests that female labourers
events to which they relate refer to a single
accounted for about 20 per cent of the
state. The Council and the survivors who 106,000 who had been moved to Japan.
have been interviewed here operate and
The proportion of female workers may
live in the Republic of Korea (South
have been rather less, for 1923 figures give
Korea). Much of the debate which we 15,780 women from a total of 120,124.
refer to has taken place south
of the divide;
See Michael Weiner, Hie Origins of the
less information about comfort women in
Korean Community in Japan, 1910-1923,
the Democratic People's Republic of
79. Manchester: Manchester University
Korea (North Korea) is known.
Press, 1989.

2 Cliongshindae munje charyojip 1 [Materials

4 See Chin Sung Chung, this book.
on theProblem of the Comfort Women],
Michael Weiner listsKorean
only six
6. Seoul: The Korean Council for Women
women out of the 2969 resident in Osaka
Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by
in 1923 who had reached an education
Japan, 1991. The translation is cited in
level beyond lower elementary school (op.
Chungmoo Choi, 'Korean women in a
cit., p. 208).
culture of inequality' in Donald Clark
(ed.), Korea Briefing 1992, 99. Boulder: 5 Anon., 'The romanization of Korean
Westview, 1992. according to the McCune-Reischauer sys-
tem', T)xe Transactions of the Korea Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society 38, 121-8; Anon.,
P'yonsu charyo 11:4. Seoul: Kyoyukpu
[Ministry of Education], 1988.

viii
CHAPTER 1

A Korean Tragedy
Keith Howard

The story of the comfort women reflects an unhappy century of Korean

development. Five hundred years into the Choson dynasty, the late nine-
teenth century was a time of turmoil. Confucianism stifled intellectual

debate and the land-owning yangban aristocracy had entrenched

economic stagnation. The yangban controlled access to education and,
because of a state examination system based on classical Chinese texts,

held a monopoly of power. Commoners were throttled: by 1906 almost

70 per cent of government revenue came in the form of a land tax, when
75 per cent of farmers were tenants or part-tenants who worked small-
holdings averaging out at less than 2.5 acres. From the eighteenth
century, a law punishable by death prohibited Koreans from talking
about their country with foreigners. But the 'Hermit Kingdom' found
itself threatened by international realignments. The Chinese empire was
in decline, and 600 years as a suzerain state left little scope for Korea to
forge new political alliances. The 1860s Meiji restoration left Japan,
towards which Korea held a long-standing enmity following several
invasions, increasingly powerful. And new ideas in scholarship and learn-
ing,moulded from the Christian concepts of justice and the rights of
man, had begun to filter into the Korean peninsula.
The Korean reaction was retrenchment. When Kojong (r.
1864-1907) ascended to the throne at the age of twelve, his father Yi
Haiing took effective power as the Taewon'gun [Prince of the Great
Court]. Confucian propriety was reimposed. Much of the lineage power
that ensured yangban control and had institutionalized corruption was
curbed. The Taewon 'gun, though, quickly lost local support, particularly
when he imposed new taxes and viciously checked dissent from anyone
such as Christians who stood for change. His myopic view of foreign
relations could not be sustained as foreign powers began to jostle Korea
to sign unequal treaties. New factions
emerged. A mutiny in 1882 led to
an attack on the Japanese legation in Seoul, which provided the excuse
for Japanese troops to be sent in as guards. Then, in the 1884 Kapshin
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

chongbyon attempted coup, the expected Japanese support failed to

materialize, allowing the court to vacillate back towards Chinese
protection. Later, the Tonghak peasant rebellion in 1894 threatened state
control, and the king asked for Chinese assistance. This led direcdy to the
Sino-Japanese war, as a result of which China was forced to rescind any

claims on the peninsula. Japan manoeuvred into position as Korea's

modernizing protector. For two years the Kabo reforms, financed partly
with a Japanese loan, shifted social and political grouping away from the
ascribed aristocracy/peasant duality. They initiated Western-style
schools, monetary and judiciary systems, and a cabinet-centred constitu-
tional monarchy. In 1896, an elitist Independence Club (the Tongnip
hydphoe) began to argue for independence, but Korea was ill-equipped
and unprepared to modernize at a pace dictated by foreign powers. The
result was Japanese occupation, inevitable after Korea became a protect-

orate at the end of 1904, and official from 1910.

The Japanese approach to colonizing Korea was the summation of four
modalities. First, Japan allowed few concessions to Koreans, the result of
experience in Taiwar* where they had had trouble controlling 'unsophis-
ticated' tribes after their invasion of 1895. Second, Britain, other
European states and America seemed relatively unconcerned, so Japan felt

that in Korea they could emulate colonization practices employed else-

where. Third, confidence was high, since Japan had triumphed in con-
with China and Russia. Fourth, legend provided a divine mission, in
flicts

which Korea could be exploited for Japanese good. Policy institutional-

ized discrimination: Koreans were to be made useful for the empire. The
appropriation of resources moved beyond labour, industry and agriculture
to encompass language and culture. Hence, in the 1930s, Koreans were
eventually forced to adopt Japanese names and the Japanese language, and
to discard shamanism in favour of Shinto. Koreans had no prior experi-
ence of democracy, and were used to living in a Confucian autocracy
where hierarchical structures ensured that power must be obeyed, not
questioned. Thus, and despite the nationwide demonstrations and wide-
spread arrests that followed the 1919 Declaration of Independence,
appeals for sovereigntycame from competing groups of the educated or
disenfranchised. There were two basic factions. Those on the right fol-
lowed Yi Kwangsu's 1921 Minjok kaejoron [Treatise on National
Reconstruction] and proposed that education and building wealth should
be a higher priority than raising national consciousness. Those on the left
soon splintered into Korean, Manchurian and Siberian camps.
To the Japanese, the appropriation of women was a further aspect of
exploitation; they attacked at the point of least resistance as they took the
young and uneducated. To the Koreans, the issue was never so clear-cut
 A Korean Tragedy

as itmight seem from our contemporary viewpoint. There was little

widespread understanding of human rights. Serving authority, even if
disliked, was not widely questioned. And women had little value in the
strictly patrilineal society, where the cost of bringing up a daughter and
paying for her marriage put a heavy millstone around the necks of fathers
who struggled to provide sufficient food for their families.
Emerging after liberation, the peninsula found itself divided for no
reason except convenience. Two young Washington officers — one was
Dean Rusk — had been instructed to find a way to divide responsibility

for taking the Japanese surrender between the Soviets and the Americans.
They suggested which corresponded to no single
the 38th parallel, a line
geographical feature or administrative boundary. The two halves of the
peninsula were soon radically opposed. In the North it was inexpedient
to be a former landlord, a collaborator with the Japanese or a Christian;

in the South it was better not to be left of centre. The descent into a frat-

ricidal war heaped physical destruction on the colonial inheritance of

poverty. Until the late 1970s, rebuilding consumed the energies of both
states and both Korean populaces. The Northern regime created a

monochromatic socialist power pyramid that survived the death of its

founder and single leader, Kim II Sung, in 1994. After a military coup in
1961, the Southern government under Park Chung Hee accepted mass-
ive financial support from America and in 1965, in exchange for a
normalization treaty, from Japan. Neither government was particularly
concerned with human rights, hence war reparations of a more personal
nature had to wait. Change is still to come in the North. In the South,
increased individual wealth and greater access to higher education made
change inevitable, even though it was held back by a second military
coup that brought Chon Tuhwan to power in 1980. Chon's successor,
Roh Tae Woo, much of the needed
initiated democratization process
while he served as president.

During Roh's administration (1988-94), four factors collided to push

of wrongs committed against comfort women. First, the
for the redress
development of the fledging women's movement, particularly among
female scholars, began to encourage primary research on former comfort
women. Second, the Korean Legal Aid Center for Family Relations,
founded by Tai- Young Lee, the first woman lawyer in Korea, succeeded
in 1989 in persuading the government to revise the family law. Third,
the 1980s had witnessed an outpouring of nationalism, directed primari-
ly at what was perceived to be foreign cultural imperialism. Koreans had
become secure in their economic development, and could now question
the continuing influence of Japan, the neighbour on whom they still

relied for a large proportion of technology transfers to their domestic

True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

industry. A fourth ingredient further focused attention: surviving sex

slaves were prepared, at last, to tell their stories. The reason why they had
kept silent for so long had much to do with the position of women in

Korean society, and it is to this that I now turn.

Many would contend that a Korean woman's lot is not a happy one.
The titles of three books in English on Korean women include, respec-
tively, the phrases 'Shamans, housewives and other restless spirits',

'Virtues in conflict', 'View from the inner room'. 1

Women have lived

2
with inequality. During the Choson dynasty, and still reflected in thought

patterns today, women have been forced to live under the constraints
imposed by Confucianism. Confucianism is a well-reasoned schema for
ordering and shaping society, in which the illyun moral imperatives sepa-
rate the functions of husband and wife. In practice, in Korea it enshrined
patrilinealism, with male yang (Kor: urn) always above female yin.

Marriage became a kin transaction to acquire a woman's domestic and

procreative services. Male offspring ensured lineage survival, so girls
were weak, and married women achieved status only as mothers. Still

today, women's givev? names are often avoided; a girl, as the 'sister of x'
(her brother), becomes a wife and the 'mother of y' (her son). Polygamy
was until recently legally acceptable if a wife failed to produce a son;

among the old, concubines and second wives can still be found, despite
legal strictures in place since a 1921 revision of the Civil Code.
Girls were expected to be faithful and chaste (the terms sujol and
chongbu applied) exemplary women (yollyo). Women were expected to be
able to entertain guests and undertake household chores, roles which
required little formal education. From the age of seven, strict segregation
confined (and hid) women in the an pang, the inner rooms. Women,
through exogamous marriage, became part of a husband's family. There,
they enjoyed no rights to inherit. And virtue meant that even if a hus-
band died his wife remained duty-bound to his family. The remarriage of
widows was thus scorned. Further, women were not allowed to divorce
until the 1890s Kabo reforms; then, divorce was allowed if the husband
agreed, but a wife could still not set up her own home. A divorced
woman became a kich'o, an 'abandoned wife', not dissimilar to the
hwanghyang nyo [returning woman], a category reserved since the seven-
teenth century for women who made an unwelcome return to their natal
home. Hwanghyang nyo initially marked women sent away as tributes to
China and Manchuria, and as in divorce, disdain came from the percep-
tion that in a marriage a woman should break all ties to her natal home.
The colonial administration inherited this social environment. The
comfort women system could, nonetheless, only work because ofJapanese
importations. The Japanese licensed prostitution system was adopted - a
 A Korean Tragedy

system dating back to the Minamoto Yoritomo administration's 1193

guidelines and, more specifically, to Tokugawa regulations imposed osten-
sibly to avert potential Samurai revolts. Indeed, some Korean feminist

writers downplay or deny the existence of prostitution in Korea prior to

3
the twentieth century. In Japan, the Meiji restoration had added new leg-
islation in 1872, introducing the registration of brothel prostitutes, nullify-
ing stultifying open-ended contracts and stipulating mandatory weekly
check-ups. Money and the complicity related to its acquisition meant that

prostitutes, even if no longer virtual prisoners, still tended to come

from the countryside. Parents received money from brothel-keepers or
middlemen and lost their daughters, in effect, as collateral for the loan. The
patterns of recruitment continued as industrialization took hold, with
contractors paying for a girl's labour over a fixed period. The image of
Britain's dark satanic mills would not be out of place; girls shared squalid
barrack huts and worked long hours for little food.
In Korea, given rural poverty, the same forces could be applied. At
one end of the spectrum, the colonial administration upgraded kwonbon
training schools for entertainment girls (kisaeng), and allowed the publi-
cation of catalogues of the most beautiful 'flowers', detailing artistic
4
accomplishments as well as personal statistics. Although the courtesan
tradition once had little to do with prostitution — witness the kisaeng and
poet Hwang Chini (?-1544) - it is clear that women who sang and
danced in public fell foul of the Confucian view of appropriate virtuous
behaviour. Partly because of this, many kisaeng were recruited from the
low echelons of rural society, particularly from the ch 'onmin, a socially

outcast group of artisans, traders and entertainers who, until the 1890s,
were ranked below farmers in the official hierarchy. The testimonies
included here make several references to kisaeng and kwonbon, and clearly
demonstrate that women from the lower social orders were targeted by
the military. Women were also actively recruited to work in factories,
much along the lines already tried in Japan, as Kang Tokkyong (Chapter
20) relates. The testimonies make it clear that parents and elders
remained reluctant to let daughters undertake paid work outside the
home; this conflicted with the old sense of propriety. However, the crisis

of poverty and the low value placed on daughters conspired to attract the
young. Thus, a theme runs through this text: many of the former com-
fort women say they felt burdened to earn money for their families. This
does not in any way diminish the Japanese crime; rather it demonstrates
how the colonial authorities manipulated the desperation of Koreans.
After liberation in 1945, change slowly began to occur. Article 10 in the
1948 South Korean constitution guaranteed equality, but the state proved
reluctant to allow this in respect of sexual equality. The reason probably lay
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

in a perception that this might engender conflict between law and social

custom. Certainly, the Civil Code, promulgated in 1958 to take effect

from January 1960, remained discriminatory: women now had the right to
inherit, but only half a son's entitlement; a mother/ wife came third after

sons and daughters; a woman had only limited parental rights, whereas a

man could claim illegitimate children as his own; a woman could become
5
household head only if there was no male heir. From the 1960s onwards,
women's organizations began to petition for revisions, particularly after
members of 61 women's organizations inaugurated the Pomnyosong
kajokpop kaejong ch 'okchinhoe [Pan- Women's Committee for the Expedition
of the Revision of the Family Law] in June 1973.
6
A revision of the family
law was approved in December 1977. Now, in the absence of a will, sons

and daughters could receive equal inheritance, except that the eldest son —
whom tradition obliges to prepare and carry out appropriate ancestral

observances - was to receive half as much again as his siblings. Married

daughters received one quarter of their siblings' shares, and wives were
now entitled to the same amount as the eldest son. Women also gained
more parental rights, though the final arbiter remained the husband. And if
a woman returned to her natal home after divorce or bereavement, she lost

her rights as a parent, a regulation which in effect meant that the husband's
family kept the children of a broken union.
The most recent revision, in December 1989, addresses issues of
inequality, but continues to favour sons over daughters as family heads.
There remain faint echoes of imbalance, 7 but it appears that the law has
moved ahead of what remains a conservative society. Inequality is still

widespread in everyday life. For example, one legacy of the Japanese

colonial period in which the old and the new collide is working girls,
yogong.Old Korea considered paid work unsuitable for women, but in
new Korea girls labour to supplement family incomes until - and prior to
1987 this was specified in officially sanctioned contracts - they either
marry or get pregnant. Yogong have provided much of the labour for
Korea's economic development, but as cheap labour they institutional-
ized a lack of training programmes and enjoyed few promotion opportu-
Thus, while women comprised over 40 per cent of the South
nities.

Korean workforce in 1991, they earned 52.7 per cent of the average
male wage. 8 In 1991, the 50 top Korean conglomerates recruited 1200
women but 19,000 men to white-collar and management-level jobs.
And, at the same time, domestic work was accorded litde monetary
value, hence the average claim following the accidental death of a
housewife was 276,250 won (about £230).
9
Again, women remained
peripheral in the National Assembly prior to 1993; no elected woman
was able to take decisions or develop her own policies.
10
 A Korean Tragedy

Why, then, did comfort women not break their silence until recently?
Apart from the four factors which collided during Roh Tae Woo's pres-
idency, the reason lies primarily in social conservatism. Each revision of

the family law has given women more power and control over their own
lives, but social convention has taken some time to catch up. In 1945 and
1946, when the comfort women returned to Korea, they came back as

hwanghyang nyo. To the Koreans around them, they were neither faithful
nor chaste. They were not exemplary women. The families of comfort
women feared the ostracism they would suffer if the shameful past was
discovered; the women became an extra burden, and there was little

chance to marry them off.

By the beginning of the 1990s social conventions had begun to

change. But now, one further factor came into play: age. The former
comfort women were now old. They had oudived their parents, and
their families — where these existed —had grown up and married. The
women had nothing left to lose. Their life stories complete a jigsaw
begun in 1962 when Senda Kako, a journalist researching the war for the
Mainichi Shimbun, uncovered a previously censored wartime photograph.
It showed two women wading in the Yellow River. He was told they
were 'P' women - Japanese slang that probably descends from a vulgar
Chinese word piya, 'vagina house' - comfort women. Eleven years later
11
his first book appeared. Senda's efforts were verified and supported by
Kim Ilmyon's 1976 account.
12
Kim mixed documentary evidence with
testimony, notably referring to a 1965 account given under the pseudo-
nym 'Kim Chonja', and Ito Keiichi's 1969 publication of Shanghai com-
fort station regulations promulgated in the late 1930s.

In 1982, Yun Chongmo's fictionalized account, My Mother Was a

Military Comfort Woman, told of a comfort woman who had been sent to
the Philippines. Yun was much more direct than the earlier allusions to a
heroine's similar past in Hahn Musuk's (1918-94) 1948 novel, Yoksanun
13
hurunda [History Flows]. However, strict censorship under Chon
Tuhwan's regime limited progress in Korea, and most of the debate took
place in Japan. A few military memoirs began to appear. Yoshida Seji's
14

1983 volume is perhaps best known. It describes how each Japanese reg-
iment in Shanghai used one or more dedicated comfort station staffed
mainly by Korean women, and recalled expeditions to Korea to recruit
labourers inwhich some 1000 comfort women were taken. By then, at 15

least two documentary films existed. In Karayuki-san [Foreign-bound

Women] in the late 1970s, the director Imamura Shohei travelled to

Malaysia, and then accompanied a former comfort woman back to
16
Japan. In 1979, the director Yamatani Tetsuo in Okinawa no harumoni
showed the life of a surviving Korean woman living in Okinawa, Pae
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

17
Ponggi (1915-91). Pae is normally considered the first Korean comfort
woman to have broken silence, and before her death she also appeared in
a Korean documentary, Pak Sunam's 1991 Chongshindae Arirang™ Pieces

of the jigsaw fell into place as former comfort women came forward - a
memoir under the pseudonym Yi Namnim appeared in 1982; Yuyuta, a

Korean living in Thailand, was interviewed by the Asahi Shimbun news-

paper and brought to Seoul in 1985; Shirota Suzuko broadcast her story
on Japanese radio in 1986.
International awareness grew. A Taiwanese novel by T'ang Te Kang
based on comfort women testimonies appeared. Hung Kuei-chi edited a
volume on Japanese atrocities in Taiwan which included information on
19
forced prostitution. Later, in December 1992, a Dutch woman, Jan
20
Ruff, told a public meeting in Tokyo about her experiences; a Javanese
comfort woman described, in the May 1993 edition of the Indonesian
magazine Kartini, how she and her sister were taken. But this is jumping
ahead. A new Korean government under Roh Tae Woo was installed in

1988. At home, the climate was changing. more than 200 On 7 January,
members of Korean women's groups drafted a protest letter against news
that the government would send a representative to attend Emperor
Hirohito's funeral. They staged a protest at the former Pagoda Park in
Seoul, the site where in 1919 a declaration of independence was
announced against Japanese rule. Yun Chung-ok and two members of
the Korean Church Women United visited sites in Japan where comfort
women had been stationed in February; in April, the church group spon-
sored a conference on women and tourism. The issue was increasing in
importance, and then it exploded into public consciousness when Kim
Haksun came forward to tell her story at the church group's offices on 14
August 1990. She was by then 67 years old. A year later, in December
1991, Kim and two other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District
21 22
Court. The full story could begin to be told.

Not6S 2 The picture which emerges seems

remarkably consistent. In addition to the
1 Laurel Kendall, Shamans, Housewives and
books dted above sec> ; n Korean> Han'guk
Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean ydsdf1g wldonR yaksa Scou ,. H an'guk pum-
Ritual Life. Honolulu: Hawaii University hoe ch 'ongbonbu Korean Women's
|

Press, 1985; Sandra Matielli (cd.), Virtues in

Associatlon]) 1986; and Yosong paekso.
Conflict: Tradition and the Korean Woman Seoul: Han'guk yosong kaebalwon
Today. Seoul: Korea Branch of the Royal
fKorean Women's Development Institute],
Asiatic Society, 1977; Laurel Kendall and ^ 991
Mark Peterson (eds), Korean Women: View
from the Inner Room. New Haven: East
Rock Press, 1983.

8
 A Korean Tragedy

3 For example, Chin Sung Chung, 10 Chunghce Sarah Suh, Women in Korean
'Wartime state violence against women of Politics. Boulder: Westview, 1993.
weak nations: military sexual slavery
1 Jugunianfu, 'komaki onna': Hachimanjin
enforced by Japan during World War IT,
no kouhatsu [Military Comfort Women,
Korean and Korean American Studies Bulletin
'Voiceless Women': The Indictment of
5.2/3 (Fall/Winter 1994), 21. To my
80,000 People], 1973. I have used a
knowledge, there no adequate study of
is
Korean translation by Yi Songhui,
prostitution in Korea, and certainly no
Chonggun wianhu. Seoul: Paeksobang,
summary comparable to that in Nicholas
1991. Scnda has reflected further on his
Bornoff, Pink Samurai: Law and Marriage in
research in Jugunianfu to Tenno [Military
Contemporary Japan. New York: Simon and
Comfort Women and the Emperor].
Schuster, 1991.
Kyoto: Kamogawa Shuppan, 1992.
4 An example is, in the Korean pronuncia-
12 Tenno no Guntai Chosenjin ianfu [The
tion and reproduced in a mimeographed
Emperor's Forces and Korean Comfort
copy, Choson miin pogam [Handbook of
Women). Tokyo: Sanchi Shobo, 1976.
Korean Beautiful Women]. Seoul:
Minsogwon, 1984. 13 Kashima Setsuko translated Yun's book
into Japanese as Haha Jugunianfu. Kobe:
5 A number of discussions of the 1960
Gakusei Semen Scnta, 1992. I am grateful
CivilCode have been published, among
to Hyun-ki Kim Hogarth, the author's
them Ko Chongmyong, Han 'guk kajokpop
daughter, for alerting me to Hahn's novel.
[Korean Family Law], 32-7. Seoul:
Komunsa, 1980; Yi Taehong, 'Han 'guk 14 This does not preclude the considerable
yosong ui popchok chiwi in Han 'guk yosongsa discussions between Japanese and Korean
[History of Korean Women] 2, 162-7. scholars.Yun Chung-ok [Yun Chongok],
Seoul: Ehwa yoja taehakkyo ch'ulp'anbu, a professor at Ehwa Woman's University

1972; and articles by Pak Pyongho and in Seoul who in the closing days of World
Kim Chusu in Pak Pyongho ct al., War II had narrowly escaped being drafted
Modernization and Its Impact on Korean Law. to the Women's Voluntary Labour Corps,
Berkeley: University of California Press, has been particularly active. Her reports
1981. dot the available literature in Korean, par-
ticularly publications from the Korean
6 One magazine, Yosong [Woman], has
Council and its constituent bodies such as
studiously followed the campaign. Judith
the series Chongshindae charyojip [Materials
Cherry has published an outline in English:
'Korean women's legal status: tradition and
on the Comfort Women]. A good exam-
work is an analysis of 39 former
ple of her
change' in Daniel Bouchez, Robert C.
comfort women, 'Chonggun wianbu, 39
Provine and Roderick Whitfield (eds),
myon-e taehan shilt'ae chosa pogowa chonguiwa
Twenty Papers on Korean Studies Offered to
in'gwon-e taehan hoso [Military comfort
Professor W. E. Skillend. Cahiers d 'etudes
women, documentation on 39 people, def-
Coreennes 5, 45-51. Paris: College de
initions, and appeals about human rights]'
France, 1989.
in Kukche in 'gwon hyopyakkwa kanje chong-
7 '...Legal experts argue that [the 1989 gun wianbu munje [International Human
revision] ameliorates only a certain de jure Rights Agreements and Questions on the
imbalance in practical matters and they Coerced Military Comfort Women], 2-12.
expect that de facto discrimination against Seoul: The Korean Council for Women
women may continue for some time': Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by
Chungmoo Choi, 'Korean women in a Japan, 1993. Yun is also the primary
culture of inequality' in Donald Clark author of a collection of articles issued in
(ed.), Korea Briefing 1992, 106. Boulder: Japanese in 1992, Chosenjin josei ga mita
Westview, 1992. ianfu mondai [The Comfort Women Issue
As Seen by Korean Women]. Tokyo:
8 Choson ilbo, 15 August 1991.
Sanchi Shobo.
9 Choson ilbo, ibid.
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

1 Watakushi no sensd hanzai: Chdsenjin 20 Evidence given to the war crimes tri-

kyOsei renkd [My War Crimes: Forced bunal held by the Dutch in Batavia

Drafting of Koreans]. Tokyo: Sanchi (Jakarta) in 1948 was meant to be sealed

Shobo, 1983. Translated into Korean by until 2025, but some documents kept in

the Hyondaesa yon'gushil and issued as The Hague were made public shortly
Xaniin Choson saramiil irokke chabagatta before Ruff came forward.
[This Is How I Abducted Koreans]. Seoul:
21 This is the starting-ofF point for Seong-
Ch'Sngge yon'guso, 1989. See also the
Phil Hong, 'A quest for accountability:
1977 volume, Clidsenjin ianfu to Nihonjin:
redressing the wrongs of the comfort
Gen Shimonoseki rodo hokoku doin bucho no
women', Korean and Korean American
shiku [Korean Comfort Women and the
Studies Bulletin 5.2/3 (Fall/Winter 1994),
Japanese: Memoir of a Former
28-37. The background, and early stages
Shimonoseki National Service Corps'
in the court proceedings, are detailed in
Recruiting Chief].
George Hicks, Tlte Comfort Women,
16 Later, in 1986, Imamura produced a 148-52, 158-68, 179ff. St Leonards,

feature film, Zegen, about a comfort sta- NSW: Allen and Unwin, 1995.
tion.
22 English language materials still remain
17 A brief version of Pae's was life story sparse.Apart from sources already men-
published posthumously together with tioned, I have been introduced to the fol-
documents from North Korea in the lowing by Helen Oh: Jin Sook Lee, 'The
English language booklet Fact-Finding Work case of Korean comfort women: women
and Compensation of 'Comfort Girls' and forced into sexual service for Japanese sol-
Forced Labourers. Tokyo: The Fact-Finding diers during World War II seek justice',
Team on the Truth About Forced Korean Korea Report (Spring 1992), 18-20;
Labourers, 1992. 'Questions of responsibility', Japan Times,
5—7 August 1992; Lisa Go, 'Jugunianfu
1 This film was reviewed by Kim
l Karayuki Japayuki: a continuity in corn-
Kyongyong in Chongshindae arirang: muryo
,

modification', Japanese Militarism Monitor

ch 'ulhyon [Comfort Women's Arirang: ben-
53 (January/February 1992), 9-16; Kano
efit performance]', Tonga ilbo, 15 October
Mikiyo/The problem with the comfort
1992. Several other films exist. The
woman problem', Japan-American Quarterly
Korean Broadcasting System issued a doc-
Review 24/2 (1993), 40-3; short articles in
umentary Ch'immuh ui ban [Suffering of
the Far Eastern Economic Review, 18
Silence] in August 1990. A film by
February 1993, by George Hicks ('Ghosts
Sekiguchi Noriko and titled Senso
gathering: comfort women issue haunts
Daughters is noted by Alice Yun Chai in
Tokyo as pressure mounts') and Louise do
her article 'Asia-Pacific feminist coalition
Rosario ('A quest for truth: sex slavery
politics: the chongshindae/jilgunianfu ('com-
issue affects ties with Asian nations');
fort woman') issue', Korean Studies 17
Watanabe Kazuko, 'Militarism, colonial-
(1993), 67-91. This was distributed by
ism, and the trafficking of women', Bulletin
First Run/ICARUS Films. More recently,
Najun moksori [The Murmuring: A History of Concerned Asian Scholars 26 A
(October-December 1994), 3-17.
of Korean Women], produced by Byun
Young-Joo [Pyon Yongju] and issued by
the Docu-Factory VISTA, was being
shown in Seoul cinemas in spring 1995. I

am grateful to Brother Anthony for this

last information.

\9Jihpen Tsai-Hua Paosing hi 1928-45

[Japanese Atrocities in China, 1928-45].
Taipei: Kuoshih Kuan, 1985.

10
CHAPTER 2

Korean Women
Drafted for
Military Sexual Slavery by Japan
Chin Sung Chung

The extent of the damage which the Japanese inflicted on Korea during
their occupation, especially during the Asia— Pacific war, need not be
repeated here. Still there are numerous unsolved problems such as the
Korean expatriates who remain in Sakhalin, Korean victims of atom
bombs, Korean forced labourers, soldiers and civilian employees, and war
crimes committed against Korea which fall into the recognized classes B
and C. The most tragic issue, however, is the case of comfort women.
Only recently have facts begun to emerge about women forcibly drafted
between 1930 and 1945 for military prostitution from Japanese colonies
and occupied territories, including Korea.
The monstrosity remained buried on the dump of history primarily
because the Japanese government and military authorities kept all rele-
vant documents hidden. Documents recently uncovered reveal that the
Japanese military not only secretly operated the comfort woman system,
1

but also instructed soldiers who were in charge to destroy records at the
2
end of the war. Japan, unlike Germany, has never tried to resolve post-
war issues. It has not concerned itself with fact-finding, restitution and

punishment. I consider this to reflect Japan's contempt for other Asian

nations and the American desire to see their capitalism spread in Asia. In
respect of the former, those responsible for drafting Dutch women to
serve as comfort women in Indonesia were punished, but the same crime
against Asian women has not been dealt with punitively in any way. In
respect of the latter, America's priority was to keep Japan on their side in
the Cold War. America was condemnation of Japan's ferocity,
lax in its

and thereby helped Japan dominate Asia once more. 3 Another factor is a
culture based on Confucianism which discriminates against women and
fosters the shame and silence of sex victims. Therefore, although Japan

perpetrated the crimes, responsibility for failing to deal with the issue
properly, for concealing it and for not publicizing it as a historical lesson,

11
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

belongs not only to them but to the sex-discriminating culture of Asia

and to the consciousness of the whole world, particularly America.
In late 1991 and early 1992 a number of military documents were dis-
4
covered in America and Japan and research, which had so far only been
attempted in an extremely fragmented fashion through short autobio-
graphical accounts, rapidly progressed. In this new-found atmosphere,
victims and assailants began to give testimonies, and both Korean and
5
Japanese governments extended help in unearthing material. Starting
with Kim Haksun in August 1991, a number of former Korean comfort
women began to report. The Korean Council for Women Drafted for
Military Sexual Slavery by Japan [Han'guk chongshindae munje taech'aek
hyobuihoe] was inaugurated in November 1991 and opened a telephone
line to encourage other women to report. In Japan, 'Call 110' was set up
as a hot-line for the reports of victims and assailants. The facts about mil-
itary comfort women, although still vague at times, have slowly begun to
take shape. In Korea, the Research Association on the Women Drafted
for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan [Chongshindae yon'guhoe] was estab-
lished in July 1990 and started research on the former comfort women. It

soon took over documenting those who had reported to the Korean
Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
This book was begun in March 1992, when members of the society
began speaking to about 40 former comfort women who had given their
addresses and had indicated a willingness to be contacted. In the process
of recording testimonies, the number of women we decided to include
here was narrowed down to 19. We eliminated those who were reluctant
to talk about the details of their experiences, those whose stories con-
tained inconsistencies and those who contradicted themselves. The sur-
viving comfort women are now quite old, and have lived through so
much adversity that many can
only faindy remember the sufferings they
endured. To them remember their experiences more clearly, all the
help
researchers compared the details of the accounts with what we know
about the military history of Japan through documents. In an attempt to
obtain accurate testimony, researchers had to interview each survivor
more than ten times. They were forced to restrain their emotion and
to maintain an objective attitude while talking about heart-breaking
experiences.
This chapter studies how the detailed testimonies of these 19 witness-
es supports the evidence of documents and previous interviews, along
with recently discovered facts. I attempt to reconstruct a more complete
picture of the lives of military comfort women than has been possible to
date.

12
 Korean Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

The Comfort Stations

Japanese military comfort stations were set up from the time of the

invasion of Manchuria to the Second World War. Military regulations

allowed only soldiers and civilian employees to visit them. 6 Local civil

servants and the general public were specifically forbidden, while soldiers
and civilian employees of the military were prohibited from visiting non-
military comfort stations, private prostitutes or civilian women. 7 All of the
19 women interviewed said that only soldiers came to their comfort
stations, but that there were some rare visits from civilian employees. The
military authorities usually directly established and managed the comfort
stations. In some cases, the authorities delegated civilians to carry out the
whole process. All comfort stations were under strict military protection,
assistance and control. The military provided condoms and regular
medical check-ups for the women. Women had to obey sanitary and
hygiene rules and other regulations set out by the military authorities.
Activities in the comfort stations were reported to the military on a
regular basis, and even the transfer of women
8
was subject to army orders.
Military comfort stations began to be set up as Japanese forces
advanced on the Asian mainland in the early 1930s. In 1932, the increase
of Japanese soldiers sent to Shanghai to cope with the Shanghai Uprising
was accompanied by the establishment of comfort stations for sailors.
9
A
record shows that a request was put to the authorities at about this time
for comfort women who could prevent the sailors from raping local
women. 10
Fresh documentary evidence unearthed in late 1992 shows that
the army set up comfort stations in April 1933. These were managed sys-
tematically, with regular medical check-ups and so forth." This supports
testimony from a former Japanese soldier who visited Manchurian com-
fort stations around the same time. 12 Other records show that there were
14 navy comfort stations in Shanghai by 1934, with the military impos-
ing control and assistance, and check-ups carried out once or twice a
week. 13 Later, with the increase of stationary troops, the number of com-
by the late 1930s, the number reached its
fort stations increased until,

peak and in some areas had begun to decline once more. 14 Therefore
1937 cannot be the year when military comfort stations began to be
formed, as has widely been stated, but the year when the stations were
systematically expanded. 15
The 1933 medical record of comfort women in Manchuria shows that
35 women out of 38 who received examinations were Koreans,
confirming that Koreans made up the majority of women from the
start.
16
From the testimonies of the 19 included here, it is clear that
recruitment was actively pursued in later years. Table 1 shows the year in

13
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

which the 19 were recruited. From this, we can surmise that the recruit-
ment of comfort women from colonies intensified after 1937, the year
when systematization was firmly imposed.

Table 1

1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945

1 4 1 2 1 3 1 2 3 1

A recent study confirms that the comfort women policy was planned,
established and managed, and the women recruited, by the chiefs of the
army and navy General Staff. It further reveals that the commanding offi-
cers of the Choson (Korea) Unit, Taiwan Unit, Guangdong Unit, and
Chinese and South Pacific Unit were responsible for their own areas.
17

Why did the Japanese military need comfort stations? The direct pur-

pose, as presented in military documents was, first, to encourage the spir-

it of the soldiers. As the war continued, soldiers began to lose their fight-
ing which had grave consequences for their psychological state and
spirit,

caused many difficulties in managing occupied territories. The authori-

ties saw the sexual comfort facilities as a means of reducing these
18
problems. Second, the main purpose in strictly forbidding soldiers from
using other brothels was to protect them from venereal infection. This
meant they must use military stations established exclusively for them. It
isa known fact that venereal infection was widespread among soldiers
when the Japanese advanced into Siberia during the period 1918-22.
The claim that this past experience was one main reason for setting up
19
comfort stations is persuasive. The fact that the rnilitary saw it as impor-
tant to give comfort women regular medical check-ups, and oversaw
20
management, surely reinforces this claim.
Third, the most direct reason for expanding military comfort stations
during the war was the frequent rape of women carried out by Japanese
soldiers. Soldiers plundered towns, raped women, started fires and
brutally killed any captives. Rape, in particular, tended to provoke strong
anti-Japanese local feeling. 21 This made it difficult to rule the occupied
territories, hence the military ordered: '...each soldier's behaviour must
22
be tighdy controlled and sexual comfort facilities should soon be set up'.

Besidesthis, the military authorities imposed a business and luxury tax on

comfort stations that were not directly established and managed by the
military but, rather, were operated by civilians. 23 Some claim this is an
indication that the military was actively involved in setting up comfort
stations in order to expand their sources of revenue. 24

14
 Korean Women Drafted for Miutary Sexual Slavery by Japan

It is, however, important to consider Japan's unique historical and social

background under these superficial, even if direct, reasons. Under the

Meiji system, freedom of movement had been repressed and the position
of the monarchy strengthened. This institutionalized a discriminative
imperialism that soon produced a social structure which lowered the
position of women. The imperial government imposed a family system
which completely ignored women's rights in society. It established a
meet the desires of men, especially the mil-
licensed prostitution system to
itary, and to protect the family system it had already imposed. 25 Military
comfort stations, established to satisfy and raise the spirits of soldiers,

can be seen as a variation on the licensed prostitution system. The

characteristics of the military system clearly distinguish it from the licensed
prostitution system since it forcibly recruited vast numbers of women
from the colonies. From this it is clear that the military system was
established in direct relation to the Japanese policy of obliterating colonial
26
races, Koreans in particular. The system did not recruit Japanese prosti-
tutes, but forcibly took Koreans, most of whom were to die on the
batdefield, while those who survived would be unable to rear children.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that comfort stations were
established wherever Japanese military units were stationed. An
American report states that 'comfort girls' were found wherever it was
27
necessary for the Japanese army to fight. Testimonies of former Japanese
soldiers show that comfort stations were located in many areas, not only

China and Manchuria, but also in colonies

in the occupied territories of
such Taiwan and Korea, and even at home in Japan. 28 A record show-
as

ing about 50 Koreans who worked on Sumbawa island, at the southern

tip of Indonesia, indicates how
far afield the Korean comfort women

were dispersed.
29
which former comfort women whom we
The areas to
have interviewed here were sent are various. Many did not stay in one
place but moved with troops or for personal reasons. They continued to
be forced to serve soldiers wherever they were. In Table 2, the areas
where women stayed for the longest periods are given:

Table 2
Manchuria 4

China (except Manchuria) 7

Pacific islands 2

South Asia 5

Taiwan 2

Japan 2

Korea 1

15
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Stations varied in kind according to the time and place of their estab-
lishment. They can be divided into three types: those established by the
30
military authorities; those established by civilians but licensed by the
31
authorities; existing private brothels which the authorities subsequendy
32
requisitioned for military use. It is clear that comfort stations established

by civilians had to obtain permission and licences from the military

authorities, and civilian managers paid a fixed business tax each month. 33
Stations established by the military were either managed directly by a
unit or by civilians appointed by the army. 34 Those established by civil-
ians were mostly managed by civilians and were located outside units. In
contrast, stations controlled directly by the military were located within
army compounds or were sited adjacent to units housed in converted
residences or schools. Of the stations to which the 19 interviewees were
sent, seven were established and managed by the army, seven established
by the army but managed by civilians and five were set up and run by
civilians. Although some of our informants could give us no direct infor-

mation as to who established their stations, it is possible to deduce the

responsible agents from meal provisions and the condition of buildings.
One informant told us of a civilian manager in a station established by the
military who received a monthly salary direcdy from the army. The mil-
itary's serious and systematic involvement in establishing and managing
comfort stations is evident throughout the testimonies in this volume.

The Comfort Women

Who were the women mobilized for comfort stations during the 15-year
war period?

Nationality
The nationality of women is of major interest, but remains the most diffi-

cult aspect on which to obtain accurate information. It has been generally

accepted that between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the women were
Korean. This reflects one of the earliest documents on military comfort
stations, the testimony of Aso Tetsuo, a former military surgeon, which

documented a comfort station in Shanghai in 1939. 35 It is also accepted by

Senda Kako, one of the on military comfort women. 36
earliest researchers

The fact that Korean women constituted up to 90 per cent of comfort

women is also supported by a military document disclosed by the Japanese
government in July 1993 and by documents on the Manchurian army
revealed by the Seoul-based Fact Finding Committee for Coercively
yi
Drafted Koreans [Chosonin kangje yonhaeng chinsang chosadan\.
Furthermore, Japanese soldiers who responded to the hot-line 'Call 100'
installed by a Japanese non-governmental office testified that most of the

16
 Korean Women Drafted for Miutary Sexual Slavery by Japan

women in stations located in South Asia, the Pacific islands and remote
areas of the Philippines were Koreans.
Recently, new records have been found in Nanjing and elsewhere in
China which state that there were more Japanese and Chinese than
Korean women, but these records cannot be considered sufficient to
counter the Korean majority theory. Other records show that women
38

from China and other occupied territories were also forced to become
39
comfort women, but the exact number remains unknown. Some of the
testimonies recorded here accept that there were a small number of
Japanese and Chinese women, but report that women of other national-
ities were rarely, if ever, seen.

Some Japanese soldiers have testified that Japanese women were

reserved for officers and Koreans for the ratings. Some add that
Taiwanese women were meant for civilian employees.
40
The regulations
in most documents allow the officers and the ratings to visit the same
women during different parts of the day.
41
Clearly, the separation of
women and their duties by nationality does not seem to have generally
been practised. Only one woman interviewed here stated that Japanese
women served officers, and Koreans the rank and file: this was at the
Akyab (Sittwe) comfort station. Eighteen testify that they, sometimes
along with a small number of Japanese women, together served both
officers and rank and file at different times. One states specifically that

officers preferred Korean women, since the Japanese were older and had
worked in brothels as prostitutes before they came to the comfort station.

Age
The legal age for licensed prostitution was 18 in Japan and 17 in Korea. 42 In
contrast, there appear to have been no age restrictions for comfort women.
One 1940 document left by an army unit in China states that a prostitute

must be aged 16 or over, but the regulations of other stations discovered so

far do not mention anything about age.
43
One woman interviewed by us
said she was taken to Taiwan when aged 11 and had had to run errands in
the comfort station because she could only obtain a licence when she
reached 15. The accounts of two others we have not included here reveal
a similar age restriction. One of these latter unfortunates was forcibly taken
to somewhere near Shimonoseki when 13, where she was grouped by age
along with many others brought from other parts of Korea. She was taken
with other young girls to a fabric factory in Tokyo, where she worked for
two years before moving to a comfort station in Osaka once she turned 15.
The second woman was taken to Japan but was allowed to return to Korea
because she was too young. Of the 19 we have interviewed here, one was
11 when taken, one 14, two 15, five 16, four 17, two 18, two 19, one 21

17
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

and one 22. This would suggest that an age restriction was imposed in only
a few places. It also appears that young girls were preferred.

Financial background
Most of the comfort women came from poor farming families, and had
received litde formal education. Of the 19, four had had no education,
four had only attended night school, ten had gone to elementary school
and one was still attending secondary school when sent to Japan. This last

woman was first mobilized in the Voluntary Labour Corps and sent to a

factory. She ran away but was captured by the military police and taken to
a comfort station. It is plain that the Japanese government took women
from the working class to minimize public criticism and any potential con-
demnation of their forceful and deceptive ways.

Marital status.
Only one of the 19 was married, but she was living alone in Seoul when
taken away. All the rest were unmarried, although one woman had been
registered by her pareftts as married as a disguise to avoid suffering this sort
of fate at the hands of the Japanese. None came from brothels.

Place of birth and recruitment.

Of the 19 women, one was born in Japan while 17 came from the south-
ern provinces, of Korea. Those born in Kyongsang provinces, the south-
eastern part of the peninsula adjacent to Japan, constitute the majority.
Although most came from farming backgrounds, their place of birth and
the place where they were living when taken away varies. Many were
taken in Seoul, and some in other cities. Comfort women were clearly
recruited from a wide area, not only from the rural countryside but also
from cities. Table 3 shows their place of recruitment.

Methods of recruitment
The ways in which Korean women were drafted has become a matter of
controversy between Korea and the Japanese authorities. No military
documents so far uncovered have explained the methods of recruitment
in any detail. Only Yoshida Seiji, one of the men responsible for drafting
Korean comfort women, has testified that army headquarters supplied
him with trucks and soldiers to take women away by force.
44

As defined by an international regulation contemporary to the time,

taking anybody through deceit, violence, threat, misuse of power or any
other coercive means constituted an act of forced drafting. 45 The meth-
ods used against the women we have interviewed here consequently
constitute coercive recruitment. Our research shows that the method of

18
 Korean Women Drafted for Miutary Sexual Slavery by Japan

Table 3
Birth Place of
place recruitment

Seoul 1 3

Kyonggi province 1

South Ch'ungch'ong province 1

North Ch'ungch'ong province

South Cholla province 1 2

North Cholla province 2 1

South Kyongsang province 6 5

North Kyongsang province 5 3

South Hamhung province 1 1

Japan 1 2

Manchuria 1

Beijing 1

recruitment divides into four types: recruitment by violence, including

threats of violence and the misuse of power; false promises of employ-
ment; abduction; human traffic. In the cases of violent recruitment, sol-
diers and the military police were
largely responsible, though there are a
few documented where civilian employees took part. The most
cases
commonly used method was to tempt women with false promises of
employment in Japan. Civilians were mostly responsible here, but we
have also recorded instances which involved the complicity of people in
authority such as village heads, community officers, soldiers and civilian
employees. Abduction and human traffic were usually carried out by
civilians, but occasionally soldiers were involved. Even when coercive
recruitment was organized by civilians, it is evident that the military
controlled and intervened by providing transport such as boats or trucks,
or by raping the women during transit. A military document dated 4
March 1938 actually records that 'personnel in charge of drafting women
must be selected with great care to minimize commotion during the
process', thus implying that civilians could be appointed or licensed by
the military to recruit women. 46 The fact that both mobilizer and women
needed a travel pass also confirms that the military systematically inter-
vened in the whole recruitment operation. 47
Table 4 shows how the women we have interviewed here were draft-
ed. Two were actually drafted twice, one recruited initially for the

women's Voluntary Corps.

19
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Table 4

Recruited by

Recruitment Civilians Local Military/ Civilian

method authority military police employees

Violence 3 1

False 6 2 1 4
employment
Abduction 1 1

Human traffic 1

Other 1

The women drafted through these various underhand methods were

forced to become comfort women. So, they were taken by deception,
and once they reached their destination they were forced to serve men as

sex slaves, often through the use of further threats and/or violence.
Therefore, mobilization was entirely violent and coercive.

The Running of Comfort Stations

Military comfort stations were managed according to rules set by the
army. These rules typically allocated different hours for different ranks of
soldiers, set out fees and regulated regular medical check-ups and the
allowable standards of sanitation. The details varied slightly from station
to station, but each place seems to have been subject to written regula-
tions dealing with these same points. The regulations were meant to be
strictly obeyed, although we have no way of finding out how well they
48
were adhered to in reality.

Hours
The hours were fixed and were meant to be strictly kept. 49
for visitation
If a station was used by several units, each unit was allowed to visit
women on a certain day of the week. 50 The ratings, non-commissioned
officers and officers were given different visiting hours, which varied
according to each comfort station and seem to have been adapted
according to local circumstances. 51 I have noted that in a few places
Japanese women served only officers and Koreans the lower rank and
file. In most places, women had to serve all ranks.
The time allowed for each man was either 30 minutes or an hour.
Those who came after regular hours and stayed overnight were charged
52
extra. In spite of regulations concerning the hours, and according to the
testimony of former soldiers, most men only took a few minutes each

20
 Korean Women Drafted for Miutary Sexual Slavery by Japan

because there were so many others waiting. These same soldiers say that
between 20 and 30 soldiers would queue up outside the women's rooms,
with their trousers down, waiting their turn.
53
Of the women we have
interviewed here, ten said there were time regulations while nine could
remember no limits on time. Most of the former ten said that the regula-

tions were not enforced properly or adequately. Especially at weekends,

soldiers would crowd in regardless of the set time limits, and in extreme

cases a woman had to serve 100 men in a single day. As a result of being

forced to endure such an excessively unnatural life, most comfort women

contracted diseases such as venereal infection and many were injured on
occasions by violent soldiers. The women still suffer from the resulting

physical ailments.

Fees
Fees specified in station regulations varied according to rank and the
hours of visiting. For example, one station in 1942 charged the lower
rank and file 1 yen for 30 minutes or 2 yen for an hour, non-commis-
sioned officers 1.5 yen and 2.5 yen respectively, and officers 3 yen and 4
54
yen. Officers were charged 8 yen to stay overnight. Charges also varied

in different areas and at different periods of the war. Mostly, the fees
were paid through the purchase of tickets that helped to prevent confu-
sion.
55
Regardless of the fees, comfort women were not paid in accor-
dance with what was actually stipulated in the regulations. Only three of
the women we have interviewed say that they were paid for their ser-
vices, either with money or with tickets. One testifies that she was able
to save a substantial amount and send money home. Seven say they
received cash or tickets from soldiers which they were then forced to
give to proprietors. These same seven say they were never repaid for the
tickets or the cash. Four say managed money and/or
that the proprietors
the tickets. The remaining survivors remember nothing about fees.
Several report that they received occasional pocket-money from soldiers,
but insist that this did not take the form of direct payment for services
rendered. One reports how she prayed every day for Japan to win the
war, because her proprietor had promised she would be paid in one lump
sum after the conclusion of hostilities.
The regulations of one comfort station specified fees according to the
nationality of women. Here, to serve a non-commissioned officer a
Japanese woman was to receive 2 yen, a Korean 1.5 yen, and a Chinese
1 yen. 56 Some soldiers who responded to the Japanese hot-line said that
fees reflected a descending order from Japanese, through Korean, to
Chinese women. However, this system was never mentioned by any of
the women we are concerned with here.

21
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Medical check-ups and sanitary conditions

As I mentioned earlier, regular medicals to check for venereal infection
were considered a matter of great importance. Regulations that specify
check-ups every week, every fortnight or every month appear in many
military documents. A considerable number of records that show the
results of such check-ups have also been discovered. 57 Only three of
the women say they never received check-ups, but the rest report
that they were regularly examined, either at a clinic or by military
surgeons who visited the comfort stations. The frequency of examin-
ations varied.
The military authorities ordered soldiers to use condoms to prevent

the spread of venereal disease. Sheaths were given to soldiers, but were
also distributed to comfort stations to make sure that all men would use
them. 53
Most women say that the soldiers had to use condoms, and one
reports that if any man refused, she was instructed to report him to the
military police. However, in spite of the strictness of these regulations,
many survivors state there were soldiers who refused to use protection.
And, although soldiers were meant to bring their own condoms, many
used those provided at the comfort stations. It is because of this that sev-
eral women washed used condoms, finally throwing them away
say they
after uses. These same women confess that
anything up to five separate
they felt wretched when they had to wash sheaths.
Military documents which stress thorough sanitation, including the
regular disinfection of women, have been discovered. 59 Three interview-
ees say they washed themselves every time they served a man. Yet, in
spite of such strict controls, venereal disease was common. The medical
records of comfort women discovered to date show that many were
60
infected with disease and were hospitalized to receive treatment. Given
such circumstances, the authors of some documents argued that medical
check-ups were Those who were diagnosed as being infected
useless.
61

were generally not allowed to serve men until they recovered. 62

Of the women interviewed here, seven say they caught venereal infec-
tions. They were usually given an injection, always called 'No. 606', and
did not serve soldiers for a few days. One woman remembers how one of
her colleagues was treated in isolation because she was so severely infect-
ed. This woman never returned to the station. Military surgeons treated
most of those who were suffering, but there were cases where the pro-
prietor himself gave the required injections. Only two women report
that they had to continue to serve men while infected. Besides venereal
infections, the women suffered from all sorts of other diseases such as

malaria, jaundice, mental disorders and vaginal swelling. The ailments

caught and suffered 50 years ago still trouble them today. Two became
22
 Korean Women Drafted for Miutary Sexual Slavery by Japan

pregnant: the baby of one died in her womb and the other child was
given to an orphanage.
Regulations banned soldiers from drinking in comfort stations, and
soldiers who were drunk were generally not allowed to visit women.
Violence directed at women was also specifically forbidden. In spite of
such rules, however, it is clear that soldiers were abusive. Most women
say that they feel they were not treated as human beings. Not only the
soldiers, but proprietors also were cruel. As a consequence, women were
forced to serve men even during menstruation, and if they refused or
resisted they faced harsh treatment from the soldiers and proprietors
alike. Most women still bear the marks of such abuse. All the women
interviewed in book used Japanese names, most given them in the
this

stations while they were comfort women. This shows that attempts were

made to destroy their identities. Most testify that in addition to serving

soldiers they had to wash their own clothes, clean, serve food, cut hay,

receive training while wearing the armband of the National Defence

Women and regularly recite the Oath of Imperial Subjects. One notable
case is the woman who first worked as a nurse's assistant before she was
forced to transfer to work as a comfort woman. Four others were given
work assisting nurses after they had served a period of time as comfort
women. This once again demonstrates that women in all types of
comfort stations, along with military nurses and orderlies, were under the
supervision and control of the military authorities.

After the War

Although the Japanese military exploited comfort women to such an
extent, hardly any were taken back to Japan after the war. The treatment
received by the women after Japan capitulated was in a way much more
cruel than what they had been subjected to when they were initially
drafted or when they later worked in the comfort stations. Many soldiers
have stated that women were abandoned in their stations, were forced to
take their own lives along with soldiers or were taken to caves or sub-
marines and murdered. 63
Among those interviewed here, eight were able to leave their comfort
stations before the war ended. Two ran away, one was sent home because
she had a serious venereal disease, four received travel passes with the
help of officers they had grown close to and one returned home with her
proprietor. One went back to her first comfort station, and a total of 12
were able to return to Korea once the war ended. Only one of the 12
who returned to Korea initially left her comfort station with Japanese
soldiers, while the other 11 say that soldiers simply suddenly stopped
coming to the station. After the soldiers fled, abandoned women found

23
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

their own way home or stayed in American refugee camps before they
were shipped to Korea.
Those who had been comfort women suffered greatly back in Korea.

They still suffered from diseases they had contracted while working in the
comfort stations. They bore guilty consciences, simply because of the
knowledge that they had been prostitutes. They suffered from the preju-
dice and discrimination of their relatives and friends. Many still had vene-
real disease or from time to time suffered its recurrence. The son of one
became mentally disordered because his mother had venereal infection at
the time of conception. Many women subsequendy found they were bar-
ren, and many still suffer from ailments, from womb infections, high blood
pressure, stomach trouble, heart trouble, nervous breakdowns, mental ill-

ness and so on. The psychological aftermath is far more serious than the
physical suffering endured in the comfort stations. Apart from nervous
breakdowns or mental disorders, the effects of which can be noticed exter-
nally, the minds of former comfort women are haunted by delusions of
persecution, shame and inferiority. They tend to retain a distrust and
hatred of men. They want to avoid contact with other human beings.
Taken together, all of these make it difficult for the women to carry on any
normal social life. The prejudice and discrimination heaped on them by
society makes them feel particularly wretched. People around the women
tend to despise them, guessing even if never told that they were sexually
victimized while abroad. One woman we interviewed was thrown out of
her house when her husband discovered the secrets of her past.

According to our research, women were most resentful of the fact that
64
they were unable to lead ordinary married lives after their return. Six
of the women we interviewed married, and five became second wives.
But all marriages failed. Eight experienced some form of family life by
moving in with men without marrying, but most of these relationships
also ended in breakdown. Five women never married. Only two live

with their own children; one stays with an adopted son, and one with a

grandchild. The remaining 15 women now live on their own. All once
tried to make a living on their own. They have, however, suffered from

poor physical and mental health, hence work is difficult and all have con-
sequently endured great financial difficulties. The women managed to
survive an extremely harsh life on the battlefields of a foreign war, but
the reality they have been forced to face since their return to Korea in
peacetime has been nothing short of a continuation of their hardship,
even though in a different form.

Conclusions
Many of the details concerning the operation of the comfort women

24
 Korean Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

system, including its overall scale, have yet to be uncovered. Yet, we

have been able to discover a number of facts about Japanese military
comfort women from military documents, the testimonies of former
soldiers and through close scrutiny of the accounts of former sex slaves

themselves. From what we have discussed so far, we can conclude that

the Japanese comfort station system had its own characteristics; it was
unique in world history. The stations were strictly and exclusively for the
use of soldiers. They were systematically planned, established and
controlled by the Japanese imperial government and they were
up set

almost wherever military units were stationed. Most of the comfort

women were supplied by Japanese colonies. The women were drafted by
force; they were not treated as human beings but merely as military
necessities. As I discussed at the outset, these characteristics have much to

do with Japan's unique cultural history.

From the perspective created by this consideration we can begin to
uncover a more fundamental infrastructure of human behaviour. This
can be defined as violence inflicted by one nation on the women of
another nation. The women will mostly be from the lower classes and
are used by a nation taking advantage of the chaotic situation which we
call war. It is possible that this same behaviour can be repeated in any
country when nations, people, women, class and confusion combine,
either in totality or selectively. Similar crimes can arise when only some
of these elements combine. The similar issues in Bosnia which recently
astonished an unsuspecting world were cases of violence on the women
of another nation carried out during war. Although we cannot know
whether the government actually planned what occurred, Bosnia was a

case of large-scale, mass rape carried out by the army. It bore all the traits

of public, rather than private, violence. Indeed there are a large number
of cases in world history where women have been violated on an
organized basis by military forces in war. The Japanese military took their
own prostitutes along during campaigning in the Sino-Japanese and
Russo-Japanese wars prior to their colonization of Korea, and when they
invaded Siberia. Florence Nightingale states that the British military took
comfort women with them during the Crimean War. It is true that pros-
65
titution prospers wherever military units are sent.
In conclusion then, we can see that the system of military comfort
women had its roots in Japan's unique social background, but also holds a
form of universality: it can arise and occur anywhere in the world.
Nonetheless, the issue has never been evaluated, let alone condemned, by
the international community. As a specific case, the issue of women draft-
ed for military prostitution has never been resolved between Japan and
Korea. Right now, while some of the comfort women are still alive, the

25
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

world must re-examine the social conditions of this case, examine how
ignoring such tragedies has allowed Japan to achieve its position today, and
take positive steps to protect the world from similar things ever happening
again. Finally, would like to emphasize that, in the light of the present
I

worldwide situation, where nationalism is resurgent and state intervention

in civilian society is more pervasive than ever, the characteristics and

universality of the issue of Japanese military sex slavery must be noted and
properly understood.

Notes 5 On 31 July 1992, the South Korean gov-

ernment's Chongshindae nnmje shibnu
1 All documents concerning military com- taech'aekp'an [Board for Military Comfort
fort stations were classified as top secret. Women] published an interim report enti-
Documents cited in the following pages
tled Ilcheha kundae wianbu shilt'ae chosa
are used to support the statements given in
[Survey on the Reality of Military
the interviews which follow.
Comfort Women]. On 6 July 1992, the
2 One document discovered states: Japanese government had issued a research
'Accurate data are missing because many of report, Chosen hanto shusshin no iwayimi

the records of the 48th Division were jugun ianfii mondai ni tsuite [Concerning the
destroyed end of the war, following
at the So-called Comfort Women of the Korean
orders from superiors, and the remainder Peninsula Serving the Army] based on
was submitted to the Australian army. documents preserved in the Police Agency,
Therefore we have had to focus on the the Defence Ministry, the Foreign

memories of the soldiers...': Dai-48 shidan Ministry, the Ministry' of Culture, the

senshi shiryo narabi shusen jokyo [Military Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of
History Material of the 48th Division and Labour. On 4 August 1993, a second
End of War Condition], 1946. report was issued which re-examined the
data preserved in these six government
3 Takaki Kenichi, 'P'yonghwariil mandunun
departments, and investigated other docu-
yosong [Women making peace]' in llboniii
ments kept by the Ministry of Justice, the
[On Japan's Post-
chonhu posange daehaeso
National Library of Official Documents,
war Compensation], Kidokkyo yosong
the National Congress Library and the
p'yonghwa yon'guwon [Christian American Library of Official Documents.
Women's Peace Research Centre], 56—7. This second report also added the testi-
Seoul: 1992.
monies of former soldiers and comfort
4 In November 1991 a record entitled women.
'Headquarters, US Naval Military
6 'Use of the comfort stations is restricted
Government' dated Okinawa, November
to soldiers and civilian employees in uni-
1945, was discovered. In December, the
form' states 'Iansho kitei sofu no ken
report of the United States Offices of War,
[Concerning comfort station regulations]'
Information Psychological Warfare Team
in Gunsei hanbu Bisaya shibu Iroiro shutchojo
dated August, September and October
[Military Authority, Bisaya Department,
1944 was released. In January 1992, Iroiro Branch Office], November 1942.
Professor Yoshimi Yoshiaki of the
University of Chuo unearthed several doc- 7 '...they are never to serve local men'
uments concerning military comfort states 'Gainmshd keisatsushi, Shina no bu:
women in Japan's Defence Library. These Shdwa 13 nen ni okeru zaihonin no tokushu
played an important role in increasing fujo no jdkyd oyobi sono torishimari narabi ni
public interest in the issue. sokai tdkyoku no shishd torishimari jo~kyd~

26
 Korean Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

[Foreign Office Police History, China 12 'Jugun ianfu 110 ban [Military Comfort
Section: Condition ofjapanese authority in Women, No. 110]', edited by Jugun ianfu
dealing with special women and private 110 ban henshu iinkai hen [Editorial

prostitutes]' in Zai Shanghai sdryd jikan Committee for the Military Comfort
[Shanghai Consular Division]. Also: Women hot-line], 1992.
'...local officials and civilians arc prohibit-
13 'Showa 13 nen Zai Shanghai soryo jikan
ed at all times' and '...soldiers and civilian
Keisatsu jimu jokyo [Showa, 13th year,
employees are strictly forbidden to use
Police Duty Condition of Shanghai
other comfort stations': 'Gunjitt kurahu ni
Consular Division]', Zai Shanghai soryfi
kan sum kitci [Regulations on the Military
jikan [Shanghai Consular Division], 1935:
Clubs]' in records of the San 3475 butai
dai
'Gaimushd keisatsushi, Shina no bu [Foreign
[The 3475th Division], December 1944.
Office Police History, China Section]', Zai
And: '...any contact with prostitutes
Shanghai soryo jikan [Shanghai Consular
besides these recognized by the military
Division], 1936; '
Gaimushd keisatsushi,
authorities or with any local residents is
Shina no bu [Foreign Office Police History,
strictly forbidden': 'Senji fukwmi yobd
China Section]', Zai Tianjin soryo jikan
[Outline of War-time Duties]', Kyoiku
Tanggu shutchdjo [Tianjin Consular
sokanbu [Education General Office], 1938.
Division, Tanggu District Office], 1937.
8 '...the managers of comfort stations ...
14 'Recently, with the increase of other
should report circumstances in their stations
comfort facilities (restaurant, cafes, and so
to the military authorities ...': 'Iansho kitei
on) the number of military comfort sta-
sdfu no ken [Concerning comfort station
tions hasbegun to decline': 'Sinji junpo
regulations]' in Gunsei hanhu liisaya shibu
[Wartime 10-day Report]' of the Nanri
Iroiro shutchdjo [Military Authority, Bisaya
shudan [Nami Command Office], 10-20
Department, Iroiro Branch Office],
April 1939.
November 1942. And: '...the women in

the special category are being transferred by 15 For example, the date 1937 is given by
military orders': 'Gainwsho keisatsushi, Shina Suzuki Yuko, Kim Ilmyon and others.
no bu [Foreign Office Police History, China
16 Eisei gyomu junpo 34 hen [Hygiene
'

Section]' 1 in Zai Kyushu ryojikan [Kyushu

Duty 10-day Report, 34th edition]', Konsei
Consular Division], December 1938.
[Mixed 14th Brigade
dai 14 ryodan shireibu
9 'Gaimusho keisatsushi, Shina no bu Command September
Office],
[Foreign Office Police History, China
*

1932-December 1933. And: Gei shogi

Section]' in Zai Shanghai soryo jikan shakufu kenko shindan jisshi yoryo [Outline
[Shanghai Consular Division], 1938. of medical check-up plans for geisha, pros-
titutesand barmaids]', Konsei dai 14 ryodan
10 Inaba Masao (ed.), 'Ajia Taiheiyo senso
shireibu[Mixed 14th Brigade Command
Kankokujin giseisha hosho seikyujiken
Office], cited from an article in the Asahi
[Demands of compensation by Korean vic-
Shimbun, 6 December 1992.
tims of the Asia-Pacific War]' in Okamura
Neiji taisho shiryo [Data on General 17 Yoshimi Yoshiaki, 'Chonggun wianbu
Okamura] as cited in Sojo [Petition] (2nd nninje Hi yoksahakchok kyumyong [A
edition), 1992. Historical Study of the Issue of Military
Comfort Women]', a paper read at the
11 'Eiseigyomu junpo 34 hen [Hygiene
Joint Symposium of the Japan War Data
Duty 10-day Report, 34th edition]' of the
Centre and Han guk chongshindae munje
Konsei dai 14 ryodan shireibu [Mixed 14th
taech'aek hydbuihoe [The Korean Council
Brigade Command Office], September
1932-December 1933. And: 'Gei shogi
for Women Drafted for Military Sexual
Slavery by Japan], in December 1993.
shakufu kenko shindan jisshi yoryo [Outline
of medical check-up plans for geisha, pros- 18 'Shina jihen no keiken yori kan taru gunki
titutes and barmaids]', Konsei dai 14 ryodan shinsaku taisaku [Policy to raise the military
shireibu [Mixed 14th Brigade Command spirit based on the China Incident experi-
Office], cited from an article in the Asahi ence]', Hdjutai honbu [Artillery Unit
Shimbun, 6 December 1992. Headquarters], September 1940.

27
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

19 Kfim Pyongdong, Jiigun ianfu gokuhi taech'aek hyobuihoe [Korean Council for
aliiryO [Top secret material on military Women Drafted for Military Sexual
comfort women)' in Kum Pyongdong Slavery by Japan], 1991.
(ed.), Kaisetsu [Commentary]. Tokyo:
27 United States Offices of War Infor-
Ryokuin Shob5, 1992.
mation, Psychological Warfare Team, 1944.
20 This argument can be traced back to
28 Jiigun ianfu 110 ban [Military Comfort
the Meiji restoration, when the govern-
Women, No. 110]', editedby Ji'tgun ianfu
ment created a law which made it compul-
110 ban henshfi iinkai hen [Editorial
sory for prostitutes to be examined regular-
Committee for the Military Comfort
ly for syphilis.For details (in Korean) see
Women hot-line], 1992.
Yamasida Yongae, Han'guk kundae
kongch 'ang chedo shilshi-e kwanhan yon gu [ 29 Dai- 48 shidan senshi shiryo narabi shusen
Study on the System of State Regulated jokyo [Military History Material of the 48th
Prostitution in Modern Korea], MA disser- Division and the End of the War
tation, Seoul: Ewha Women's University, Condition], 1946.
1991.
30 'Each unit must immediately report
21 For example, see 'Shinajihen no keiken details on opening a comfort station': Dae
yori kan tarn gnnki shinsakn taisaku [Policy 62 shidankai hotei, 17 September 1944.
to raise the military spirit, based on the Also: 'Order: A company must install the
China Incident experience]', Hojtltai honbn temporary facility of a comfort station in a
[Artillery Unit Headquarters], September [specified] house on the 5th of the
1940, and 'Jinchil nisshi [Battlefield Diary]', month': Jinchil nisshi, Yosai kenchiku kinmu
Hohei dai-9 ryodan [9th Infantry Brigade]. dae 6-chiltai [Fortress Construction Duty,
6th Troop], 1-30 June 1944. And: 'Five
22 Jinchil nisshi [Battlefield Diary] ', Hohei
people from and below Yamaguchi gunso
dai41 rentai [41st Infantry Regiment],
of Kanriban rank should start installing the
1-31 July 1938.
facilities forcomfort stations': Jinchil nis-
23 'Ryo shildan tokutvbn geppo [Ryo Group shi, Dai- 62 Shidan fuku kanbu [62nd

Special Duty Section Monthly Report]', Division, Adjutant Section],

April 1940. January-February 1945.

24 For example, see Sangiin yosan iinkai 31 'Those who wish to open comfort sta-
giroku[House of Representatives' Budget tions must apply to the Medical Section of
Minutes] for 8 April 1992. this department': Ryo shildan tokumubu
geppo [Monthly Report, Ryo Group
25 See Fukae Seiko, 'Baishun seido to
Special Duty]', Ryo shildan tokumubu [Ryo
tennosei [Prostitute system and emperor sys-
Group, Special Duty Section], 4 May
tem]' in Suzuki Yuko and Kondo Kazuko
1940.
Onna tennosei, senso [Women, the
(eds),

Emperor System, and War]. Tokyo: 32 '...about an existing comfort station ...
Orijin-senta, 1989. one part must be set apart and managed for
special purposes for the convenience of
26 Japan tried to make Koreans Japanese.
local residents', stated in 'Gaimusho keisat-
They forced them to take Japanese names,
sushi: Shina no bu [Foreign Office Police
to worship the Japanese emperor and for-
History: China Section]', Zai Nanjing soryo
bade them to speak Korean. Japan tried to
jikan [Nanjing Consular Office], 16 April
eliminate Korea as a nation by moving
1938.
Japanese migrants to the Korean peninsula
and expelling Koreans to other countries 33 'Managers must renew their licences
such Manchuria. The case in relation to
as every three months; 50 sen [0.5 yen] for a
comfort women is made by Yun licence, 7 yen for the monthly business
ChSngok, 'Chongshindae, muoshi tax': 'Ryo shildan tokumubu geppo [Monthly
munjein'ga? [Sexual slavery, what is the Report, Ryo Group Special Duty]', Ryo
problem?]' in Chongshindae munje charyojip shildan tokumubu [Ryo Group, Special
[Research Data on Sexual Slavery] 1,12. Duty Section], 4 May 1940.
Seoul: Hanguk chSngshindae munje

28
 Korean Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

34 'Officers must control, supervise and Artillery], 1-30 April 1941; Jinchil nisshi

guide the management of the clubs so that [Battlefield Diary]', Dokuritsu shubi hohei
business can run smoothly and properly.... dai 35 daitai [35th Company, Independent
Medical officers must be responsible for Defence Infantry], 1 Apnl-30June 1942.
sanitation facilities and administrative
. . .

42 Yamasida Yongae, op. cit. (note 20

officers for book keeping...': Gunjin kurabu
above).
riyd kitei [Regulations on the use of
Military Clubs], Nakayama keibitai 43 Ryo shudan tokumubu geppo [Ryo Group
[Nakayama Patrol Unit J], May 1944. See Special Duty Section Monthly Report],
also 'Gunjin kurabugyomu buntamhyo April 1940.
[Military Club Duty Rota Chart]' in
44 Yoshida 'Nanun Choson saramul
Seiji,
Gunjin kurabu ni kan sum kitei [Regulations
irokke chabagatta [ThisIs How I Abducted
on Military Clubs], San Aai 3415 butai
Koreans]', translated into Korean by
[The 3475th Division], December 1944.
Hyondaesa Yon'gushil [The Modern History
35 Aso Tetsuo, Karyiibyo sekkyokuteki Research Institute]. Seoul: Ch'onggye
yobohd [Positive Methods to Prevent Yon'guso, 1989.
Venereal Disease], 26 June 1939.
45 Yoshimi Yoshiaki, Jilgun ianfu to nippon
36 Translated into Korean by Yi Songhui, kokka [Military comfort women and
Chonggun wianbu [Military Comfort Japan]' in Yoshimi Yoshiaki (q<\), Jilgun
Women]. Seoul: Paeksobang, 1991. ianfu shiryoshil [A Collection of Materials
on Military Comfort Women], 34-5.
37 Zairyuhojin tdkei, 1939, and a medical
Tokyo: Otsuki shoten, 1992.
report which states '35 out of 38 women
were Koreans' in '
Gei shogi shakufu kenkd 46 '...zhi shou da riji mi [Expense
shindan jisshi yoryo [Outline of medical Account, Great Diary Secret]', 4 March
check-up plans for geisha, prostitutes and 1938.
barmaids]', Konsei dai 14 ryodan shirebu
47 See, for example, Shina jihen ni sai shi
[Mixed 14th Brigade Command Office],
hojin no toshi seigen narabi torishimari kankei
cited in the Asahi Shimbun, 6 December
zantei shori yobo [The China Incident and
1992.
on People Crossing to
Japan's Limits
'

38 For example, Fukukan godo jisshi no ken China, and an Outline of the Temporary
[On the Joint Practices of Adjutants]', Treatment of People Related to
Shina haken gunso shireibu [General Management], May 1940.
Command Office, Dispatched to China],
48 'The rules on the use of military com-
October 1942; 'Gokuhi Showa 18 nen nigat-
fort stations should be strictly followed',
su eisei gyomu yobo [Top Secret Hygiene
stated in Jinchil nisshi [Battlefield Diary]',
Duty Report, Showa 18th year]', Nanjing
Dokuritsu konsei hei dai 15 rentai honbu
Dai 15 Shidan Gunibu [Nanjing, 15th
[15th Regiment Headquarters,
Division Military Medical Section].
Independent Mixed Army], 1-31 October
39 For example, 'Dai 14 gun kenpeitai gunji 1945.
keisatsu geppo [14th Military Police Unit,
49 Jinchil nisshi [Battlefield Diary]',
Military Affairs and Police Monthly
Dokuritsu konsei hei dai 15 rentai honbu
Report]', Takurobaso kenpei buntai, Begia
[15th Regiment Headquarters, Indepen-
Buntai [Takurobaso Military Police Unit,
Begio Squad], 1943.
dent Mixed Army], 1-31 January 1945.

40 For example, Jilgun ianfu 110 ban

50 A May 1938 entry in 'Iansho shiyo kitei
[Rules on the Use of Comfort Stations]',
[Military Comfort Women, No. 110]',
Dokuritsu kdjqjit pohei dai 2 daitai [2nd
Jilgun ianfu 110 ban henshil iinkai hen
[Editorial Committee for the Military
Company, Independent Assault Artillery]

Comfort Women hot-line], 1992.

states: 'Sunday for the hoshi unit, Monday
for the kuriiwa unit, Wednesday for the
41 For example, Jinchil nisshi [Battlefield matsumura unit ... separate instructions will
Diary]', Dokuritsu sanpo hei dai 3 rentai [3rd be given to other units stationed here on a
Regiment, Independent Mountain temporary basis.'

29
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

51 Jinchu nisshi [Battlefield Diary]', those using them in places other than com-
Dokuritsu san pdhei dai 3 rental [3rd fort stations, and for those who might
Regiment, Independent Mountain cause trouble in places other than military
1-30 April 1941.
Artillery], comfort stations': Showa 11 nen riku shi
mitsu dai nikki [Showa, 17th year, Army
52 Jinchu nisshi (Battlefield Diary]',
Secret Diary], Volume 39, Rikugunsho
Dokuritsu shubi hohei dai 35 daitai [35th
[Army Office].
Company, Independent Defence Infantry],
1 April-30June 1942. 59 For example, 'Iansho kitei sdfu no ken
[Concerning Comfort Station
53 Jugun ianfu 110 ban [Military Comfort
Regulations]', Gunsei hanbu Bisaya shibu
Women, No. \\0]\ Jilgun ianfu 110 ban
Iroiro shutchdjo [Military Authority, Bisaya
henshu iikai hen [Editorial Committee for
Department, Iroiro Branch Office],
the Military Comfort Women hot-line],
November 1942; 'Gunjin kurabu ni kan sum
1992.
kitei [Regulations on Military Clubs]', San
54 'Jinchu nisshi [Battlefield Diary]', dai3475 butai [The 3475th Division],
Dokuritsu shubi hohei dai 35 daitai [35th December 1944.
Company, Independent Defence Infantry],
60 For example, 'Sinji junpo [Wartime 10-
1 April-30June 1942.
day Report]', Nami shudan [Nami
55 'A ticket system must be applied to pre- Command Office], 10-20 April 1939;
vent confusion': Dai 2 gun jokyo gaiyo 'Gokuhi Showa 18 nen nigatsu eisei gyomu

[Outline of the 2nd Army Situation], 2 yobo [Top Secret, February Showa 17th-
shireibu [2 A Command Office], 10 year Hygiene Duty Report]', Nanjing dai
December 1938. 15 shidan Kunibu [Nanjing 15th Division,
Military Medical Section]; 'Shinajihen dai
56 'Jinchu nisshi [Battlefield Diary]',
8 kai koseki gaiken hyoso [The China
Dokuritsu kojoju pohei dai 2 daitai dai 2
Incident, 8th Merits Table], Kaigun buko
chutai [2nd Company, Independent Assault
chosa [Navy Military Merits Investigation],
Artillery], 1 January-30 April 1938.
Tokusetsu butai, Tokusetsu kansen [Special
57 'Iansho shiyo kitei [Rules on the Use of Unit, Special Fleet], April-November
Comfort Stations]', Dokuritsu kojoju pohei 1940.
dai 2 daitai [2nd Company, Independent
61 For example, see Aso Tetsuo, op. cit.
March 1938; Joho junpo
Assault Artillery],
(note 35 above).
[10-day Information Report]', Dokuritsu
shubi hohei dai 35 daitai [35th Company, 62 Gunjin kurabu
'
ni kan sum kitei

Independent Defence Infantry], December [Regulations on Military Clubs]', San dai

1942; 'Shinajihen dai 8 kai koseki gaiken 3475 butai [The 3475th Division],
hyoso [The China Incident, 8th Merits December 1944.
Table], Kaigun buko chosa [Navy Military
63 Yun Chongok, op. cit. (note 26 above).
Merits Investigation]' in Tokusetsu butai,
Tokusetsu kansen [Special Unit, Special 64 Yi Sanghwa, Kununanbu kyonghom-e
Fleet], April-November 1940. kwanhan yon'gu: Kyorhon kwajongeso
nat'ananun inshik pyonhwariil chungshimilro
58 'Condoms will be distributed by the
[A Study on the Life of Military Comfort
unit responsible for welfare facilities...':
Women: Changes of Understanding and
Dai 62 Shidanka Hotei, 2 October 1944.
Also: 'Until now, the army has distributed
Their Marriage], MA dissertation, Seoul:
Seoul Ehwa University, 1993.
condoms to soldiers every two months.
Now the managers will be responsible for 65 This is argued by Kum Pyongdong, op.
this for the following reasons: for soldiers cit. (note 19 above).
who do not bring their own condoms, for
Survivors Tell
Their Stories
CHAPTER 3

Bitter Memories
I Am Loath To Recall
Kim Haksun

Kim Haksun was bom in 1924, injilin, China. When she was three
months old her father died, and she returned with her mother to

Pyongyang, in present-day North Korea. After her mother's second mar-

riage, she was put into foster care, and entered a kisaeng (entertainment
girl) training course when she was 15. After graduating two years later,

she was considered too young to be a kisaeng, and crossed back to China.
Immediately after her arrival in Beijing she was forcibly taken to a mili-

tary unit, and began the life of a comfort woman.

Childhood
I was born in Jilin, Manchuria. My mother told me she had married my

father when she was 15, and they lived in P'yongyang before moving to
China, fed up with continual harassment from the Japanese occupation
forces. My mother gave birth to me in 1924, and she told me that my

father died before I was three months old: what caused his death I cannot
say for sure. My mother, a woman alone and friendless in a foreign land,
found it difficult to survive. She returned to P'yongyang with her two-
year-old daughter.
Back in P'yongyang with a small child, she was forced to resort to beg-
ging from her brothers and sisters to live. Maybe because she had nobody
to rely on, she attended church faithfully and regularly. I can still remem-
ber going to church with her when I was litde. I liked it, because I

enjoyed the singing and our pastor was very friendly. I was constandy
told off by my mother for being stubborn and disobedient. Whenever I
paid no attention to what she said, she would bewail her misfortune,
telling me: 'You finished off your father' or 'Your father was nothing but
trouble and heartache when he was alive - has he passed his character on
to you?'
In P'yongyang I attended a missionary school which charged no fees. I

32
 Kim Haksun

went for about four years, until I was eleven. I enjoyed lessons, sports and
playing with friends. I was good at running and often won relay races.

Throughout my life, the memories of those years have remained dear.

I recall them fondly. I was able to learn when I wanted to learn; I was

able to play when I wanted to play. In my early years, my mother did all
sorts of work. She was a domestic help, a farmhand and a washerwoman,

often leaving home early with a packed lunch. But by the time I started
school she had hired a machine that could make woollen socks and she
stayed at home knitting. I used to help her when I came home from
school.
During the year in which I turned 14, my mother remarried. My step-
father came with a son and a daughter — both of whom were older than
myself. The son was about 20 and the daughter 16, but before long the
daughter married and left home. I didn't like living with a stepfather, but
I got on well with his son. I had been so used to living alone with my
mother that I found it difficult to have a man around. I couldn't call him
'father' and I avoided him as much as possible. I became detached from
my mother and eventually rebelled. I drifted away. She sent me as a fos-
ter-child to a family who trained kisaeng, entertainment girls who sing,
dance and generally serve men. I was 15. She sent me to the family, and
I was accepted after I sang in a sort of audition. I remember how my
mother made a contract with the foster father, taking 40 yen and agree-
1

ing that I should live with them for a certain number of years. Staying at

home had become so uncomfortable, and I hated it so much, I felt

relieved to be able to leave.

My home was 133 KySngje village, P'yongyang. There was
foster

another who had been taken in a little earlier. I was given a

girl there
new name, Kumhwa, and I began to attend the kisaeng academy
(kwonbon) with the other girl. The academy was a two-storey building
with a large sign outside. It had about 300 pupils. We attended for two
years and learned to dance, and to sing, pansori ('epic storytelling'
through song) and shijo (short sung poems). When a girl received her
graduation certificate she could go into business as a qualified kisaeng.

But she had to be 19 before the local authority would issue a licence. I

was only 17, so I was not allowed to go into business. My foster father
took me from place to place, trying his utmost to obtain a licence for me.
I looked older and more mature than my real age, so he lied about me,

but the authorities knew the truth and refused to grant me a licence.

1 In the interviews, many women refer to the Korean currency, won. Yen was the cur-

rency during the occupation; hence currency mentioned in the text is referred to as yen,
divided into 100 chon.

33
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Unable to earn money from me and the other girl in Korea, he

thought we would find business if we went northwards to China. So we
left. The year was 1941, and was 17. Before we left, my foster father
I

contacted my mother and asked her for permission to take me abroad.

My mother came to P'yongyang station, gave me a yellow cardigan as a
leaving present and saw me off. We boarded a train and went to
Shinuiju. We were to continue to Shanhaiguan by crossing the Andong
river, but the Japanese military police stopped our foster father. They
inspected his documents and took him into the police check-point for a
few hours. We waited. When he returned, we continued our journey for
several days. Sometimes we would spend the night on the train, and
sometimes we would stay in guest-houses. We went as far as Beijing,
because our foster father had heard that business there was very good.
When we finally arrived, we had lunch in a restaurant. We were about to
leave when a Japanese soldier beckoned our foster father over. He was a
military officer with two stars on his lapel and he asked if we were Koreans.
Our foster father explained that we were indeed from Korea and that we
had come to China to find work. The officer retorted that we could have
stayed in Korea if we had just wanted money, and led him away, saying
'You must be a spy, come with me'. My friend and I were busded away by
other soldiers. We were led along a back street and came to a place where
an open truck was parked. There were about 40 or 50 soldiers on board.
They told us to jump on and, when we resisted, they lifted us into the mass
of soldiers. After a few minutes the officer who had taken our foster father

off returned, and the truck immediately sped off. The officer sat next to the

driver. Crouched in a corner at the back of the truck we wept, shocked at

what had just happened. We were terrified. Some minutes later we noticed
another truck, just like ours, following us.

We had been seized in the afternoon, and our journey continued

through the night. As we travelled, when shooting was heard everyone
got off and crouched underneath the truck. We were given balls of
cooked rice for food. Some soldiers tried to give us biscuits, but we were
so frightened we didn't even look at what was being offered. At dusk the
next day we all got down, and some of the soldiers took us to a house.
Later we found out that it was empty, that it had been abandoned by
fleeing Chinese.
It was dark. We weren't aware of what was going on and couldn't
even guess where we were. My friend and I were sent into a room,
where we sat and looked at each other. We had no idea what was going
to happen. A little later, the officer who had taken our foster father away
came in. He began to take me to an adjacent room, divided only by a
curtain. I was scared to be alone, and resisted. He dragged me off and

34
 Kim Haksun

held me close to him, trying to take my clothes off at the same time. I

struggled, but in the end my clothes were all torn away. He took my vir-
ginity. During the night he raped me twice.

The following morning he left while it was still dark. I managed to

cover myself with my torn clothes, but as he left he told me I would
that

be no longer be able to wear such clothes. I wept. I lifted the curtain to

see if my friend was still there. A soldier in a brown uniform was lying

fast asleep. My friend was weeping; she like me had covered her body
with her torn clothing. I was shocked and dropped the curtain. When

day dawned, and after the soldier had left her, my friend came over. We
wept aloud, cuddling each other. She said she had been beaten when she
tried to resist. I had been so occupied fighting off the officer that I hadn't
been aware what had been going on beyond the flimsy curtain.

My Hateful Life as a Comfort Woman

We heard women's voices outside. They were speaking Korean. One
opened the door and came in. She asked us how we had got there. My
friend told her about our journey. She said: 'Now that you're here there
isn't much you can do. There is no way you can run away. You'll have
to stay and accept your fate.' Later, soldiers brought wooden beds into
our curtained room. We were allocated one portion each, and our lives

as comfort women began.

The house was built of red brick and had two entrances. Right next to
it was a military unit, and sometime later we were told by the soldiers that

the place was called Tiebizhen. The village had originally been Chinese
but, perhaps because a Japanese military unit had long been stationed
there, we never saw a single Chinese person. There were five women in
the house. They all had Japanese names. Sizue, at 22, was the oldest.

Miyako and Sadako said they were 19 years old. Sizue gave us Japanese
names: I was called Aiko, my friend Emiko. The soldiers brought us rice

and other groceries, and we took turns to cook. Since I was the youngest
I had to do much more cooking and washing-up than the others. If I

asked the soldiers for some cooked rice from time to time, they would
bring me the rice and soup that they had prepared to eat themselves.
2

They also smuggled us occasional dry biscuits. We wore a sort of cotton

underwear that had been discarded by the soldiers. Sometimes they would

2 The staple Korean diet and soup complemented by vegetables, or occasionally

is rice
fish or meat side dishes. GlutinousAnnam rice and a soup made with yellow bean/soya
bean paste are typical foods. Japanese rice balls and m/so soup are mentioned regularly in
the interviews. The most famous side dish in Korea is fermented Chinese cabbage,
himch'i, but pickled radish, in either Korean or Japanese varieties, seems to have been a
more common accompaniment.

35
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

bring us clothes raided from Chinese houses. Sizue spoke very good
Japanese, and mainly entertained officers. Miyako and Sadako, on the
grounds that they had been there long before us, sent us the rough soldiers

they didn't want to deal with. I didn't like their haughty attitude, because
I thought we all shared the same fate, so I kept my distance. Sizue said she

had come from Seoul, but not being very close to Miyako and Sadako I

had no where they came from nor how they had got there.
idea
There were five rooms in the house. Each had a bed, blankets and a
basin by the door. Sizue gave us bottles of an antiseptic solution, which
went pink when diluted and we were told to wash ourselves with it after
serving a soldier. There was no one to manage us direcdy, but as the unit
was right next door we were checked if we tried to go out. We couldn't
venture out and we had nowhere to go. When the soldiers came to the
house they went to whatever room they wanted. When I had been there
about a month, I began to realize that the same men kept coming back,
and that there were no new soldiers. We thought that we had been
allocated for just these soldiers.
The went out on punitive expeditions. They would go
soldiers often

out away
at night, stay three or four days, and return in the early hours of
the morning, singing as they marched. When they came back, we had to
be up early to meet them. Usually they would come to us in the after-
noon, but when they had been out they came in the early morning. On
such days we had to serve seven or eight men a day. When they came in
the afternoon, each would stay about half an hour. When, more infre-
quendy, they happened to come in the evening, they were often drunk
and bothered us by asking us to sing or dance. On such occasions, I
would try to get out to the backyard to avoid them. But if they found me
there they would treat me even more roughly.
Because the soldiers chose which rooms they fancied, each of us had
regular customers. They varied in the way they treated us: while one sol-
dier was so rough as to drive me to utter despair, another would be quite
gentle. There was one who ordered me to suck him off, while he held
my head between his legs. There was another who insisted that I wash
him after intercourse. I was often disgusted by their requests, but if I
resisted they would beat me until I gave in. They brought their own

condoms: we weren't allowed to keep any. Once a week, a military sur-

geon visited us with an assistant and gave us routine check-ups. If he was
busy he would sometimes miss a visit. Whenever he was due, we gave
ourselves a thorough scrubbing with the antiseptic solution. If he
checked us and found anything even slighdy wrong, he would inject us
with 'No. 606'. If we burped after an injection, a strong smell would
trace itself upwards to our nostrils, making us feel sick.

36
 Kim Haksun

When our menstruation was due we used cotton wool obtained from
the surgeon. We had to serve soldiers during our periods. We tried to

avoid them at this time, but they just forced their way in and there was
nothing we could do to stop them. We had to make small cotton wool
balls and insert them deep inside our wombs so that no blood leaked out.
When we didn't have enough cotton we had to cut cloth into small strips
and roll this up to use instead.
It seemed to us that the soldiers received special permission to visit. At
first I didn't know whether they paid for our services or not, but later I

heard from Sizue that the rank and file paid 1.5 yen a visit and the offi-

cers 8 yen to stay the whole who received the money. All
night. I asked
she replied was that we were the ones who should be paid. never I

received any money all the time was a comfort woman. don't know
I I

what Sizue knew to make her say such things.

During the mornings when the soldiers didn't come, we used to spend
our time washing clothes or talking to each other. But by nature am not I

docile, and my head was full of ideas about ways to escape. Because of
this, I on too well with the others except for my friend, Emiko.
didn't get
One morning as we were having breakfast, a soldier rushed in and told
us to pack quickly. He kept calling us to hurry out and get on a truck,
rushing us. We left in a great hurry, not knowing what was happening. I
had only been there about two months. There were two trucks waiting,
already filled with soldiers, and the officer was on horseback, with a long
sword at his side. Before evening we got to a new place. It wasn't too far
away, but seemed to be more remote, further out in the countryside.
From here, we could hear much more shooting than previously. The
house was smaller, and the rooms were divided by walls, not curtains.
Our lives continued without much change, except that there seemed
to be fewer soldiers who came. The surgeon hardly bothered with us.

The soldiers went on more frequent expeditions and some brought us

bottles of alcohol on their return when they visited us. Life seemed more
bleak than before. I continued to look for ways to escape. Emiko and I

discussed many different possibilities, but because we didn't know any-

thing about the area where we were held we would have been lost if we
had ever got away. We promised each other to escape together when an
appropriate opportunity came.

Escape
I had been in the new house just over a month when a Korean man in

his forties came into my room. No one except a soldier was allowed to

come to the house. But he said that he had heard there were Korean
women there and had managed to furtively find his way in, avoiding the

37
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

watchful eye of the guard. The soldiers were away on an expedition at

the time. He claimed he was a silver coin pedlar. With a mind half-glad
and half-apprehensive, I asked him to take me with him when he left.
Japanese or Korean, men all seem to be the same. He, too, satisfied his
desires with me and then tried to leave. But I clung to him and begged
him to take me with him. I threatened that if he left without me I would
scream. All this wrangling went on in hushed voices so that Emiko in the
next room couldn't hear. I was afraid that if she did hear us and wanted
to come along, we would be seen trying to flee. He asked me how old I

was, and how I had been brought there. He said he travelled all over
China, never settling in any one place, and that it would be very hard
and possibly dangerous to accompany him. I pleaded. Even if I died or he
abandoned me I wouldn't mind, I said, as long as he got me out of that
place.
I cannot remember the exact time, but it must have been around two
or three in the morning when we escaped from the comfort station
together. what litde I possessed and came out with empty hands. I
I left

was so scared that I cannot remember how we passed the guard and the
military unit. Even though the soldiers were supposed to be out on expe-
dition, there must have been a few guards stationed at the unit. Heaven

must have helped us avoid their eyes.

Four months had passed since I had been captured in Beijing by the
time I escaped. Summer had ended, and it was early autumn. We walked
for a while until my accomplice discovered a house that had been desert-
ed by its Chinese owners. He went in and found some clothes for me to
put on. He knew his way around and could easily find empty houses. He
spoke very good Chinese and at times he successfully pretended to be
Chinese. Not only did I speak no Chinese but I was in constant fear of
being arrested. So I followed him wherever he went. He introduced me
as his wife. He said he had studied at Kwangsong High School in
P'yongyang, and gave homehis address as Namhyongjesan district,
Taedong county, P'yongyang. He he had a son at home. He also
said
spoke and wrote Japanese. I suggested we should return to P'yongyang,
but he replied that he could not go back. He gave no reason. He seemed
to l:now every nook and cranny of China. We travelled to Suzhou,
Beijing, Nanjing and elsewhere. I could never make out exacdy what his

business was, but could only assume that he was a sort of middleman,
delivering opium for the Chinese.
In the winter of 1942, when I was 18, I became pregnant. He decided
we should setde down in one place to have the baby, and he chose
Shanghai. We crossed the river Huangpu, and setded in the French
judicial district. There were consular offices there from 53 different

38
 Kim Haksun

countries. Wewent to that district because it was said that the Japanese
and were easy military targets for attacks. A year later, on
British districts
20 September by the lunar calendar, I gave birth to our first child. It was
a girl. Later, in 1945, when I was 21, I gave birth to a boy. Both children

were born in Shanghai. We managed a pawn shop called Songjong. Our

financial capital was provided by a Chinese man, and in effect we just ran

the business for him. Sometimes we lent money out, and the profits were
divided 50/50 with the investor. The business went reasonably well.

Home and Misery

After Korea was liberated in 1945, Yu Ilp'yong, the head of the Korean
residents in Shanghai, told us to board a ship to take us home. In June
1946, we boarded and returned to Korea. The ship was with two
large,

decks, and carried the Liberation Army on board. The fare was 1000
w5n for adults and 500 won for children, so the four of us paid 3000
won altogether. We arrived at Inch'Sn but, due to an outbreak of
cholera, we couldn't disembark. We had to remain on the ship for a fur-
ther 26 days. After that we stayed in a refugee camp in Changch'ung-
dong, Seoul for three months. It was there that our daughter died of
cholera. As winter drew on, my husband went around his acquaintances

trying to find us a room to rent. He managed to find space at the house

of a friend, and in October we left the camp.
I sold vegetables while my husband worked on a construction site to

make a living. From 1953, after the Korean War ended, he ran a scriven-
er's office and served as a local community head. He also delivered

groceries to a military unit. One day after he had gone out to have the
groceries inspected before delivery, I was called and told that the building
had collapsed where he was working. I rushed over and found the roof of
the building had fallen in as a result of the heavy rain of the previous
days. Quite a number of people had been hit, and some had died. Some
were covered in blood and could only breathe with great difficulty. My
husband was moved to the Red Cross Hospital, but he died within a
couple of months.
I living with this man who had supposedly been
had suffered so much,
my husband. When he was drunk and aggressive, because he knew that I

had been a comfort woman, he would insult me with words that had cut
me to the heart. After we had returned to Korea hadn't wanted him to I

come near me. My life seemed to be wretched. I had refused to do as I

was told and I had received more and more abuse from him. When he
called me of my son, cursed him.
a dirty bitch or a prostitute in front I

Now, though, once my husband was cremated, my son and lived alone. I

He had tortured me mentally so much that did not miss him a lot.
I I

39
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

began to buy underwear from factories and sell it to shops around the
country, travelling as far afield as Kangwon province. Whenever I trav-

elled to the provinces, I had to stay away from home several days, so I

took in a girl from a poor family in Sokch'o to help. When my son was
in the fourth grade of primary school to show him the sea, so I
I wanted
took him back with me to Sokch'o during the summer vacation. He suf-
fered a heart attack and died while swimming in the sea. I hadn't been
blessed with good parents, I had been unfortunate with my husband and
children. Now I lost all my will to live.
I determined to end my life. I tried to take drugs several times, but I

didn't die. In 1961, moved down to Cholla province. I had no definite

I

plans, and didn't know what I would do. For roughly 20 years I did all
kinds of hard work, drinking and smoking away anything that I earned.
Then I began to reflect upon my miserable, wandering life. Yes, I would
die when my time came, but in the meantime I realized that there was no
need for me to squander my life so pitifully . So I returned to Seoul. A
friend from Cholla found me work as a a domestic help, and I stayed
with one family for seven years. But my heart was weak and the work
tired me out, so I left them in 1987. With the money I had saved over
the years I rented the room where I live today.

I became involved in a job creation project through the local govern-

ment office. While on met an elderly woman who had
this project I

been a victim of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. I harboured a con-

siderable grudge against the Japanese, and my whole life had been loath-
some and abhorrent, largely because of them. I had been wanting to talk
to someone about my past for a long time, and I told this woman that I
had once been a comfort woman. Since then I have been called to speak
in many different places, because I was the first of the comfort women
witnesses to come forward. I find it very painful to recall my memories.
Why haven't I been able to lead a normal life, free from shame, like other

people? When I look at old women, I compare myself to them, thinking

that I cannot be like them. I feel I could tear apart, limb by limb, those
who took away my innocence and made me as I am. Yet how can I

appease my bitterness? Now I don't want to disturb my memories any

further. Once I am dead and gone, I wonder whether the Korean or
Japanese governments will pay any attention to the miserable life of a

woman like me.

40
CHAPTER 4

IHave Much to Say

to the Korean Government
KimTdkchin

Kim Tokchin was born in 1921. in South Kyongsang province where her ,

whole family lived at an uncle's house farming the land hut

,
scarcely mak-
ing a living. After her father had been arrested and beaten to death by the

Japanese police it became harder than ever to survive. In 1937, when she
was 11 and working as a domestic help, she heard that a factory in Japan

was recruiting workers. She left the country, only to become a comfort

woman. She returned to Korea in 1940 with the help of a Japanese officer.

Escape from Poverty

I was born in Taeui district, Uiryong, South Kyongsang province,
1

in
1921. My family owned no land that they could till, and they found it
extremely difficult to live. So we went to my uncle's home — he was the
older brother of my father. He made a living making bamboo baskets in
P'yongch'on village, Samjang district, Sanch'ong county at the foot of
Chiri mountain. There, my father began to cultivate tobacco. We gath-
ered mushrooms and wild vegetables on the mountainside, some of
which we ate ourselves and some of which we exchanged for rice or cash
at the local market. Tobacco was a government monopoly. The leaves

which my father grew were sold to the state, and my father received only
a small amount of money. After the main crop was harvested, new shoots

sprang up from the tobacco stalks and he would dry these small leaves
and smoke them himself. He continued to put the dried leaves aside until
he was caught by the Japanese police. He was taken to the police station
and subjected to a heavy beating. As a result of this, he took to his bed
and eventually died.

1 Throughout the following translation conventions have been used to cite

text, the
addresses: 'village' for and maul, 'ward' for tong/-dong in a city or township, 'township'
ri

for tip, 'district' for mydn, 'county' for kun and 'province' for to/-do.

41
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Mother had to carry on life with the five of us - two elder brothers,
one elder sister, one younger a living was not
sister and myself. Making
easy by any means. We were desperate for food. We dug up the roots of
trees to eat, and my mother would work on a treadmill all day to bring

back a few husks of grains as payment which we would boil with dried
vegetables for our supper. Those who flattered the Japanese were able to
get help from them; they might get rubber shoes. But those who kept
firmly apart were forced into extreme poverty.
My sister-in-law and I would dry and store the leaves from bean and
pea plants and boil them for winter food. My big brother had gone to
China to earn some money, but his wife was staying with us. As I ate
watery rice and barley gruel, I began to realize that we would all die of

starvation. If I left home and found work, though, I thought that not
only would there be one less mouth to feed but I could earn some
money. So I decided to leave to find work as a domestic help. At that
time, a neighbourhood friend came home for a short holiday. We had
often gone to the mountains to collect wild vegetables together when we
were younger, but she had left to get a job with a wealthy family in
Chinju. She introduced me to the family of a bank clerk. I was twelve.
The family consisted of a large household with five children and six
adults, but the lady of the house was a spiteful woman who gave me a

hard time. There were times when, having washed up all the supper
dishes, I had to keep going back and forth to the well some two kilome-
tres away I would continue doing this until one or two in
to fetch water.
the morning. Words cannot express the pain I endured. Several years
passed. I was 15 before they began to pay me the small sum that they had
until then said I was too young to receive. I saved up the money, and a
year later bought some fabric to make a dress for my mother and beans to
make soy sauce. made my way home. During the years I had been away
I

my family had moved to an old house in Samga district, Hapch'on coun-

ty,where my aunt lived and cultivated a small rice field. I began to help
my mother with the housework and the collection of wild vegetables as
before, but then I heard a rumour that one could earn money in Japan.
It was the middle of January or perhaps a little later, say the beginning
of February 1937. I was 17 years old. I heard girls were being recruited

with promises of work in Japan. It was said that a few had been recruited
not long before from P'yongch'on where we had lived with my uncle. I

wished that at that time I had been able to go with them, but then I sud-
denly heard a Korean man was in the area again recruiting more girls to

work in the Japanese factories. I went to P'yongch'on to meet him and

promised him I would go to Japan to work. He gave me the time and
place of my departure and I returned home to ready myself to leave. In

42
 Kim Tokchin

those days people were rather simple, and I, having had no education,
didn't know anything of the world. All I knew - all I thought I knew -
was that I was going to work in a factory to earn money. I never dreamed
that this could involve danger.
On the day set for my departure, I went to the bus stop in Uiryong as

I had been instructed to do. The man who had come to recruit us was
there, and he took 30 of us to Pusan. Some were older, some were
younger than me, and some were married with children. The married
women told me that their husbands were already in Japan. We were all to
stay together until our return to Korea. An empty coach came to
Uiryong, and our party, but nobody else, boarded it. We were on our
way. As we crossed Chongam Bridge, we held on to each other and
wept: 'Goodbye, Chongam Bridge, goodbye until we return with
money lining our pockets.' Soon we became very close, calling each
other sisters. I belonged to the younger group, where there was a girl

three years older than me. She was an orphan, and had been working as

a housemaid. She, like me, wanted to go to Japan to make money. Later

on, after we had returned to Korea, I bumped into her on the street one
day and we stayed in touch until the Korean War.
We arrived at Kunbuk station and transferred to a train. It was a pub-
lic slow train, and travelled slowly down to Pusan, where we boarded a

boat. The man who had brought us this far left us, and a Korean couple
who said their home was in Shanghai took charge of us. The boat was
huge. It had many decks, and we had to climb down many flights of
stairs, right to the bottom of the boat to find our bunks. It was a ferry and
took many other passengers. The crew brought us bread and water, and
we sailed to Nagasaki. At Nagasaki, a vehicle resembling a bus came and
took us to a guest-house. From that moment on we were watched by
soldiers. I asked one of them: 'Why are you keeping us here? What kind
of work are we going to do?' He simply replied that he only followed
orders. On the first night there I was dragged before a high-ranking
soldier and raped. He had a pistol. I was frightened at seeing myself bleed
and I tried to run away. He patted my back and said that would have I to
go through this experience whether I liked it or not, but that after a few

times would not feel so much pain.

I We were taken here and there to
the rooms of different high-ranking officers on a nightly basis. Every
night we were raped. On the fifth day, I asked one of the soldiers: 'Why
are you taking us from room to room to different men? What is our
work? Is it just going to bed with different men?' He replied: 'You will
go wherever orders take you. And you will know what your job is when
you get there.' We left Nagasaki after a week of this gruelling ordeal.
Led by our Korean guides, we boarded another boat for Shanghai.

43
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

This was even larger than the ferry we had taken from Pusan. It was as

big as a mountain, and we had to take a small boat to reach this huge
monster floating out at sea. We climbed on to the boat holding its iron
rails. There were soldiers as well as civilians on board. We walked down
some stairs to a huge room that looked like a deserted field. If you looked
from where you lay you could see endless rows of people lying on the
floor. We travelled for a few days then disembarked at what we were told
was Shanghai.

Moving With the Troops

There was a truck waiting for us at the pier, which whisked us away.
There were no rail tracks, and no buses or taxis to be seen. We passed
through disordered streets and arrived in a suburban area. There was a

large house right beside an army unit, and we were to be accommodated

there. The house was pretty much derelict and inside was divided into
many small rooms. There were two Japanese women and about 20
Koreans there, so with the 30 of us who had arrived from Uiryong there
were about 50 women in total. The two Japanese were said to have
come from brothels. They were 27 or 28, about ten years older than all
the Koreans. The soldiers preferred us Korean girls, saying we were
cleaner. Those who had arrived before us came from the south-western
provinces of Ch5lla and the central provinces of Ch'ungch'ong and were
of similar age to us. Those of us who had travelled together kept our-
selves very much to ourselves. I was called 'Lanchang' there. From the 50
of us, excluding thosewho were ill or had other reasons, 35 girls on aver-
age worked each day.
The big house was divided by wooden panels into a lot of small
rooms, each just big enough for one person to lie down in. There was a
bed in each cubicle, and we spent most of our time incarcerated. There
was a separate dining room. It was a single-storey building, and on the
gate was a sign saying 'Comfort Station'. The Korean man who brought
us there seemed to be the owner, but Japanese soldiers came and inspect-
ed what we ate and checked whether the house was clean. Several times,
we were moved to different front lines with the troops, finally spending
time in Nanjing before we returned home to Korea. The comfort station
we were in didn't belong directly to the army. So, when the troops
moved to a new place the comfort station along with us women would
follow shortly afterwards. Sometimes we went by boat, and sometimes
we went by truck but we never moved with the troops. The comfort sta-
tion was always positioned in a remote place, usually avoiding built-up
areas such as cities, and our living conditions were practically the same
wherever we went. As a result of the war that was going on conditions

44
 Kim Tokchin

around us were tragic. We heard guns firing every day. There were bod-
ies lying all over the place, and dogs would drag corpses around. We
wore skirts and blouses of the sort that are quite common today, but we
were also given heavier clothes for winter.
We rose at seven in the morning, washed and took breakfast in turns.
Then from about 9 o'clock the soldiers began to arrive and form orderly
lines. From 6 o'clock in the evening high-ranking officers came, some of
whom stayed overnight. Each of us had to serve an average of 30 to 40
men each day, and we often had no time to sleep. When there was a bat-

de, the number of soldiers who came declined. In each room there was a
box of condoms which the soldiers used. There were some who refused
to use them, but more than half put them on without complaining. I told
those who would not use them that I had a terrible disease, and it would
be wise for them to use a condom if they didn't want to catch it. Quite a
few would rush straight to penetration without condoms, saying they
couldn't care less if they caught any diseases since they were likely to die
on the battlefield at any moment. On such occasions I was terrified that I
might actually catch venereal disease. After one use, we threw the con-
doms away; plenty were provided.
About once every two months, an army surgeon gave us check-ups. If
any of us had a problem, she was ordered to rest for a few days. We had
to go to the army hospital for check-ups, and while we were in Shanghai
we saw many women like us who were kept at other comfort stations.
We even saw Chinese women standing in the queues. You could tell
them, since they had unusual and large earrings and they dressed differ-
ently from the Koreans and Japanese. One person who ran errands at the
comfort station said thatmany Chinese ran away or committed suicide
when they were captured as comfort women. At the hospital, there was
an examination table on which we were made to lie with our legs spread
wide apart. The surgeon would insert an instrument that looked like a
trumpet or a duck's beak and with this he examined us. If we had any
disease we would be given the 'No. 606' injection, but I was never diag-
nosed as needing such an injection. Yet, even though I had no venereal
disease, I had to have treatment, because I kept bleeding and couldn't
pass water. Perhapsit was a bladder infection. There were some women

whose vaginas were so swollen and were bleeding so profusely that there
was no space for a needle to be inserted inside. How could one expect
when an innocent girl was subjected to such
anything to be otherwise
and night? None of us had children, but I heard that some
torture day
became pregnant and were forced to abort with an injection or drugs.
Even though I had no disease, I was told at a recent check-up that my
womb is malformed from the abuse it received in my youth.
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

When I was in pain and distressed I tried to die, but I couldn't. I

thought of jumping into the jumping down from a high place or

river,

running into a car, but I never managed to do anything remotely like

this. Whenever I was in such a sombre mood, I missed my mother

gready. And, even though I wanted to run away, it wasn't possible

since I didn't know the area where I was being held. So I gave up any
hope and I didn't rebel. I was so scared that I did whatever I was told to,
and I would even have pretended to die if I had been told to do so.
Maybe because of this, the soldiers didn't treat me as cruelly as they could
have done.
Among us, there were some who fought against the men. Some were
accused of stealing, some tried to escape only to be dragged back. Some
were beaten and kicked by the soldiers. But I don't remember being hit,

slapped or cursed. Soldiers who returned from the battlefield were wild.
They would try not to use condoms. Their faces, their clothes and shoes,
were all covered with The soldiers who were about to leave for
dust.

combat were somewhat more gende and a few of them would give us
their loose change, saying it wouldn't be of any use to them if they died.
There were even some who wept, they were so scared to go to fight. I
would comfort them and tell them to come back safely from the battle.
When any returned alive, I would be genuinely glad to see them again. I
acquired quite a few regular customers, and one or two confessed their
love to me and even proposed.
Whenever they came, the soldiers gave us a small ticket which looked
just like the pensioner's card today. We collected these tickets and gave
them to the manager, who recorded them in his notebook each day. He
promised to improve our conditions once Japan won the war, but we
received no wages. I even prayed for Japan to win the war, thinking we
would be paid when there was peace. The manager provided us with
clothes, cosmetics and food, all free of charge. But he said he would
deduct the sums we owed him from the promised final lump payments.
If we needed anything we asked him to buy it when he went to the

market, and he was very obliging. But he reminded us that the more we
bought the less we would be paid later. For our meals we had rice, soup
and two or three vegetable side dishes.
Pretty and intelligent girls were selected for very high-ranking officers
and taken into the army unit by car. I was chosen in this way and
developed a special relationship with an officer called Izumi. When I
asked how old he was, he spread five fingers before me, and so I guess he
must have been about 50 years old. He seemed to be of quite a high

standing. Whenever I entered the unit to meet him or whenever he and I

went out for a walk, neat rows of soldiers on either side of the road
 Kim Tokchin

shouted a greeting out loud, holding their guns aloft. Izumi's room was
large, and in it was a large bed, a shining gun and his neat uniform. On his
lapels he wore sparkling rank badges. When there was no combat taking
placeand things were calm, he used to send for me and keep me in his
room for two or three days. When there was combat going on, I didn't
hear from him for several months at a time, until the situation quietened
down. Then he would call for me frequently once more. When his troops
were moved away and his base was at a distance from the comfort station,

he took me with him by boat. One day as I was crossing a river to meet
him, I saw the river dyed red with blood and bristling, crowded with
bodies from bank to bank that parted on either side of us as our boat
crept forward.
I continued to meet Izumi often and came to regard him almost as my
father, husband and family rolled into one. Guiding my hand in his, he
taught me numbers and how to write Japanese script, and through it all I

could feel great affection. Every day, he said he loved me. He said that

when war was over he would take me to Japan where I could live an
the
easy life. He
said that I would go to school and live with him. Even after

I returned to Korea, we wrote to each other for quite some time.

Back Home
About three years after I had become a comfort woman, in February or
March 1940, Izumi said that I should go back home since my health was
getting worse just as the war was becoming more serious. He promised
that he would come for me when the war was over. He asked if I had
any friends with whom I would like to go home to Korea. I named four.
Izumi ordered the manager to let me and these four return home. It was
an order from an officer, so the manager had to obey, although he was
clearly not happy to let us go. He asked why we wanted to leave, when

Japan was about to win the war and we would all be paid for our services.
Izumi sent someone to escort us, and the five of us left the comfort sta-
tion. Izumi told me that we might be invited to Japan and he offered to
settle payment for our services later. He instructed us never to return.
We didn't receive any money from the comfort station, but Izumi gave
me 100 yen as we left.
Izumi issued many travel permits and handed them to me in an enve-
lope. The permits had official seals and they looked very much like our
contemporary family registration certificates. When we showed these at
the station, the guards allowed us to board trains, and when we got off
the trains we were able to get lifts in trucks and boats. We were provid-
ed with food and sleeping places without any difficulty. At one station,
we were even given lunch boxes. On the way - it may have been at

47
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

P'yongyang - a Korean asked me how I knew Izumi. He said that the

travel permits had this script on them: 'These women have become ill

while working in an army unit and are returning home to receive treat-
ment. Please provide them with transport, food and accommodation
until arrival at a certain place in South Kyongsang province.' After about

20 days of travelling, I got home to Samga district in Hapch'on county. I

was 20 by this time. The linen skirt and blouse that my mother had given
me left me feeling cold: it must have been around early April.
In my home, people seemed to be talking about me behind my back,
and we were still very poor, so I left and came up to Seoul. Izumi wrote
to me constandy. I would reply to him, and I even sent him packages of
chilli powder or toasted grain powder every now and again. He would

thank me for the parcels, saying he enjoyed them very much, and once
he joked that the chilli powder had been so hot that it had almost killed
him, asking if I had intended to murder him with it! He would also cor-
rect my Japanese spelling. He wrote such amusing letters. Although I
couldn't reply to all of the letters after I had come up to Seoul, he con-
tinued to write for some time from Nanjing, but his letters abruptly
stopped one or two years before the Liberation in 1945. All the letters I
had kept were destroyed by a bomb during the Korean War.
I lived by working in a guest-house in Chongno and as a housemaid.

For a time I worked in a factory making bags, then I ran a small shop. Just
before the Korean War, I met a man whose wife had been left behind in
Sariwon, in part of what had become North Korea. He was living alone
with his children, and soon I moved in with him. His parents lived nearby,
and I helped them with their housekeeping. Then during the war, his wife
managed to escape southwards and started to live with her parents-in-law.
Her husband continued to live away from her with his children and me.
We sent his children through school. His son went to university and still
writes to me, although he now lives in Los Angeles in America. The wife
lives with her daughter now. She and I got on well right from the start and

we are still on good terms. I had two sons and a daughter with this man,
but my daughter died during the Korean War, and am now living with I

my eldest son. My children were initially registered under the wife's name,
but Irecendy managed to have them transferred to my name. Her
husband, the father of my children, died of a heart attack about 20 years
ago. He was an assistant in the Railway Bureau. The husband of Mun
P'ilgi at the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual

Slavery by Japan was head of the section where my husband worked at the
Bureau. P'ilgi and I bumped into each other when we went to the Council
to register. We were glad to see fellow spirits and marvelled at the strong
human ties that could bind us together. My eldest son drives a truck now.

48
 Kim Tokchin

He moved out when he married but has since lost his wife.

So, I went to live with him and his two children, and I now keep
house for them.
The gifts of my days as a comfort woman still trouble me. I have blad-
der infections, womb diseases, a restlessness of mind and many other
ailments. I suffer from a gallstone and also have severe anaemia. Since I

registered with the Council I have been feeling oppressed whenever I am

indoors. The four of us, my son and his children, live in one crowded
rented room in a terraced house in Puch'on.
I have watched various television programmes about the Council,
including the testimony of Kim Haksun. Until now I have lived with all

my resentment and anger buried deep in my heart. But the programmes

left me unable to sleep at night. I went to one of my nephews, my broth-
er's son, a high school teacher, whom I had helped to educate. I told him
about my past and asked if I should register at the Council. He said 'You
know how the case of the Survivors Association of the Pacific War led to

nothing. You will only bring trouble on your family and your children
will be traumatized.' He pleaded with me not to register. I discussed the

matter with another nephew living in Taejon. He wept as he listened to

my story and advised me not to register. He said 'It will break your son's
heart. What will your stepson in the United States say when he hears all

this?' But I felt uneasy and couldn't sleep at all. So one day I went to a
broadcasting station and told my story. They gave me the telephone
number of the Council. Next day, I went to the local police station, and
with the help of an officerI made a report. I came home and slept sound-

ly, making up for the troubled nights of the previous weeks. After having

poured out what I had to say for so long, I felt that half my problem was
solved. I told my son about the whole thing, and he wept uncontrollably,
saying 'Mother, you have lived so courageously even with such a rough
past. I am proud of you.' But the wife of my youngest son became
despondent, and even my son is now disheartened. I feel very sad and
guilty when I see them. But my heart moves more and more towards the
meetings of the Council. I haven't missed any rallies arranged outside the
2
Japanese Embassy. As I go out often, my sister from Pusan comes up and
helps with the housework.
Of course Japan is to blame, but I resent the Koreans who were their
instruments even more than worked for. I have so
the Japanese they
much to say to my own government. The Korean government should
grant us compensation. Life is very hard without a place of my own to
live. I think accommodation should be provided, at the very least.

2 Since January 1992, weekly lunchtime rallies have been mounted outside the Japanese
Embassy in Seoul by comfort women survivors and other members of the Korean Council.

49
CHAPTER 5

I Will No Longer Harbour

Resentment
Yi Yongsuk

An orphan, Yi Yongsuk lived with a family in Osaka until the age of

ten. Her parents were Korean, and she left for Korea in 1937 when , she
was 15. Because she was an orphan, she found it hard to find work even
as a housemaid. Tlirough a friend, she heard of someone who was promis-
ing work infapan. The friend asked her to go with her, and the two trav-

elled through Sinuiju, Shimonoseki and Taiwan, before being taken to an

army unit in Guangdong to start life as comfort women.

Until I was about ten years old, I lived with a family in Osaka. I helped
with the housework. I don't know why my parents had gone to Japan,
nor whether I was born there or in Korea. Neighbours said to me, 'Both
your parents have died, and you are a Korean. Don't you think you
should go back to your own country?' I thought that if I was indeed
Korean, I must go to Korea. I cannot remember whether I had any
brothers or sisters. At that time my name was Yi Ch'anam and my
Japanese name was Yasunaka Kasunai. My nickname was Ttonam. I was
badly treated in that family.
In 1937, the year met someone who was going to Korea
I turned 15, I

and asked him to take me

I arrived at Pusan on board a
along with him.
ship but, having nowhere to go, I began working in a cafe selling noodles.
The owner was a single Korean woman who had returned from Japan just
like me. As we were able to communicate in Japanese she was quite

pleased to have me around, but I often quarrelled with her children.

Finally, I had to leave the cafe to find other work as a housemaid for a
family. This family paid me only meagre wages, but I was able to stretch
them meet my needs. People looked down on me because I had no
to
parents. was beaten by my employers for the smallest mistakes. I moved
I

about from one family to another, as I continued to be beaten a lot. When

my employer's children beat me, I had no choice but to let them contin-
ue. My life was worthless, so I tried to end it all, but that didn't work out

50
 Yl Y6NGSUK

as I wished; I couldn't kill myself. In this way, then, I moved around

Pusan and nearby Yangsan, going from one family to another.
While working in Yangsan, I made friends with a girl two years older
who lived alone with her father. It was December 1939, and I was 17.

My new friend told me that there was someone locally promising work
in Japan; she said she was going to go and asked if I wanted to go along
with her. Whether I lived in Korea or in Japan made no difference, so

believing that life in Japan would be easier than in Korea, I left the fami-
ly I was working for. We met a couple who were said to have come from
Sinuiju, and who had recruited four girls in addition to us. They provid-
ed us with room and board and bought us some simple They got
clothes.

us all to have our hair bobbed and encouraged us to put make-up on.
We waited with them in a guest-house in Pusan for a ship to arrive.

But the ship never came, so finally they suggested that we should change
our plans. We went northwards, travelling to Sinuiju by train. The hus-
band of the couple became quite nasty, and if he was displeased with any
of us he would torture us, twisting our fingers around a steel spit. In

Sinuiju we stayed with a Korean family for about a week, then were sud-
denly awoken and taken off early one morning aboard a train. We
returned to Pusan. It was pitch dark when we arrived. We were handed
over to a Japanese man, a civilian employee for the military, who was
dressed in a uniform without badges. We called him Otosang, a word
roughly equivalent to 'father'.

We boarded a ship at about 11.30 p.m. I had travel sickness and had
thrown up what little I had eaten. I was completely exhausted. We were
on the bottom deck of the ship, along with some Chinese. Once aboard
we hadn't been allowed to speak in Korean. Whenever we did, our
guards shouted at us and told us to shut up. As I spoke Japanese, I didn't
have too much of a problem, but there were those who didn't speak any
Japanese and so had to use Korean. There were other women who
looked very much as if they were in a similar desperate situation to us in
that bottom cabin, but they were supervised by another person. The
guards kept their eyes glued on us all the time. I suppose they had been
instructed to watch us in case any one of us went up on deck and tried to
leap overboard.
We had to ask the crew for meals, and each of us was given
a bowl of
rice and two vegetable morning and evening. Beside these
side dishes
two meals, I ate small strips of dried octopus I had bought when I first
met the Korean couple in Pusan. Other girls snacked on dried squid they
had brought along. The ship passed Shimonoseki and continued to sail

on towards the wide, limidess sea to the south-east. We became more

and more uneasy, not knowing where we were being taken. I looked

51
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

down into the sea and wanted to throw myself in, but the blue-black
depths terrified me and robbed me of all courage. We sailed for about a
fortnight before finally arriving at a place which I later learned was
Taiwan. As we landed, we saw people walking around barefoot. As soon
as we had disembarked, the Japanese man who had brought us so far

went through all the wrongs he claimed we had committed on board,

and beat us with a steel rod in punishment. We felt like slaves who could
do nothing but follow orders.

We stayed in the port overnight, and the following morning sailed on

to Guangdong. When we arrived there were many soldiers walking
about the dockside with long swords hanging at their sides. We were
taken by truck to a three-storey red brick house. As soon as we got off,

we were led into room on the ground floor. The room had a dou-
a large

ble steel door, and each window was barred with iron rods. It had once
been occupied by a Chinese family. We soon discovered that there were
many other comfort stations near this one, and the number of Korean
comfort women appeared to be several hundred. The road that led to the
houses was always guarded by a Chinese man who also acted as both
interpreter and military policeman. He and his colleagues would rush in
if soldiers became whenever the proprietor of the comfort sta-
violent or
tion telephoned for assistance. Sometimes they came to check the place.
When we arrived, there were already 15 Korean women there, who
all spoke good Japanese. They told us how to carry on our lives, and we

started to call them our big sisters. There were 21 of us altogether, and
there weren't enough rooms to accommodate us all. Each of the 15
rooms contained a large mirror and a chest one could use to store things
and put bedding in. The bathroom and dining room were on the ground
floor, and I was allocated a room on the first floor. All the comfort sta-
tions on the road had signs, some hung horizontally, some vertically.

Every sign was written in Chinese characters, and because of that, I

didn't know what they said. Once we had arrived and had been herded
into the large room, I felt really miserable and began to sing a Korean
folksong. A soldier rushed in from outside and threatened me with his

sword. This incident made the proprietor very angry. He scolded me and
beat me with an iron rod. Those who had been there already told me
never to sing in Korean - if we did so, the soldiers would think we were
making fun of them.
Cooking and cleaning was done by a Chinese couple. Their situation
was no better than ours. The proprietor and his wife were Japanese, the
husband about 40 and the wife a little younger, say 35. We were told to
call him 'big brother' and her 'big sister'. They gave me a Japanese name,

Aiko. Two days after our arrival, soldiers came who wanted sex with us,

52
 Yl Y6NGSUK

and we began to serve them from that day on. My vagina was torn and
bled for a week. I began to menstruate only when I was 19, and each
month from then onwards I suffered severe back pain.
We would rise around seven each morning. We cleaned our rooms,
had breakfast in the dining room and then began to serve soldiers. We
had two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, and the
main dish was cooked rice. In the hall on the ground floor there were
chairs arranged along three sides of a square, and we had to sit there
every morning after we had There was a placard on
tidied ourselves up.

the wall behind each of the chairswhich bore our name and number. We
remained seated as the soldiers came in to choose whoever took their
fancy to take to bed. We generally served five or six soldiers a day. There
were days when men didn't come at all, and at times one or two would
stay overnight. On Saturdays and Sundays, that is at weekends, we had to
serve 15 men a day, and sometimes we didn't get time to eat. Both offi-

cers and the lower rank and file came. When a soldier chose me the pro-
prietor, or one of the women who had been there before us, followed us
into my room and took money from him. When he had paid, I was
given a ticket with the amount written on condom. There were it and a

times when I took the money directly from soldiers and passed it on to
the proprietor. Normally, though, we collected the tickets and handed
them to the proprietor each evening. Once a month he counted them.
He would compliment the girls who had collected many tickets and ver-
bally or physically abuse those who had few. I collected an average num-
ber of tickets, but I often got venereal disease, which had the effect of
reducing the men I could serve and, consequently, the number of tickets
I could get. Because of this I earned myself regular beatings.
My relationship with the proprietor was neither good nor bad. My
spirit had been broken through frequent beatings, so I was quiet and
obedient. Once I heard him remarking how silent I was. During the first

year I did whatever he told me to do and didn't say a word about how
harshly he treated me. We went to hospital to have a check-up once a
week. symptom of venereal disease appeared, we had to
If the slightest

have the 'No. 606' injection in gradations numbered from 1 to 6. The

injection was so strong that once you had it you couldn't touch water for
a whole week. We were told that if the soldiers were infected it would

dampen their fighting spirit. Therefore, we weren't allowed to serve any

men if we caught V.D. Of course this upset the proprietor as it reduced
his income, but he was forced to stop us serving men.
Having to serve so many men made my sexual organs swell up. and I

had to go to see a doctor. When Iwent the first time, my stomach hurt
to the extent that I thought it was going to burst. If I showed the

53
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

slightest abnormality, I was not allowed to serve men. My abdomen

often became swollen, and I had to stay in hospital three or four times a
year. After one exhausting year at the station, I realized I should look
after my own body a little better. So I began to play tricks now and then.

Whenever we went for check-ups we had to wash ourselves thoroughly

with salt water, but sometimes I would pretend to be ill by stepping on
to the examining table without having washed myself. Then I had to go
through a period of treatment, during which I didn't have to serve the
soldiers. It was good to be hospitalized, as I didn't have to work, but I

hated the daily inspections. The proprietor gave me mugwort heat treat-
ments on my
abdomen, and this treatment was repeated again and again
even before the burns from his previous administrations had disappeared.
Due to this, I am still scarred. In those days, as soon as I was better I had
to serve men again. We used to say to each other, whenever we had suf-
ficient spare time to relax, that we would never be able to use our

wombs as nature intended when we grew older. Apart from sleeping

with the soldiers, we had to do various chores. The proprietor nagged us
to wash our bedding every two days, and we had to change the sheets
every day.
It was like a living death. If someone died, no one would have known.
One of the girls from my home town became very ill. She actually died.
They burnt her corpse, and the smell of burning flesh was like rotten fish

as it drifted on the air into our rooms.

When we needed money, we had to ask the proprietor. Sometimes he

gave the amount we asked for, and sometimes he did not. With money
from him we bought underwear and cosmetics whenever we had a

chance to go out. We were allowed out once or twice a month, always

on the days when few soldiers were expected. Sometimes we went to the
cinema to watch films. Sometimes the proprietor accompanied us, but
sometimes we were allowed to go by ourselves, riding in rickshaws
drawn by Chinese men who, since they thought we were Japanese, were
very obliging. Clothes and other essential articles were provided by the
proprietor, and we had to wear Japanese kimonos. There was a hairdress-
er run by a Chinese man on the road, and we sometimes had perms
there.
After about two years, I got to know how things were run. One of my
friends tipped me off that my contract time had expired and that I could
do whatever I wanted to do. A few days had passed since the end of my
official term, although the proprietor hadn't said a word about this to

me. So, one day, I got drunk and complained to him. Surprised at my
unusual behaviour, he said he would report me to the military police. I

threatened him, 'If you want to report me, by all means go ahead. I am

54
 Yl Y6NGSUK

going to report you as well. I know my contract is over. I am going to

tell them how badly you treat me.' I refused to serve any soldiers from
then onwards. On our street there lived an old Japanese man whose job
was to introduce comfort women to proprietors, and one day he came to
me and asked me, in confidence, if I would like to go somewhere else.
He said he could find another place. I told him to go ahead, and after a

few days he came back to introduce me to a new station. I moved that

very same day. As I left I took with me the money I had earned since my
contract had expired. I had found out that once our contract was over we
were meant to share our earnings with our proprietor, on a 50/50 basis.
The women in the new station were all Japanese. I was the only
Korean. It was more spacious, since each woman had a room to herself.
The proprietors were a Japanese couple who lived with their seven-year-
old son and the husband's parents. The wife's name was Eiko. It was
much more Most of the soldiers who came were officers,
comfortable.
although a few NCOs visited as well. I was able to serve them when I
wanted to. My fee was divided with the proprietor on an equal basis. If I
earned enough money, I knew I would soon be able to return to Korea.
But I had given up the idea of going home. At the time, I still didn't have
enough money and just carried on living and working there. One day,
there was a party for us women and our customers. We were meant to
order our own food, but the wife ordered noodle dishes for us all. I

didn't like anything made with flour, so I alone ordered rice. It was at

that point that I overheard the proprietress saying 'A Korean bitch can't
be helped'. It was meant to be whispered, but I heard her. After the party
was over I kept drinking, since the wine tasted nice. In the end I got
quite drunk. In this intoxicated state I shouted at all thewomen, asking
who had called me a Korean bitch. I told them to own up. The women
said none of them had said such a dreadful thing. I pointed to the
proprietress and asked if it was her. I used her name, Eiko. I grabbed her
by the throat and beat her up. Now, I knew she was having an affair with
a military policeman behind her husband's back. So, as I beat her, I

screamed my head off about this. I told her that she had no right to treat
me differendy from the other girls since I had been brought to this land
specifically for her people. I said I would report her to the police for dis-
crimination; the police had clearly stated she should treat us all equally. In
the end she reported me to the military police and they took me to the
station and kept me there overnight.
A soldier named Takano Kyoichi was one of my regulars. He was very
fond of me. One day he brought me a white gold watch, then he never
turned up again. I made enquiries and was told that he had been taken to
prison because he had stolen money. I saw him once more, just a few

55
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

days before the war ended, but I have never seen him since. Some sol-
diers brought us dried biscuits and gave us tips now and again.
Sometimes bombs dropped all around us, and we used to shelter under
the staircase. Wherever a bomb had hit, bodies would be scattered
around. People were killed while eating or sleeping. One day as we were
sitting around in the yard, a Chinese woman came by and stuck a red
card on the gate. When we asked what she was doing, she replied that
she was reclaiming her house. We guessed that the war must be coming
to an end. Suddenly the Chinese returned, and we were all driven out of
the house. We got on a truck and were taken to a makeshift tent set up
by soldiers. We stayed there for two months. One day, some Koreans
came by and asked for any Koreans to step forward. They transferred me
to a refugee camp for my own race. I stayed there until a ship came to
port. In the camp, we sang the Korean national anthem each morning
while Korean guards watched over us. Men and women were put into
separate rooms, each shared by about 80 people. Even here, anyone who
broke the rules was beaten by the Korean guards.
We spent New Year in the camp, and in 1946, the year I turned 24, a

ship came to take us back home. I didn't want to return, but I had to get
on board as all Koreans had been ordered by the government to return
home. The ship was filled with comfort women. I had no family, no
relatives and no home to go to. It would be impossible for me to find a
husband. I thought it would be drown than to return to my
better to
country, but I didn't have the courage to throw myself overboard.
After 15 days sailing we arrived in Pusan. We had to stay on the ship
for another 15 days because cholera had broken out. During this second
fortnight many people died and were carried to the shore. We were paid
100 won each as we disembarked. Of the six girls who had left Pusan
together, only three returned: Yachio,Kiyoko and myself.
I couldn't speak good Korean anymore. I managed to live for a while

on the 100 won. By the time that money ran out, someone had asked if
I had returned from Japan. When I replied in the affirmative, she said she

knew a place where I could work and took me to a drinking house. I

helped in the kitchen, but before long I left because I couldn't stand the
way men and women flirted with each other. Then I worked in a restau-
rant as a cook's assistant. This was followed by a swift succession of many
different jobs. I sold ready-made side dishes, worked as a domestic help,
wandered about in Pusan, Yongch'on and Taegu, and then sold fish on
Inch'on pier.

It was so terribly lonely living on my own, so I tried to form the ties of

blood sisterhood and to care for an elderly couple as if they were my
parents. While I was trying this and that, I was introduced to a man. I

56
 Yl Y6NGSUK

started a relationship. I was lonely, and had found it hard to live on my

own, so I started to live with him without getting married. I was 28. We
had no children. When
was over 40, he began to distance himself. I left
I

him, in order that he could take another woman and have children.
There was a time when I wished to be a nun and live in a temple,
buried somewhere deep in the mountains. It was only in 1975 that
I registered myself in the local office. Until then I had no official

identification card, even though the law said I should, and I had no
family registration. When I registered I changed my name from Yi
Ch'anam to Yi Yongsuk.
After I started once more to live alone, I wasn't able to get much
work. I soon spent all the money I had saved. I rented a small room, but
this was destroyed by a fire from which I barely escaped in 1991. I had to
leave all my belongings to burn. The government offered me 5,000,000
won ($6500) as a loan, but since I could never repay it, I didn't apply for-
mally. Then the local government office asked me to apply for a loan of
3,000,000 won ($3750) they were offering to the homeless at an interest
of 15,000 won ($19) a month. With this I was able to rent my present
room, paying the 3,000,000 won as key-money. Since I turned 65, the
local government office has started to give me 10 kg of rice, 2 kg of bar-
ley and between 28,000 and 30,000 won a month, with which I have
been able to support myself. Sometimes, when there are job-creation
projects, I take part and earn some extra pocket-money.
Let me finally say something I consider to be important. The Japanese
were bad. But the Koreans were just as bad because they put their own
women through such terrible ordeals for personal profit. It was bad
enough that I had to suffer what I did. But it is worse that I was made
barren because of this ordeal. I am
when I think of this, but I am
bitter

not going to blame others any longer. What happened was destiny. We
are finished, and our bodies are useless after so much abuse. It doesn't
matter whether we receive compensation or not. After all, what could
we do with money, with so few years left before we die? All I can wish
for is that my country and my people will prosper so that history can
never be repeated.

57
CHAPTER 6

I Would Rather Die

Ha Sunnyo

Ha Sunnyo was born in 1920 in Chinju. Because her family was poor,
she began school later than was usual. Her school friends teased her for

this, and she hated going to class. Her father was insistent that she should
graduate, so she eventually left home. For a long time she worked as a
domestic help in Kwangju, and when she was about 21 or 22 she set out
with others to earn money. Instead, she was taken to Shanghai, and had
to serve as a comfort woman.

I was born in Chinju in 1920. My family moved to Mokp'o as soon as I

was born, then, following my father's illness, we had to move to Y5ngam

where we had relatives. I remember more about life in Yongam than
anywhere else. My mother gave birth to eight daughters, all of whom
died apart from me. I was the second to be born, but my eldest sister died
when she was nine, so I became the eldest child. My father cultivated
someone else's land, and as a consequence we were very poor.
My parents weren't able to afford my school fees, so I was twelve
before they sent me to start elementary school.
1

I was older, so other

children used to tease me about my age. I hated this and sometimes I ran
home during lessons, or I tried to get out of going to school first thing in
the morning. Most children started school at the age of eight and were
already in the fifth grade when they reached my age. Because of this,

they teased me as soon as I started: 'We will soon be finishing school.

You, fat one, when will you ever finish? Aren't you a bit too big to be in
the first grade?' Whenever I tried to miss going to school, my father
cajoled me into going, saying he was sending me there not because we
could afford it, but because he wanted to bring me up like the son he
never had. However, I didn't like studying. I would have rather played
and run around with other children of my age.

1 The Japanese colonial regime instituted a six-year school curriculum at what Koreans
refer to as pot'ong hakkyo (ordinary school). It is this school I have glossed as 'elementary
school'. High schools were optional, and few Korean girls attended them.

58
 Ha Sunnyo

My father was determined me, but since I couldn't stand

to educate
school any longer, home. There was no money in the house
I finally left

that I could take, so I just got on a train with nothing, and with no par-
ticular destination in mind. I got off at Kwangju and, having eaten food

that some passers-by gave me, I spent the night at the station. The next
day a lady who was about 50 years old told me to go with her. I went to
her house, and stayed there the night. The very next morning she took
me to a relative's house, and I started to work there as a live-in maid.
The couple I worked for ran a business.
Every day, after the couple left for work, I looked after their baby, did

the dishes and did the housework. I lived there for about three years.
They fed and clothed me, but paid me no wages. After this time a neigh-
bour coaxed me move and work for them, saying
to that they would
give me a monthly allowance. So I moved to this new household. After
only a fortnight my former employer came to fetch me, and the two
women had a huge row. At the end I was taken back to the first place,
where I stayed a couple more years. My employer said she would find
me a good husband when I reached 20 or 21. I found my job as a house-
maid quite comfortable and I never had to go hungry, so I didn't contact
my parents at all. Later, I learned that they had been trying everything
they could to find me. They even resorted to consulting fortune tellers.

One day, I think I must have been about 20 or so, my employer's baby
was fast asleep and I was outside talking with some girls. They were also

housemaids in the same neighbourhood. A Korean man approached us

together with a Japanese man as we chatted. They wore suits and looked
quite young and dashing. They asked us how much we were paid for our
work. We answered that we didn't receive any monthly wages, but were
given food and clothes for free. To this they responded, saying that the
Koreans were thieves. They said that if we
went to Osaka with them we
would be able to earn lots of money. We were fascinated by the prospect
of earning our own income so, without even asking what kind of work
we would do, we went with them. We didn't even stop to tell our
employers.
Eight of us went altogether. There weregirls from Kwangju and girls

from Changsong. I remember I was wearing a long-sleeved dress, so it

must have been spring. At about 2 p.m. we got on a train and went to
Yosu with the men. We stayed overnight, then took a ship bound for
Japan. There were many Korean men on board, all of whom were going
to Japan to work. We disembarked at Osaka the following morning, at

about 10 a.m., and were led to the home of the Japanese man. In his
house there was an elderly lady and two young children. He said we
would be moving again to go to Shanghai. We asked him why, when he

59
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

had earlier said we were going to Osaka. He replied that he ran a big
business in Shanghai and needed people to work for him there. We
believed him. After spending the night at his house, the very next morn-
ing we boarded a ship for Shanghai.

The ship was crowded with civilians, and we sailed for many days. We
were given maize for food. When we landed at Shanghai, the Korean
and the Japanese, who had accompanied us all the way so far, parted. A
military truck was waiting and this took us to a house. The house was
next to a military unit. When we entered we found that the same
Japanese man was the owner. His wife, a woman from P'yongyang, and
a Chinese couple who did cooking for them, lived there. The wife was
also Japanese even though she came from a Korean city, and she looked
older than her husband. She scolded him for his delay in arriving, and
they started by having a row. The other girls were taken to different
places, leaving me alone. It was a single-storey house with many small
rooms. I was told it had formerly been a guest-house or a boarding
house, but that it had been confiscated from a Chinese owner.
The Japanese man was He brought more
in effect the proprietor.
women we numbered about 30 altogether. Except for
to join us until
two Chinese and two Japanese who arrived about three or four months
after me, the other girls were all Korean. Some came from P'ohang and

some from Pusan, cities in Kyongsang province. The Chinese women

were residents of the local district. An introduction agency in Shanghai
informed the proprietor when there were new arrivals at the port, and he
went to fetch The Korean man who had accompanied us turned
girls.

out to be a dealer in women. There was a sign on the front door, which
I wasn't able to read because I was virtually illiterate. The house was right

in the centre of Shanghai, and I was later told it was situated in what had
earlier been the French judicial area. There were a few Japanese military
units there and, alongside them, brothels.
We were each given a room and told to serve soldiers. The room allo-

cated to me was just big enough for two people to he down in, and the
floor was covered with paper and two blankets. There was a small waste-
paper basket.
For the two weeks, I had to serve one or two soldiers a day, but
first

after that many more came. I said to the proprietor that I'd rather die

than keep doing this job. We would sell wine to the soldiers, too, but
when they got drunk they became unbearably rough. I begged the pro-
prietor to let me do the cooking and washing-up instead of serving sol-
diers. He just slapped my face. He kicked me and told me to continue
my work. I was given Japanese name, Odomaru. I can remember there
a

was another girl also named Odomaru and another named Takeko. The

60
 Ha Sunnyo

soldiers who came to the house were in the army. Some had no commis-
sions and some were officers. Civilians weren't allowed to come in at all.

If a sailorcame by, he was chased out with people shouting to him to go

to the place where the navy was allowed. This sort of segregation often
led to fights among the men.
We had to get up at 4 o'clock every morning to clean our rooms. On
Sundays, the soldiers came from 9 o'clock in the morning until 4 o'clock
in the afternoon, without respite. Sometimes we had to serve 20, 30, 40
or even more men without pausing for a break. We gave up counting.
While some finished what they had come to do with us in a short time,
there were some who held on and delayed, wearing us out. How can I
recount everything that I was subjected to in words?
Most of the soldiers used condoms.
If, for any reason, the visits of regulars became less frequent, the propri-
etor would beat us, saying that because we had treated them badly the last

time they were not coming anymore. For about three or four months, I

didn't serve soldiers. I was allowed to help the Chinese cooks with cook-
ing and shopping. The other girls said that I cooked so nicely and begged
me to continue to cook for them. But the proprietor nagged at me and
beat me, telling me to serve soldiers rather than cook. If I boiled water to
wash the dishes, he would throw the pan out, saying that I was deliber-
ately taking time out to heat the water so that I could avoid the soldiers.

Whenever we had time to spare, we Koreans sat around talking about

our homes and families. One of the Chinese women was 31 years old
and one was 29. The Japanese women were 25 and 27 respectively. Of
the Koreans, a few were about 30 years old, and some were younger than
me. There were girls who were still teenagers. The younger girls were

frightened and refused to serve the men, so they were sent to different
houses. Yes, the proprietors in Shanghai sometimes exchanged girls. Our
proprietor favoured the women who earned him the most by serving as

many soldiers as possible. The two Chinese were pretty and amiable, and
served more men than anyone else. So, on special occasions they were
given new clothes and good food. When I first arrived, the proprietor
gave me two pretty dresses. The soldiers paid their money direct to him,
and he managed this himself since he didn't trust anyone. We never
knew how much the men paid, nor were we paid directly.
We had to go to a military hospital once a month for check-ups.
Those who developed any venereal disease then had to attend regularly
for treatment. The check-ups were carried out either by a Japanese doc-
tor orby a Japanese nurse. The hospital was in a large, two-storey build-
ing, and it housed many wounded soldiers. As far as I could see, three

doctors and two nurses worked there.

61
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Not long my arrival, asked the woman from P'yongyang to

after I

write a letter to my parents for me. A reply came saying that my father
was very asking me to go home immediately. Since
ill, hadn't written I

the letter myself, remember the exact address where I was being
I don't
kept. I wasn't allowed to go home. Later I heard that my father had died,
so gready was he disturbed by my letter. That letter of mine was lost dur-
ing the Korean War.
After about a year in Shanghai, I ran away from the comfort station on
a snowy winter's day. I ran as far as the rickshaw terminal. It was late at
night. But there was nowhere for me to go. I couldn't communicate with
anyone, because I didn't know Chinese. I crouched in the corner of the
terminal and tried to sleep, waking frequently. I was frightened. In the
morning, I still didn't have anywhere to go, so I returned to the comfort
station. I crept back to the kitchen. I cooked breakfast, as usual, and sat

down to have my own meal. But the proprietor knew. He came in and
beat me all over, saying that he would teach me a lesson once and for all.

When my wounds had almost healed, soldiers began to come looking to

have sex with me. I resisted them, so then the proprietor hit me on the
head with a club. I can remember blood gushing out from the wound but
then nothing else. I blacked out. Later, I heard that he had put some soya
bean paste on my head to stop it bleeding, but I was saved because a

Western woman living in the neighbourhood saw me from over the wall
and brought ointment to put on my wound. am told that the proprietor
I

told her to leave me alone to die. The woman was about 40 years old and
she sold clothes in the neighbourhood. I had once bought a dress from her
with a tip given to me by an officer I had served. She had remembered
my face, and came to my aid when she saw me bleeding.
Lieutenant Yamamoto, who was one of my regulars, found me in bed
with my head all bandaged, and took me to the hospital to have the
wound treated properly. Not all the Japanese soldiers were bad. He and
another soldier from Akasima were kind. Yamamoto was about 30. He
was tall and healthy. After about eight weeks' treatment, the wound
healed and the swelling went down. I still have the scar, some 15 cm
long, on my head. After that time I was allowed to just do the cooking.
The officer who had taken me to the hospital ordered that I should not
serve any more soldiers. Until Korea was liberated in 1945, cooked and I

washed for the others. Yamamoto gave me pocket-money now and

again to buy things with.
On our free days, we took turns to go out in groups of ten with the
proprietor's wife. There were restaurants and cinemas in the area, but
our outings were limited to an hour and a half, so we were unable
to look around much. If we were late back, we were beaten by the

62
 Ha Sunnyo

proprietor. Not far from our house was a place that only accepted
sailors.The proprietor there was a much nicer man, even though he was
Japanese. Whenever I went over to his place, he invited me in to eat and
told me how pretty I was. He said he was from Tokyo. When I went
there I cook where I was going, but never my
told our Chinese
proprietor. There were more rooms there than at my place, and he had
about 40 women from Korea, Japan and China. One of the Japanese
women was called Sanai, and she and I became good friends. If I didn't
visit her for a while she would telephone to ask me over. She was from

Nagoya and quite a bit older than me. She would often come to see me
if I was ill.

Two women in the station caught cholera nostras and died in hospital
while undergoing treatment. After two or three years, the woman who
had written the infamous letter for me died of opium addiction. She used
to sniff white powder at the dinner table and, when I asked her what it

was, she used to say it was just a kind of medicine. After she had snorted,
she would get high and dance about. We took our meals in the kitchen
while the proprietor and his wife ate in their own rooms. This meant
that they remained ignorant of what was going on. Some other women
also took opium behind their backs. If the proprietor had found out he
would have beaten them up, just as he had hit me. The woman who died
had graduated from school and started taking opium while she was still
living in P'yongyang. Her habit had begun as a boost to give her strength
because so often she felt weak. But gradually she became more and more
addicted. Anyone could buy cheap powder from a Chinese shop right
opposite our place. Anyway, that woman used to serve many soldiers and
she saved up her tips to feed her habit. Quite a few Japanese women took
it, but very few Koreans were interested.

On my visits to the house which served only sailors, I met a Japanese

woman and a Korean woman who were both pregnant. I also met two
Korean soldiers in my own place, one from Chinju and one from Pusan.
Those Koreans were allowed in, but they pitied us and spent their time
talking instead of making us serve them.
Towards the end of the war we were bombed several times. If air raids
were announced we would be evacuated to the piers. When Japan was
defeated, the proprietor promptly disappeared, leaving us penniless. For a
while we stayed with the Chinese cook at his home. There were five of
us left, including one girl from P'ohang and another from Kwangju. One
day our host told us that there was a ship in port leaving for Korea, and
we rushed out to get on it. We were afraid that we might not be allowed
to board, since we did not have any money to pay the fare with. But our

63
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

host explained everything about our circumstances, and we were allowed

to get on the last ship to be found in the port.

It was 1946, the year after our country had been liberated. I disem-
barked at Pusan and went home to Yongam. My father, remember, had
died of grief at my letter. My 14-year-old sister welcomed me. As my
mother was too poor to keep me, I quickly left home again and went
back to Kwangju to find work as a domestic help. I moved around many
different places trying to eke out something of a living. Between moving
from one household to another, I briefly lived with a man. But I soon left
him because he was a heavy drinker and a gambler. At present I live with
my sister, surviving on government aid. All the beatings I received in
Shanghai have so affected my health that on wet days my body aches all
over and I am unable to move about. Even now, I can't bear to watch
violent scenes on television.

64
CHAPTER 7

I Thought Was Going I

to a Textile Factory
OhOmok

Oh Omok was born in 1921, in Chongup, North Cholla province, the

first child in a poor family offive children, two boys and three girls. In

1937, at 16 years of age, she was promised work in a textile factory in

Japan by a Mr Kim from her home town. She left home with a friend.

When they arrived in Manchuria, where Mr Kim handed them over to a

Japanese man, they were taken to a Japanese unit and forced to become
comfort women.

I was born into poor family on 15 January 1921, in Chongup, North

a
Cholla province. I was the eldest child, and I soon gained two brothers
and two sisters. My father had been in poor health since was very littleI

and was now no longer able to work. My mother ran a small shop next
to the police station where she sold vegetables. I couldn't go to school,
because we were too poor to pay the fees.
It I was 16. My parents had begun to try to find me a hus-
was 1937, and
band. One day a Mr Kim, from Chongup, visited us and said that he could
get me a job in a textile factory in Japan. He also offered to find work for a
friend of mine. He said that our job would be as weavers and added that
we would be paid such and such a month. I forget the actual amount. After
the visit he didn't come back. We had almost forgotten about him when
he suddenly reappeared and urged me to take the job which was on offer.
I needed to earn money, so I went along with him, taking an old friend of

mine called Okhui. She was two years younger than me. She used to visit
me often and I had shown her how to embroider.
When left home for the factory, my mother was expecting another
I

child. must have been winter, since I remember wearing padded

It

clothes. Okhui and I arrived at ChSngup station with Mr Kim, where

there were three other girls waiting. We all got on board a train and trav-
elled to Taejon, where Mr Kim bought us lunch. Then we boarded the
train again and travelled for three or four days, all the way to Manchuria.

65
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Somewhere around Fengcheng we asked Mr Kim why he had brought

us to He had, after all, promised to take us to
China instead of Japan.
Japan. He bluntly told us we must follow him. He handed us over to a
Japanese man and promptly disappeared. From then on, with this new
man, we continued our journey further north until we finally arrived
right at the top-most tip of Manchuria, although I still don't know what
the place was called. It was very cold, and it was crowded with soldiers.

There were mountains and rivers, and there were thousands of Chinese
and Koreans milling around.
The five of us from Chongup were led to a village of tents on the out-
skirts of the place where the Japanese military units were based. There
was a tents surrounding the troops. Whenever new soldiers
sea of
arrived, they would set up even more tents, because there was not
enough room for them in the barracks that had already been built. There
were already some 30 Korean women. We entered one tent. A soldier
there cut my hair short and gave me a Japanese name, Masako.
There were women in every tent. They washed the soldiers' clothes
and they cooked for $hem in the kitchens. There was no fresh water sup-
ply in the whole village. The soldiers delivered meals to us. We had
cooked rice mixed with barley, spinach or pickled radish, soup and occa-
sional fish balls. We could often hear guns firing in the distance, and
whenever there were air raids we were not allowed to light anything.
At first I delivered food for the soldiers and had to serve the rank and
file, to have sex with them. There were Japanese as well as Koreans

among the managers who instructed us where to go each day. On receiv-

ing orders we were called to the appropriate unit and served five or six
men a day. At times we would serve up to ten. We served the soldiers in
very small rooms with floors covered with Japanese-style mats, tatami.
There were many rooms. We lived in the tents and were summoned to
the barracks whenever required. We were given blankets by the army,
and when it was very cold we used hot water tins. The only toilets were
outside the tents, as were the bathrooms, and such facilities were separat-
ed for men and women. When the soldiers were away on an expedition
it was nice and quiet, but once they returned we had to serve many of

them. Then they would come to our rooms in a continuous stream. I

wept a lot in the early days. Some soldiers tried to comfort me saying
'kawaisoni which meant something like 'y ou poor
or 'naitara ikanyo
thing' and 'don't cry'. the soldiers would hit me because I
Some of
didn't understand their language. If we displeased them in the slightest
way they shouted at us and beat us: 'bakayaro or kisamayaro\ 'you idiot'i

and 'you bastard'. I realized that I must do whatever they wanted of me

if I wished to survive. There was no payment given to any of us for

66
 Oh Omok

cooking or washing clothes, but we were paid whenever we slept with

soldiers. The bills they handed over were blue and red. There were some
women who set up home with soldiers in tents, and a few of them even
had children.
The soldiers used condoms. We had to have a medical examination for
venereal infections once a week. Those infected took medicine and were
injected with 'No. 606'. Sometime later, became quite close to a
I

Lieutenant Morimoto, who arranged for Okhui and me to receive only

high-ranking officers. Once we began to exclusively serve lieutenants
and second lieutenants, our lives became much easier. When I was 21, in
1941, I had to have my appendix out, but the operation didn't go well
and I was readmitted to hospital for a second, follow-up operation. I

remember Morimoto coming to see me. The hospital chief was Japanese,
and the patients were mostly soldiers and Chinese women. The fee for
the operations must have been paid by the army. Afterwards I was able to
take a break from serving soldiers. During my convalescence I did vari-
ous chores: I cooked, filled bathtubs, heated the bath water and so forth.
We moved along with the army. cannot remember what was I it

We moved south in China. When we were stationed in Nanjing

called.

we were sometimes able to see films with the soldiers. We mainly

watched war films. The comfort station there was housed in a Chinese
building. It was not so cold there. We and wore Western style dresses

were able to buy Chinese clothes. Fukiko, Masako and

occasionally
Fumiko were among the five of us who went there together, but all the
others died except Fukiko. One of them died of serious syphilis. There
was a sign in front remember what it said. In
of the house, but I don't
Nanjing we had to serve many soldiers, just as usual. Whenever they
came into the building, we had to say 'irassyai. This meant 'welcome'.
There was a bed and a mirror in each room.
I cannot remember where it was, but we had todo training under the
supervision of the soldiers. Each of us wore a sash on our shoulder with
Women's National Defence Society written on it. We wore caps and baggy
black trousers. There were Japanese women and civilians who trained
with us, and after each training session we returned to our station.
was while we were there
It that we were liberated. There was a
Korean man from Kwangju who lived in Nanjing with his wife and fam-
trying to run a business. I used to call him my big brother, and we got
ily,

on very well. After Korea was liberated Okhui and I returned with this
man and his family. On our way back, many people with us died in a
but we were delivered safely. I wept and wept as we trav-
train accident,

elledback to our homeland, and 'big brother' tried to console me. He,
with his wife and family, went their own way half-way through the

67
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

journey, and Okhui and I were left alone. We noticed lots and lots of
Russian troops on the way, and there was a rumour going around that
they would take away young women, just as the Japanese had done
before them. So we smudged our faces with soot, and continued our
journey looking like tramps. In Shinuiji we stayed overnight in a Korean
guest-house. Russian soldiers rushed in during the night, apparently
looking for young women, so we hid in a wardrobe. They must have
gone, but we stayed confined in there all night.

We got on a ship from Shinuiju to Inch'Sn, and then took a train to

Chongup. I was wearing flat yellow shoes I had bought in China, and a

short-sleeved blouse. We bid goodbye to each other at the station, and I

took a rickshaw home. My brother, Kumsu, who was in primary school

at the time, still remembers me arriving on the rickshaw! My other
brother was cutting firewood, and when he heard I was home he
dropped everything and ran back to the house. My parents said that they
had given me up for dead. My mother was so shocked to see me after

such a long time that she fainted. After nine years in China, I found it

hard at first to understand my own language. I had a small bamboo bag

from Japan with me in which I carried some photographs and Chinese
shoes. But in order to forget that part of my life, I burnt these souvenirs
later on.

For a few years I stayed with my parents. I lied to them about my life
in China, saying I had worked as a domestic help. I was still young, and
felt that I could do anything with my life. My parents tried to find me a
husband, but I said I wanted to live alone. They finally found me a room,
and my mother bought me a pair of beautiful shoes, even though she was
still very poor. She also got me many herbal cordials to build up my
strength. After 1945, my parents were running a small restaurant in a
boarding house for policemen. My father died of illness in 1951, and at

the age of 33 I married a farmer whose wife had also died. I had been
told that he had two children from his first wife, but after the marriage I

found out that he had five! Marrying him meant I had to move to Seoul,
and I lived with him for a number of years, looking after those five chil-
dren. I found it hard to bring up someone else's kids, and I soon discov-
ered that I wasn't able to have any of my own. When I was 48 I left him,
taking with me the baby of my housemaid. I adopted that baby girl and
lived back in Chongup for three years, without letting anyone know my
exact whereabouts, not even up a my own brothers. It was hard to bring
child on my
own. I lived on cooked barley, working at silkworm farms
on a daily wage of 2500 won. I could not afford to send my adopted
daughter to school until she was nine but, seeing me struggling to
survive, she left school during her sixth grade and began to work in a

68
 Oh Omok

factory that made bamboo umbrellas. I didn't tell her that she had been
adopted, just that her father had died. She is 21 now, married to a
stonemason. They live in Asan county, South Ch'ungch'ong province.
They have a three-year-old son and are expecting a second child soon.
So that they were able to register the birth of their child, I had to register

the birth of my adopted daughter as my own daughter. I had been scared

to do this earlier.

Okhui used to say that, since we couldn't have children or be married,

we should live on our own. She used to visit me often and we would cry
together, talking about our miserable past. She, too, lived on government
aid until she died of cancer last year. I have been on the list to receive
state benefit for the past three years. In the autumn I work, picking red
peppers from their stalks. If I work from dawn until dusk, I get paid
something between 3000 and 5000 won ($4 to $6) a day. I have very lit-

tle income, so I don't pay any tax, but I have to pay 300,000 won ($375)
every ten months for my room. Last year I wasn't able to pay it. My only
wish is to be able to live without worrying about rent. And I still feel

resentful that I haven't been able to have children because of what hap-
pened almost 50 years ago.
CHAPTER 8

I Want to Live without Being

Treated with Contempt
Hwang Kumju

Hwang Kumju was born in 1922 in Puyo, the first daughter in a schol-
arly family. When herfather became critically ill, the family fortunes sank

and in 1934, at the age of 13, she left home and began work as a house-

maid. The Japanese head of the community was saying that one could
earn a great deal of money working in Japanese factories manufacturing
military necessities and said, almost as a threat, that at least one girl from
each household should work in such a factory. Taking the place of the

daughter of her employer, Hwang left Korea in 1941, when she was 20
(in Korean reckoning). She was taken by force to an army unit and
became a comfort woman.

Youth
I came from a well-born, scholarly, gentry family. My paternal grandfa-
ther was from Puyo in Ch'ungch'ong province and my maternal grand-
father from Suwon in Kyonggi. They had been close friends for many
years, and it is said that they promised to marry their children to each
other's children before they were even born. My paternal grandfather
died earlier than was normal. The year when my mother turned 17 and
my father 12 they married. 1

I was their first child, born in Puyo on 15 August 1922 according to

the lunar calendar. A second girl and a boy were born after me. We were
not financially well off, but my father was very bright and went to Japan
to study after graduation from a high school in Seoul. My maternal

1 Until the early twentieth century it was not uncommon, particularly amongst aristocrat-
ic or wealthy families, to arrange marriages before children reached puberty. The custom
of marrying a son at 12 or 13 meant that a child could be conceived at the earliest oppor-
The mention of Puyo, once the capital of a Korean prc-modern kingdom, and
tunity.
Suwon, a city to the south of Seoul, emphasizes the claimed aristocratic roots of Hwang's
family.

70
 Hwang Kumju

uncle, who was 20 years older than my father, ran a judicial scrivener's
office in Suwon and helped my father pay for his education. This support
was insufficient, and he had to do various odd jobs like shining shoes or

delivering newspapers in order to complete his studies. Just as he was

about to finish, his health began to fail. He returned to Korea and helped
my uncle at the office, but his illness gradually grew more serious. He
eventually came home to Puyo for treatment, but nothing seemed to
make him better, and the cost of the treatment used up what litde money
we had. Father took to his bed, reading newspapers which were not
freely available to the general public. I often had to go and fetch these
papers from the town office in the centre of Puyo.
One we heard of a special drug which cost 100 yen. We didn't
day,
have so much money sitting around, and could only continue to worry,
until a friend of my mother introduced us to a man from Hamhung who

ran a big business in Seoul. We told him of our predicament. He took

pity on my father and gave us the 100 yen. It wasn't a free gift. In
exchange for the money, I was fostered to him and started to help with
housework at the house of his mistress in Seoul. Later, I learned that
although my father had used the money to buy the medicine, he didn't
benefit from it. He died within a year. When I left home, I made up my

mind not to contact any of my family until Ibecame successful. I thought

I was doing my duty as a filial daughter. I was 13.
The man I went to work for was a Mr Ch'oe. His mistress was a cruel
woman who often beat me. I tolerated her harshness for two years before
I Mr Ch'oe how was being treated. He said he had guessed as much
told I

and sent me to his own wife, who was then living in Hamhung. The man
who accompanied me on the journey to Hamhung was paid 100 yen by
my foster mother. So the debt had to pay back was now increased to 200
I

yen, and knowing this always lay heavy on my mind. Mr Ch'oe had two
sons and two daughters. His wife was a kinder woman and she sent me to
evening school when I turned 17. It was called the Hamhung Ladies
Institute, and was run by a large church. It had four classes, grades one
through four. I attended the first two grades, studying mainly Japanese and
mathematics. We had only two hours a week for Korean lessons. By now,
I was particularly good at knitting and sewing.
I took a year off after two years
at the Institute. The community head

of the village where we

was Japanese, and he stayed in a rented
lived
house right behind ours. We often saw his wife and children, but we saw
very litde of him. His wife went around the village, saying 'If you go to
work for three years in a military goods factory in Japan, you will earn a
lot of money. At one person from each household must go to work
least

there.' I had heard of a government official who had sent his daughter to

71
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

a factory to work, and there was a woman in our neighbourhood who

had returned after having earned a great deal of money in such a Japanese

factory.So I had no doubt that these factories actually existed. There

were three girls, including me, with my foster parents. I felt that at least
one of us would have to agree to go to a factory to work. The eldest son
of my foster parents was at university in Seoul, and the second was
attending a university in Japan. The youngest daughter was in high
school and the eldest had finished Hamhung Girls High School and was
preparing to go to Japan to further her education. My foster mother was
worried, because the head's wife kept nagging her to send one of the
girls. So I volunteered to go. I thought it wouldn't do for the daughters,
who should be studying, to go. And I reckoned that if I went I would be
able to pay my 200 yen debt. I thought I would easily be able to pay the
money back if I worked for three years. My foster mother was touched
with my idea and promised to find me a good husband once I returned
after the required period away. It was February 1941 according to the
lunar calendar, and I was 20.
Two girls were drafted from the neighbourhood. The community
head's wife told us when and where to meet, and I accordingly went to
Hamhung station at the appointed hour. There, I found about 20 girls

gathered from different counties. Most of them looked about 15 or 16,

and I seemed to be the oldest. We had no farewell ceremony, but many
families and relatives came to see the girls off. I was wearing a black skirt
and a white silk blouse, and carried a black cotton bundle which held my
underwear, sanitary towels, soap, a toothbrush, a comb, digestive tablets
and several sets of winter and summer clothes. All of this, I reckoned,
would last me the three years. A man in his fifties met us and handed us
over to a Japanese soldier. The soldier put us on board a long train of car-
riages, and all the other carriages except ours were full of soldiers. In our
carriage there were about 50 women, including us. There could have
been more women in other parts of the train, but I'm not sure. In ours,
the 20 of us who had met at Hamhung station soon became friends, but
we didn't get to know all the others. The windows were covered with
black greaseproof paper which could be pulled down as blinds. Having to
leave home made everyone sad, so we sat, rather quiet, lost in our sor-
row. Before we pulled away, and as looked out through a gap in the I

blinds, saw the soldier who had led us to the train hand over a roll of
I

papers to a military policeman. He received a second roll of papers in

exchange. The two seemed to be exchanging some kind of document.
As I watched, my heart suddenly sank. This scene kept recurring in my
mind for many years afterwards. I can still vividly remember it. The train

was guarded by military police at each entrance; we were trapped.

72
 Hwang Kumju

We couldn't look outside because of the blinds on the windows, nor

were any lights put on. So we sat in darkness for the journey. But we
sensed that the train was moving northwards. As I had expected to go to
Seoul, I felt uneasy when it kept moving towards the north, but there
was no one to ask what was happening. Sometimes the train stopped in
tunnels, and at nights it didn't would creep along slowly.
speed up; it

Several times we had to get off and stay in some sort of storeroom. We

might have changed trains, but I cannot remember that clearly. We were
given a ball of cooked rice with water twice a day. That was our food.
We had no way of knowing the hours that were passing, but after about
two or perhaps three days, the train stopped. We were herded off the
train as a loudspeaker announced something. We asked what was being

said and were told that we had arrived in Jilin, China.

In front of the station were trucks, all soiled with dirt and dust, their
covers torn. We were divided into groups and pushed on to the trucks.
Each of us held on to the bundles containing our belongings. The trucks
drove for a few hours, bumping up and down as they traversed a very
rough track.

Inhumanity
The trucks put us down at a place where only barrack after barrack could
be seen. There was not one ordinary house on the horizon. We were
allowed one of the many barracks called a koya and stayed there the
night. Our koya was a roundish hut built of tin. The floor was laid with
boards covered with tatami. We were each given a blanket and a quilt.

But it was so cold that we huddled up to each other to keep warm

through the night. At that time I thought to myself that our job must be
to cook and wash clothes for the soldiers. There were a few women who
had been there when we arrived, and they said to us: 'Poor things, you
are dead now.' We asked what our job was, and they replied: 'It is a job,
but not a job in the ordinary sense. Just do what you are told. If you
don't, you will be beaten to death.'
The next came and took us away one by one. I was taken
day, soldiers
to an officer. He was sitting near his bed and asked me to come over. He
tried to hug me. I resisted, saying that I would do anything, cleaning,

washing and so on. But he ignored me and tried to embrace me again.

When I continued to resist he slapped me on the face. I begged him to
leave me alone, but he told me to do as I was told, to which I replied I
would rather die than oblige him. He grabbed my skirt and pulled it so
hard that it was torn from the belt. To this point I was still wearing that
black skirt and white blouse I had on when I left Hamhung and had my
long hair braided. Left in my underwear, I knelt before him and pleaded

73
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

with him to spare me. He grabbed me by my hair, pulled me up and

ripped my underwear off with a knife. I was so shocked that I fainted.

When came round, sometime later, he was sitting a few paces away
I

from me wiping sweat from his brow. A soldier came in and took me
away. had to grab my underwear around me and wrap myself in my
I

torn skirt. The women who had been there when we arrived said: 'Do
you see what we mean? We won't be able to leave this place alive.'
The officers called for us three or four times a day for the first fortnight
or so. The new girls were to serve the officers, as they were virgins. The
officers didn't use condoms, so quite a few of us became pregnant quite
early on, but we were naive and weren't aware of it. I was all right, but

those who fell pregnant were injected with 'No. 606'. They began to
feel chilly, their bodies swelled, and they started to discharge blood. They
were then taken to the hospital to have an abortion. After this had hap-
pened three or four times, they became barren.
After perhaps a fortnight of this rude awakening, I was moved to a
comfort station, leaving my luggage in the koya. The station was a

makeshift building, and each main room was divided into five or six
small cubicles by wooden planks. The entrance to each cubicle was
draped with a blanket as a substitute for a door. There were three or four
buildings built in a row. I heard that there were more comfort stations in
addition to these. There was no sign outside. The cubicle had a wooden
floor covered with a blanket and was just big enough for one person to
he down, leaving sufficient room for another person to stand at the side.
Each day when our duties were over, we were supposed to go back to
the koya to sleep. But often the soldiers came till late at night or all

through the night, and sometimes we were too tired to return to our hut.
So, more often than not, we slept at the station. It was bitterly cold there

with just a single blanket to cover us. We took our meals in an army can-
teen, and the soldiers cooked for us. The meals were mainly rice, soya
bean soup and pickled radish. When we first arrived, we were given
baggy trousers, a short jacket, military socks, a cap, black canvas shoes, a
padded coat and padded trousers. Later we were given some kind of mil-
itary training suit. Later still, we had
the supply completely stopped, and
to wear the clothes that had been discarded by soldiers. When we
entered 1945, the supply shortage became so serious that we were not
given any clothes anymore. The supply of vegetables also stopped, as did
that of soy sauce and soya bean paste. We had to eat balls of rice cooked
in salt water. That was it.

There were no fixed hours for the soldiers to visit us, and officers and
the rank and file came at the same time. The officers didn't come often,

I suppose because they were afraid of catching venereal infection. On

74
 Hwang Kumju

weekdays, each of us had to serve 30 to 40 men, but at weekends there

were even more soldiers lined up outside the station, some of them with
their trousers down and underpants already off. Some got so impatient
that they lifted the curtains and entered the rooms while their colleagues

were still going at it. If anyone took slightly longer than usual, they
would shout at him 'Hayaku! hayakuV, 'Hurry, hurry'. Those who were
facing an imminent battle used all their strength, and some of them wept
as they carried on with us. On such occasions I could even feel pity for

them. All the soldiers were different. Some came already wearing con-
doms. Some asked me to put condoms on for them, and some didn't
bother to bring protection at all. We were given a box of condoms each,
and I initially reckoned that if I didn't have any, many of the soldiers
wouldn't come to me. So I threw the condoms away. But the soldiers

still came, and I While working there, I was never

was the one to suffer.
paid. No cash and no tickets were given to me.

During the first year we had to go to the hospital two or three times a
month to have medical check-ups. But after that year, a military surgeon
came to one of the barracks and set himself up in a room which looked
like an office equipped with the necessary bits and pieces. He disinfected
us, applied ointment or gave the dreaded 'No. 606' injection. We hardly
saw a female nurse. After continuing like this for about a year, not a sin-
gle one of us remained in good health. Most of us had been pregnant two
or three times or had caught various infections. Women with serious
problems were put into isolated rooms and were allocated the use of
separate bathing facilities and toilets. When they recovered they were
brought back. We were treated in this way up to two times, but if
anyone came back ill for a third time she was taken away by a soldier and
we never saw her again. There was one whose lower abdomen began
girl

to fester with yellow pus. Her face became yellow and swelled up. She
was taken away by and never returned. Of the 20 of us who had
a soldier
started Hamhung station, in the end I alone was left.
out together from
All the others disappeared. Some became ill and disappeared, and some
were moved to other places. Seven new women who arrived to replace
them were also taken away one after another, and in the end only seven
women were left in the whole koya. We were all Koreans, and we were
all stricken with illness.
We
were given some sort of cotton wool to use during our monthly
periods.But the supply of cotton stopped after a year, and from then
onwards we either stole someone else's sanitary towel as it was drying on
the washing line or collected, washed and used gaiters discarded by the
soldiers. If we were caught taking the gaiters, we would be beaten up;
the soldiers regarded this sort of thing as unlucky.

75
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

The comfort women in the military unit were not treated like human
beings. We were beaten almost every day. If we looked at the moon, we
were hit as the soldiers we were thinking of. If we talked to
asked what
ourselves they hit us again, saying we must be swearing at them. We
were told to behave as if we didn't see anything or hear anything. So we
walked about with our hands covering our eyes. If we tried to take a
walk outside the barracks we were kicked back inside. So we had no
opportunity to look around at where we were. don't know what the I

name of the unit was, nor can I remember the names, the faces or the
ranks of the soldiers. I was particularly rebellious, and earned more beat-
ings than the other girls. Even now, my ears sometimes go fuzzy and I

can't hear anything for a while. I have strong magnetic strips attached to
my knees and hips. If I take these off to have a bath and forget to put
them back on, then my knees and hips swell up within five or six hours,

and am unable to sit down.

I

One day, when I was unable to serve soldiers because my womb had
swollen and was bleeding, an officer ordered me to suck his penis. He
claimed I was not able to do what he called my 'duty'. I shouted at him:
'I'd rather eat your shit than suck you!' This made him very angry. He
beat me and threw me about, shouting 'Konoyaro koroside yarouka,
something like 'I am going to kill you, you bitch'. I blacked out, and
when I came round I was told that I had been in a coma for three days.
Among the women, there was a girl who had been captured by sol-

diers on the street when she was in China visiting relatives during the
school holidays. She was about 20 by the time I knew her. The women
in my koya were all Korean except for one Chinese. Many of the
Koreans came from the North, though there was one from Nonsan, in
the South. Like myself, most of them had been cheated by being told the
he that they were going to earn money in factories making military sup-
plies. There was no one soldier that I was particularly close to, though I

got quite familiar with someone from the medical corps for a short time.

He worked in the army hospital and I got to the stage of asking him to
look after my friends who were very ill in the koya. I knew him only for
a very short time and, besides him, there was no one else I got close to. I

didn't have time to feel lonely, since we were kept too busy serving the
soldiers.

One day, we weresome army personnel were moving to a

told that
different place, and to go with them we could do so. I
if we wanted
thought somewhere else might be better than where I was being held
and decided to go along with them. About ten of us left together. We
were taken on the back of a lorry, but I was so travelsick that I wasn't
able to look around. We might have been travelling on a boat for some

76
 Hwang Kumju

time. I can't remember clearly. The soldiers dropped us at a comfort sta-

tion which looked similar to the one where I had been before. I don't
know where we were, but at night the bombing was very heavy, and we
weren't allowed to put on any lights. There were already a few women

there, two Chinese and some Koreans, and these old hands told us that
even if we were let out and given our freedom we would only drown. It
didn't seem to be an army unit. Most of the men that used the station
were sailors, and from time to time we had to deal with military person-
nel from different units. Here the men were even more cruel; they were
savage. Those who knew they were about to go into combat were even
worse. It was simply unbearable. After eight or nine months, the unit
began a retreat towards Jilin, and I alone followed them, risking my life.
In this way I managed to return to the station where I had started from.
Sometime after I had got back to Manchuria, Korea was liberated.

Abandoned
One evening, there was no call for supper. There seemed to be nobody
around, and it was strangely silent. I crept out of the barracks and could
find no trucks, vehicles or horses. There were only mats hanging on the
barbed wire, mats being blown by the strong wind. I crept quiedy to the
dining room and found the place completely deserted. There was not a
single human being in sight. Then, as I was drinking some water a soldier
appeared. He said he had returned after he had been sent on an errand to
some far away, remote mountain, only to find the unit deserted. He said
he had been left a memo from his officer telling him to leave this place
immediately. me 'An atom bomb has fallen in Japan and we have
He told
been defeated. would be best if you returned to your own country. If
It

you stay on here you will be killed by the Chinese.'

I rushed back to the koya and told the seven remaining women what I

had heard. All seven were Korean. They said they were too ill to go any-
where and told me to leave on my own. I hated to leave them, but I felt
I had no choice. I left the koya and went back to the dining room, but

the soldier had already disappeared. It was quite cold for August, so I put

on three training suits abandoned by the soldiers and found an odd pair
of chikadabi shoes for my feet. I tied my lice-infested hair in a scarf, and
began to run.
The unit was much larger than I had expected. I had to pass three gates
and then a fourth and final gate of barbed wire. I had to walk about 12
km before I began to see anybody. I walked a little further, and the roads
began to be packed with soldiers, labourers and their families. I walked
along with them, begging food from people who were cooking on the
roadside or from villages. I slept on the road, crouched before fires made

77
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

by other people as they went along in this mass exodus. As I walked, I

changed my clothes into whatever I could find, and got some different
shoes. I reached Korea, and around Ch'unch'on I hitched a lift on a
cargo train carrying coal. Finally, I arrived at Ch'ongnyangni station in

Seoul. was the beginning of December.

It

I stepped into a restaurant and begged for food. When I told the
owner that I had come all the way from Manchuria, she gave me some
scraps. I wept. And I wept. I didn't want to go home in this state,
As I ate

so I owner that I had no way of finding my family or relatives.

told the
She took pity on me and told me I could stay with her. I had a bath and
put on an old cardigan and baggy trousers she gave to me. She cut my
hair short, combed out the lice and sprayed my scalp with DDT. I
worked in her restaurant for three years and saved a little money. After
that I worked in the T'aech'ang Textile Factory until I was 27.
I kept needing treatment for venereal infection with penicillin I could
only obtain from an American military unit. It took me a further ten

years of treatment to be completely healed. In my third year of working

in the factory, the Korean War broke out, and I was evacuated further
south, taking only my savings book. On my way I found two orphans
and handed them to an orphanage after looking after them for a short
while. Later on I came across three more orphans whom I handed over
to another orphanage. After the war, I settled down in Ch'ongp'yong
and cultivated a farm for four or five years. I brought the three orphans I

had met latterly to the farm and raised them. One of them died, but a

boy and a girl have grown up and married. They still come to see me. At
times, I thought of ending my life, for it was too difficult to continue liv-

ing on my own.
came back to Seoul and kept a small stall that sold veg-
I

etables. Then I tried selling cooked noodles for a while. At present I run

a small cafe in Sriillim-dong, south of the river in Seoul. I manage to

make a living, but with some difficulty. I do everything on my own.

Every other morning I rise at 5.00 a.m. and go to the market at either
Yongdungp'o, Karak or Yongsan to buy groceries. I need to have five or
six cups of coffee every day to keep me going. My knees often hurt. I

had my womb removed some time back. wonder how can live the I I

rest of my life without continually being looked down upon and without

being ill.

I have lived my life with a resentful heart. I have wanted to tell my

government what I have had to suffer, but I haven't been given the
opportunity. In November 1991, at 10.00 p.m., I watched Kim Haksun
tell The following morning, I rang the
her story on national television.
number which had been shown, and met up with her. She showed me
how to report what had happened to me.

78
 Hwang Kumju

I left home thinking I was doing my duty as a faithful child. But that
action ruined my life. From now on, I would like to live the rest of my
days without being ignored by others. It is my wish to help poor people
and eventually to die without being a burden on others.

79
CHAPTER 9

I So Much Wanted to Study

Mun P'ilgi

Mun P'ilgi was bom in 1925, in South Kyongsang province, into a fam-

ily that was not particularly poor, but was burdened by raising two sons
and nine daughters. She wanted to learn so much that her mother sent her
to school when she was nine, without telling herfather. He was very much
against it, and she had to give up. In 1943, when she was 18, a man in

the neighbourhood promised her that she would be able to study and earn
some money at the same time. She left home and ended up in a comfort

station in Manchuria.

I was born in 1925 in Chisu district, Chinyang county, South Kyongsang

province. My parents kept a small shop selling potatoes, fish, fruits and
sweets. It was mainly my
mother who ran the shop, while my father
either bought the stock or went to sell goods at market. We also owned
some paddy fields and vegetable plots. There were eleven of us children,
two boys and nine girls. But three of the girls died when they were very
young. As my mother didn't have any sons at first, my father had a son by
a mistress and brought him home to join us when the boy was six. After

that my mother gave birth to her own son. She was 41.
I was called Miyoko when I was little. I wasn't allowed to go to

school. When I was nine, mother sold about 10 kg of rice to pay for my
tuition and bundled me off to school. My father soon found out. He said
that if a girl studied she would become too foxy. He rushed into my
classroom, dragged me home and burnt all my books. That was the last of
my education. His anger didn't abate with that.
1

He beat me and threw

1 In Korea, education was a male prerogative, at least until the late nineteenth century
when foreigners setup mission schools such as Ehwa specifically for girls. The attitude
that education was wasteful for girls continued to be widely held until after the Second
World War, on the grounds that women became mothers and housewives and so had little
use for education geared to finding employment. Poverty also had a part to play; given
limited financial resources, it was considered better to spend on educating sons who could
look after their parents in old age.

80
 MUN P'lLGI

me out of the house, and I had to stay at my uncle's for a while. It was
only after I promised that I would never go to school again that I was
allowed to return home. I resented the fact that I wasn't allowed to get
any education and I used to say to myself that Iwould somehow go on
studying without my parents knowing it. I promised myself I would
become an intellectual. Then, I used to say, I would be able to live with
my head held high. I was quite ambitious. I couldn't see much future in
country life, and I thought to myself that would never allow myself to
I

be married to a rural farmer. I so much wanted to go to school and learn.

If I had been boy I would have been able to study as much as I wanted.
a

The girls born before me had all died, so I had to do the work of the
eldest child. From the age of nine, I did housework at home, helped with

the vegetable plot and worked on our cotton field. I did spinning and
weaving. I also helped my mother in the shop. The shop sold cooked
sweet potatoes, and it was my job to cook them. We employed daily
hands for our paddy field and I had to cook meals for them each day. All
my work was for the sin of having been born the first daughter.
In our village there was a man in his fifties who worked as an agent for
the Japanese. One day he approached me and told me he would give me
an introduction to a place where I could both learn and earn money. I
had been so resentful that I hadn't been able to study, and his proposition
was so attractive, that I told him I would like to take him up on the offer.
Somehow I felt that if my parents knew, they would be very angry, so I
kept the whole thing a secret from them. It was autumn 1943 and I was
18. The housework was hard, and my father hadn't allowed me to go to

school, so I wanted to leave home to study and to earn my living.

After a few days, the man came to see me at dusk and told me to fol-
low him. He said he wanted to take me somewhere for a few minutes.
So I crept out of the house without saying anything to my parents. We
walked for a little while, to a place not far from home. It was quiet; there
were few houses around. There, I saw there was a truck parked, with a

Japanese policeman, Tanaka, who worked at the village police station.

The two men told me to get on the truck, and the truck drove us off to
Pusan. Our departure was so sudden that I had nothing with me except
what I was wearing at the time: a dark skirt and a blouse.
The men took me to a hairdresser's shop. They wanted to have my
long hair cut short, and though I tried hard to stop them, it was soon
done. Then the man from my neighbourhood left me with the police-
man and told me I must do whatever he told me if I wanted to study.
The policeman handed me a maroon dress and told me to put it on in
place of my blouse and skirt. He said the clothes I had were too dirty and
I should change into something clean and pretty. There were four more

81
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Korean girls there beside me. One was still wearing a school uniform.
We had breakfast in a restaurant, and the five of us got on a train at Pusan
station. Some carriages were reserved for civilians and some for soldiers,

and we were led to a carriage set aside for soldiers. A Japanese soldier led

us inside and made us sit apart from one another so that we couldn't talk.

The train passed Seoul, P'yongyang and Shinuiju and then went on to
Manchuria. On the way it picked up five or six more Korean girls.

Assaulted
The girls were allocated to different comfort stations in Manchuria. I

don't remember the name of the district nor the name of the army unit
to which I was assigned. Even when I had actually arrived at the unit, I
didn't know what I was supposed to do. The winter up there was very
long and bitterly cold. The summer was short and cool, almost like a
Korean autumn.
There were about 30 women in my station, and they were all

Koreans. Quite a lot came from what is today North Korea, but there
were some from Pusan. They were mostly 18 or 19 years old. Among
them, some had been students when they had been dragged there. As my
name was Miyoko, they called me 'Mich'ang', a sort of Korean equiva-
and Kiyoko became my best friend. She was beautiful and said she
lent,

had been a kisaeng, an entertainment girl, in P'yongyang. She said she

had come to the comfort station because she had been cheated by a man
who told her that she could work in a better place. That man, she said,

was one of the Koreans who actually worked at the comfort station. At
the request of Japanese soldiers he had gone to Kiyoko's place and
coaxed her to come. In the station, there were two men from North
Korea, and a Chinese who did the cleaning and various odd jobs. The
wife of one of the Koreans came to the station to visit her husband from
time to time. When she came, she cooked for us. The soldiers stationed
near the comfort station took turns to guard us. The job of the two
Koreans was to watch over us and to handle the tickets that we were
given by soldiers. The Koreans wore yellow-green uniforms with a
badge on the front. One of them didn't harass us, but the other one, the
shorter of the two, beat us and molested us cruelly. And if we tried to

resist him, or we fought any of the soldiers, he would beat us more

severely than ever.
The station was built in the Japanese style, positioned near an army
unit. It was L-shaped and had two storeys. Both floorswere used for the
comfort station. There was a sign at the front gate, but since I was illiter-
ate I still don't know what it said. It was surrounded by a wall. On the
ground floor the two Korean men had rooms, and there was a dining

82
 MUN P'lLGI

room. On the first floor the women had rooms, each one the size of one
and a half tatami mats. There was a coal-burning fireplace on one wall
with which the room was heated. We were given a room each, and in
each room was bedding, clothes hangers and some cosmetics.
When we first arrived, we had to undergo a medical examination to
see if any of us had venereal disease. They actually wanted to find out if
we were virgins. The army surgeon gave me work in the hospital. I

learned to dress and bandage soldiers' wounds. I washed clothes and

sheets. I did hospital work during the day, and at night I had to sleep with
the surgeon. It was he who took my virginity. I had been brought up to
value my chastity, and I believed it to be important. So I wept a lot. I

thought I was ruined. While I worked in the hospital, I didn't have to

serve any soldiers except the surgeon. But after a few months, I was
forced to stop working there. I became a comfort woman full-time.
Sometimes, when there were many wounded soldiers, I was called back
to the hospital to help nurse them.
All of us wore the same dresses. We were given several sets of clothes,
so we were not short of things to wear. The fireplace was lit all the time
except in summer, so we didn't have to wear warm underwear. We
washed our own clothes. Our hair was bobbed. For meals we were given
ricemixed with millet, pickled radish and the Korean staple, kimch'i,

made from white cabbages. For breakfast we had soya bean soup. On
Japanese holidays we were occasionally given meat. We had two meals a
day, breakfast and supper. We took turns to cook.
My menstruation started when I was already working at the station. I

panicked at first, thinking I had caught a disease, but Kiyoko made sani-
tary towels for me and told me what to do. At weekends, when many
soldiers visited us, we had to serve them even if it was the time of the
month for our period. Menstruation was the hardest time for me.
On weekdays we usually had to gather in the yard for a morning
assembly, and at times the soldiers came to give us air-raid drills. The
assembly took place three or four times a week, and all of us had to recite
the imperial pledge. We promised to be loyal to Japan and we sang
Japanese military songs. The soldiers were out fighting during the day
and usually came to us in the evenings. Once in a while a few soldiers
were on leave and would come during the day. We had about ten sol-
diers On Saturdays and Sundays, the soldiers would come
every evening.
from 8.00 a.m. We
were given lunch at the weekends, so we were able
to have three meals. But we had to serve soldiers all through the day,
except for those few sparse minutes reserved for meals. After 7 o'clock in
the evening, the officers would come. They usually arrived early and
stayed all night, going back to their units early the following morning.

83
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

They were all Japanese. I so wanted to meet a Korean soldier and pour
out my sorrow to him, but during my three years at the station I never
saw one. I remember that there were some women who said they had
met Koreans.
Every time the soldiers came to us, they gave us a brown ticket, half
the size of our hand, with the price written on The officers' tickets
it.

had higher prices than those of the rank and file. Some soldiers tried to
leave without handing over their tickets. Those who stayed longer than
the allotted time were asked to hand over more than one ticket, and
sometimes we odd soldier away without taking any payment
sent the
when we had taken pity on him. We weren't able to keep the tickets, but
gave them straight to the Korean managers. They counted them and
recorded them on a big chart that showed the number of soldiers each of
us served in any given day. Because men than the others I
I served fewer
was often told off. I was made to serve about ten men when it was quiet
and 40 or 50 on a Saturday or Sunday. We only handed in the tickets; we
were never paid. We were never able to save for anything and we never
demanded money. And the soldiers didn't give us any money.
On weekdays I washed my clothes. I also washed condoms. I had to
wash the condoms thoroughly once they had been used, and disinfect
them so they could be used again. At first, I had no idea how to wash
them, and it took one month of watching and learning from others to
find the best way to prepare them. Each of us kept 40 or 50 prophylac-
tics. When one had been used three times or so, we would throw it away
and replace it with a new one. Many of the soldiers had crabs. We often
caught lice from them. Kiyoko and I helped each other remove them
from our pubic hair with a pin.
The soldiers would queue up outside each door, waiting their turn.
There were frequent quarrels tried to jump the queue.
as one or another
They waited with their gaiters already off. If one of them tried to stay in
our room longer than the normal time, the others would make a fuss,
knocking at the door and shouting for him to hurry. A low-ranking sol-
dier was allowed 30 minutes, but an officer got an hour. Most of the men
finished within five minutes.
The soldiers were meant to use condoms. Most were afraid of
venereal infection and readily put one on, and some even brought their
own. But there were a few who refused. I would then insist, saying that
otherwise they would catch venereal disease from me. Sometimes, I
threatened to report them to their superiors. I would plead with them to
comply in order that both of us should not be infected. It was bad
enough to have been dragged down this far; I didn't want to make my
life any worse by catching a disease. So I insisted. After I served a soldier

84
 MUN P'lLGI

I would go to the bathroom downstairs and wash myself with water and
disinfectant. I was then ready for the next soldier. Among the soldiers
were some who, maybe because they hadn't been with a woman for a
long time, ejaculated as soon as they entered my room. I fought against
any who harassed me or treated me badly, but if I fought, the soldiers
waiting outside would shout for us to stop wasting time and hurry up. I

was frequendy hit.

There were many times when I was almost killed. If I refused to do

what one man asked, he would come back drunk and threaten me with
his sword. Others simply arrived drunk, and had intercourse with their
swords stuck in the tatami. This left the tatami scarred, but this sort of
behaviour was more a threat to make me accede to their desires and give
them satisfaction. If that threat didn't work, they would pull the sword
from the tatami and point it at me. Then, I either had to escape quickly
or lie to them in some way, telling them that one of their compatriots
was calling from outside.
I had been there for about a year when a soldier threatened me so

interminably that I became furious and kicked out at him. He tore all
my clothes off, beat me and took out his sword. He rushed out, fetched
a red-hot iron bar and pressed it against my armpit. I suffered from the
resulting burn for three months. Officers who stayed overnight would
also keep harassing me, demanding sex several times, and allowing me
no time to get off to sleep. There was one who came totally drunk and
would throw up throughout the night, trying to climb on top of me at
the same time. I was repulsed by this sort of behaviour and really
couldn't tolerate it.

Every time a soldier tormented me, I wished that I had listened to my

parents. would remind myself that I had only myself to blame for this
I

fate. When the sun went down, thoughts about my parents would make

me unbearably sad. If only I had listened to them and agreed to get mar-
ried when they had asked me! What was so good about studying that I
had been willing to desert my parents and my home, to come all this
way, and to suffer like this? I was in deep despair. I missed home so much
that I wept every day, and if I listened to anybody else's sad story I would
break into tears. I fell ill, thinking of my mother and my home. I had no
wish to live anymore. At times of depression like this the surgeon would
give me tranquillizers or herbal tonics.
I went to see a film with the surgeon once. We took a bus to the cine-
ma and watched a Japanese film, Tsubaki hime. And once, with his per-
mission, I was able to look around outside the comfort station. Except for
these two outings, I never went beyond the confines of the station. The
guards were always there, watching us. They were afraid that we might

85
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

plan an escape together, so they didn't allow us to congregate and talk. As

a result we women didn't know each other very well. Once a week we
had to go to hospital for medical tests for venereal disease. We had our
urine and blood examined. I once caught gonorrhoea and was treated
with the injection, 'No. 606', and an ointment which got rid of it. While
I was suffering from disease I didn't have to serve soldiers but simply rest-

ed, so life became somewhat easier. Apart from this, I was never ill.
Since I wasilliterate, Kiyoko from P'yongyang wrote a letter for me to
my parents. We didn't dare write the sender's address, only the receiver's.
I asked a Chinese boy who worked in the station to post it for me.
Because I had ended up in such a miserable place, and because this was
due tomy yearning to study, asked my parents to
I do everything in their
power to send my brothers and sisters to school. I didn't tell them I was
a comfort woman, but simply said I was well.

Back Home
The war ended during my third year at the comfort station. Suddenly, all

the soldiers disappeared. Nobody came to visit us. For a while, our nights
were peaceful. Then one day, Russian soldiers rushed into the building,
pointing their guns straight at us. They tried to get our clothes off. Now
that the Japanese had gone, the Russians were trying to rape us! The
North Korean proprietor urged us to flee, leaving our belongings
behind. He, his wife, Kiyoko and myself put soot on our faces, slipped
through the back door of the station, and ran as fast as we could. I don't
know what happened to the other went our own ways
women. We all

running off in different directions. My small group hitched a lift on an

open cargo train as far as the Yalu river and then walked to Hungnam on
the east coast of North Korea. The Korean couple and Kiyoko were
from the North, so I said goodbye at that point. Then I walked day and
night, without any proper food, through P'yongyang and Kaesong, until

I finally arrived in Seoul. At Seoul station I was able to get a ball of

cooked rice and a train ticket home. I felt so relieved when I held that
ticket in my hand.
Everyone was shocked to see me. It was as if I had come back from the
grave, they said. They thought I had died. I found that my father had
passed away a htde time before. My mother tried to a husband find me
but I had no intention of getting married. I couldn't bear the thought of
becoming someone's wife, not with my past as a comfort woman to
haunt me. But I couldn't tell my mother what I had been doing. I simply
said I had been to school and then had worked in a factory. I couldn't

stay at home, and left after a year. I went to my cousin's guest-house in

Chinju. I helped her for a while, then left. I wandered about Mokp'o,

86
 MUN P'lLGI

Kwangju, Chonju and other places, working when I could in drinking

houses.But I couldn't stand having men trying to approach me, so I
went back home. I moved around in fear that someone might recognize
me as a former comfort woman.
I raised some money and moved to Masan, where I rented a house to
run as a guest-house and drinking house. People used to tell me that I

should get married instead of keeping a place of such low repute like a
drinking house. While there, I met a man working in a permanent gang
on the railway. I was 36. We moved to Seoul and started to live togeth-

er. He was eight years older than me, and we didn't ever have much
affection for each other. In Seoul he worked on the railway, and I stayed
at home doing the housework. Sometimes I had to go out to do manual
work, because he didn't earn enough to make ends meet. He drank
every day. He caused me much mental pain. He had already been mar-
ried, and had children, but he initially kept this a secret from me. I tried

to leave him many times, but always in vain. We lived together without
getting married, and in the end he died of an illness, leaving me just his

debts.
At the moment I live alone, but with my sister's grandchild. I was so
lonely that I brought the child to live with me when he was four years
old. I work on a Saemaid Undong (New Village) job creation project. I 2

also work in the evenings for my neighbours whenever they need me for
1000 w5n ($1.25) an hour. I live in a rented, half-basement room, pay-
ing 70,000 won ($880) each month and 1,500,000 won ($1900) deposit.
I saw a poster about the Korean Council in a stationery shop in my
neighbourhood, and listened to the testimonies of former comfort
women on television. To release my pent-up resentment, I reported to
the Council in June 1992. I hesitated a lot, but I feel so relieved to pour
out the things that have been piled up in my heart for so many years.

2 The Saemaul Undong was initiated in the early 1970s by the South Korean regime of
Park Chung Hee as a way of promoting rural development. Based on clubs set up by the
American authorities in post-liberation Korea, it aims to increase living standards by sup-
porting the introduction of new crop strains, promoting the building of roads and com-
munal facilities, and actively developing job creation projects.

87
CHAPTER 10

Return My Youth to Me
Yi Yongsu

Yi Yongsu was bom in 1928 in Taegu, the only daughter of a poor fam-
ily. Due to financial difficulties she had to leave school after attending for

less than a year. While she stayed at home, she looked after her younger
brothers for her mother. Her mother was a wet-nurse. She then worked in

a ginnery for a time. Tempted by a Japanese man, she left home with a

friend and was taken to a comfort station in Taiwan.

I was born on 13 December 1928, in Kosong ward, North district,

Taegu city, the only daughter of a poverty-stricken family. There were

nine of us: my grandmother, father, mother, an older brother, myself and
four younger brothers. I started to attend Talsong Elementary School,
but had to give up within a year because my parents couldn't afford the
fees. When I was 13 1 went to evening classes for a short period, where I

used a Japanese name, Yasuhara Riyosyu. I learned Japanese and I learned

to sing, accompanied by the organ. I was not very bright at school work,
but I did enjoy singing. One of the male Japanese teachers told me that I

sang well. Although I attended evening school for about a year, I often
missed classes since I had to work in a factory during the day.
My mother was a wet-nurse for a wealthy family who lived in front of
Sujong Elementary School, and it was my job to look after my younger
siblings. The house we lived in, together with the paddy field and veg-
etable plot we cultivated, belonged to a wealthy family, the same family
for whom my mother worked. From the age of nine to 13, I worked in

a ginnery in Ch'ilsong ward managed by a Japanese man. They fed cot-

ton balls into gins and made cotton wool. The place was full of dust. One
day I witnessed a terrible accident. A man was dragged into the machine
and his head was smashed. After that I hated working there, but I had to
continue as my family needed the money. When I was 15, I was drafted
to the training group for the Voluntary Corps in Ch'ilsong Elementary
School. Boys and girls lined up separately for training, and we did exer-
cises and marched in neat lines. We also had to march home at the end of

88
 Yl Yongsu

each day. It was autumn 1944, and I was 16 years old. My father was a

casual labourer carrying rice from the warehouse. I had a friend called

Kim Punsun who was the same age as me and whose mother sold wine.
One day went to see her for a chat, and her mother said: 'Look at your-
I

self] Poor thing! You haven't even got proper shoes. I'll tell you what,

why don't you go somewhere with my daughter? I hear that you can
have everything you want there. You'll be able to eat nice food. You can
even help your family.' She was talking about Japan. I certainly looked a

mess in my rags.

After a few days, Punsun and I were collecting shellfish at the riverside
when we noticed an elderly man and a Japanese man looking down at us

from the hillside. The more elderly of the two pointed at us with his fin-

ger, and the Japanese man started to walk towards us. The older man dis-

appeared, and the Japanese beckoned to us to follow him. I was scared and
ran away, not caring about what happened to my friend. A few days later,

Punsun knocked on my window early in the morning, and whispered to

me to follow her quietly. I tip-toed out of the house after her. I left with-
out telling my mother. I was wearing a dark skirt, a long cotton blouse
buttoned up at the front and slippers on my feet. I followed my friend
untilwe met the same man who had tried to approach us on the river-
bank. He looked as if he was in his late thirties and he wore a sort of
People's Army uniform with a combat cap. He handed me a bundle and
told me I would find a dress and a pair of leather shoes in it. I peeped in
and saw a red dress. I was so delighted that without any further thought I

followed him. Altogether, there were five girls with him, including myself.
We went to the station and took a train to Kyongju. It was the first

time I had been on a train. In Kyongju we were put up in a guest-house.

I was washing my hands in the stream in front of the building when I

noticed a purple flower on the hillside. I had never seen a flower like it

before, and when I asked what it was I was told it was a bellflower. We

stayed in the guest-house for two days, during which time two more girls
joined us. Now there were seven of us. We boarded a train and passed
through Taegu where I could just see my home through the broken win-
dow. I suddenly missed it and missed my mother. began to weep, say- I

ing I wanted to go home. I pushed the bundle of clothes away and con-
tinued to cry, asking the man to let me get off. He refused. I finally fell
asleep in exhaustion as the train just kept on going. We must have trav-
elled for several days.

Beating and Torture

We got off the train at Anju, in P'yongan province, and were led to what
looked like an ordinary residential house. It was typical, with a thatched

89
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

roof and four rooms in the main part, an annexe and a stable. An elderly

woman was keeping the house on her own. She wore baggy trousers and
a long top, and had her head wrapped in a towel. Food was short, and we

were given boiled potatoes and corn. We felt very hungry and sometimes
during our stay there we would pinch apples from the tree. The Japanese
man who had led us from Taegu punished all of us if any single girl did
something wrong. We had to stand on small round clubs, holding large

bottles filled with water in our hands. Or he would beat our palms and
the soles of our feet with sticks. He would ask one of us to bring him
water to drink, and if the girl was slighdy slow in doing what was asked,
he would beat all of us. Any excuse prompted a beating. We became so
scared that we tried not to upset him in any way.
Winter was coming. The ground froze hard and a biting wind began
to blow. Every day we had to go out to the fields and collect radishes in

straw sacks. We were still wearing light clothes and we froze, feeling ice

form all over our bodies. If we complained of the cold, he would beat us.

We shivered and tried to keep our frozen hands warm, doing everything
behind his back. The two girls who had joined us in Kyongju were taken
away, leaving the five of us who had set off together at the beginning of
our journey. We remained in Anju for about a month and then boarded
a train once more to travel to Dalian [Luda]. We stayed overnight in a
guest-house in Dalian. The following morning we were given soup and
steamed bread. I remember enjoying that meal since I was so hungry and
had never had any similar Chinese food before. We boarded a ship and
were told that a convoy of eleven boats would be sailing together. They
were big ships. We were taken into the last one. It was already crowded
with Japanese sailors. We were the only women.
New Year's Day 1945 was spent on board. The ships stopped in
Shanghai, and some of the sailors landed for a short break on shore. We
weren't allowed to disembark. I was summoned on deck and sang for the
men. Afterwards, an officer gave me two rice cakes. I shared them with
the other girls. The ships started to sail again but often halted because of
bombing. One day our ship received a direct hit. The other ships were
destroyed, but only the front of our ship was damaged. Men shouted and
screamed outside our cabin. The ship was tossed about, and I suffered
with severe seasickness. My head was splitting with pain, and my stom-
ach seemed to turn upside down. I remember crawling towards the bath-
room, throwing up as I went along, when I was grabbed by a man and
dragged into a cabin. I tried to shake him off, biting his arm. I did my
best to get away. But he slapped me and threw me into the cabin with
such force that I couldn't fight him off. In this way I was raped. It was
my first sexual experience. I was so frightened that what actually

90
 Yl Yongsu

happened didn't sink in at the time. I vaguely thought that this man had
forced me into the room just to do this.

People kept shouting that we would all die since the ship had been
torn to pieces. We were told to put on and to stay calm. We
life-jackets

thought we were going to drown. Dying seemed better than going on

like this. But the ship somehow managed to keep going. Later I found

out that I was not the only one who had been raped. Punsun and the
others had also suffered that same fate. From then on, we were often
raped on the ship. I wept constantly, until my eyes became swollen. I was
frightened about everything. I think that I was too young to hold a
grudge against my aggressors, though looking back I feel angry and full of
the desire for revenge. At that time I was so scared I didn't even dare
look any man squarely in the face. One day I opened the window of our

cabin and tried to jump into the water. It would have been better to end
my life then and there, I thought. But the water, blue-green and white
with waves, scared me so much that I lost the courage to throw myself
out.
Eventually we arrived in Taiwan. When we disembarked I couldn't
walk properly as my abdomen hurt so much. My glands had swollen up
in my groin, and blood had coagulated around my vagina. I could walk
only with great difficulty, since I was so swollen that I couldn't keep my
two legs straight.

The man who had accompanied us from Taegu turned out to be the
proprietor of the comfort station we were taken to. We called him Oyaji.
I was the youngest amongst us. Punsun was a year older than me and the
others were 18, 19 and 20. The proprietor told me to go into a certain
room, but I refused. He dragged me by my hair to another room. There
I was tortured with electric shocks. He was very cruel. He pulled out the
telephone cord and tied my wrists and ankles with it. Then, shouting
'konoyaror he twirled the telephone receiver. Lights flashed before my
eyes, and my body shook all over. I couldn't stand it and begged him to
stop. I would do anything he asked. But he turned the receiver
said I

once more. I When I came round my body was wet; I think

blacked out.
that he had probably poured water on me.
The comfort station was a two-storey Japanese-style building with 20
rooms. There were already many women there when we arrived. About
ten, all of whom looked much older than us, wore kimonos. There was
a Japanese woman, the proprietor's wife. But that same man also had a
Korean mistress. He beat both his wife and mistress without any reason.
We changed into dresses given to us by the other women. The propri-
etor told us to call them "nesang, 'big and to do whatever they told
sister'

us to. We began to take turns to wash their clothes and cook for them.

91
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

The food was again not enough. We ate gruel made with millet or nee.

Even now I get frightened easily. I was much worse then and, because I

was terrified of being beaten, I was always scared. I was never beaten by
soldiers, but I was frequently beaten by the proprietor. I was so fright-

ened that I couldn't harbour any thoughts of running away. After having
crossed an ocean and not knowing where I was, how could I think of
escape?
The rooms were very small. Each was big enough for two people to
he down in. At the entrance of each hung a blanket in place of a door.

The walls and floor were laid with wooden boards, and there was noth-
ing else. We were each given a military blanket and had to sleep on the
bare planks. One day, a man came in and asked my name. I was still

frightened and just sat in a corner shaking my head without answering.

So he said he would give me a name, and began to call me Tosiko. After
that day I was always called Tosiko in the station.
We mainly had to serve a commando unit. They were not in the
slightest way sympathetic towards us. They wore uniforms, but I had no
idea whether they were from the army, navy or air force. I served four or
five men a day. They finished their business quickly and left. Hardly any
stayed overnight. I had to use old washed thoroughly, during my
clothes,

period. Even then I had to serve men. I never saw any money. There
were frequent air raids, and on some days we had to be evacuated sever-
al times. Whenever there was a raid, we were forced to hide ourselves in
mountain undergrowth or in a cave. If the bombing ceased, the men
would set up make-shift tents anywhere, on dry fields or in paddies, and
they would make us serve them. Even if the tents were blown down by
the wind, the men didn't pay any attention but finished what they were
doing to us. Those men were worse than dogs or pigs. I don't remember
ever having a medical examination. I didn't know what condoms were,
either.

One day, while we were in an underground shelter, the comfort sta-

tion collapsed in a bombing attack. Our shelter was buried under the
rubble. We dug through the soil, trying to get out. After a while we saw
light through a small hole. I was incredibly relieved to be able to look
out and shouted 'At last I can see outside!' Then I smelt smoke, and
blood gushed out of my nose and mouth. I lost consciousness. The pro-
prietor's wife and mistress, the latter tall and long-faced, died. As the
house had collapsed, we were moved into a bomb shelter at the foot of a
hill, and there we again had to serve the men. After a while, the propri-
etor got hold of some material and built a rough and ready house. It

didn't take him long. We continued to serve the men. In the end I was
infected with venereal disease and the proprietor gave me the injection,

92
 Yl Yongsu

'No. 606'. The fluid had a reddish tint. The disease stayed with me for a

long time because I had to continue to serve men before I was clear. So
I had to have constant injections. There was no hospital or clinic in the

vicinity.

Apart from going to the bomb shelters we weren't allowed out at all.
We were warned that if we tried to venture beyond the confines of the

station we would be killed, and was sufficiently scared not to try any-
I

thing. The men we served in the unit were all young; they seemed to be
19 or 20.
One evening, a soldier same to me and said he would be in a combat
later that same evening that would mark the end of his early life. I asked
him what his commando unit was. He explained that one or two men
would fly an aeroplane to attack an enemy ship or base. They would be
suicide pilots. He gave me his photo and the toiletries he had been using.
He had come to me twice before and said he had got venereal disease
from me. He said he would take the disease to his grave as my present to
him. Then he taught me a song:

J take off with courage, leaving Sinzhu behind,

Over the golden and silver clouds.

There is no one to see me off:

Only Tosiko grieves for me.

Until then I we were somewhere in Taiwan, but I had no

had known
idea of exactly where. his song knew we were in Sinzhu.
From I

When we were evacuated to avoid the bombing we stole sugar cane.

We were that hungry. But if we were caught we were beaten. We were
not allowed to speak in Korean. Again, if we were caught doing so, we
were beaten. One day, one of the older girls who normally hardly spoke
a word to us announced that she, too, was Korean. She told me, in
Korean, that the war was over. We hugged each other and wept with joy.
She held my hand tighdy and told me must return to Korea. We could
I

hear people shouting and running about. This confirmed to us that the
war was really over. By the time we had calmed down, the proprietor and
the other women who had been at the station before us were nowhere to
be found. We walked to a refugee camp by the pier. It looked like a
warehouse. We were given balls of boiled rice which had dead insects
mixed in. We waited for a ship. was scared even there in case someone
I

might drag me away, so I sat, shaking with fear, in a corner wrapped in a

blanket. I kept crying so much that my small eyes got even smaller.

Return my Youth to Me!

We finally got a ship. When it arrived in Pusan, the barley was green. As

93
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

we disembarked, someone sprayed us with DDT and gave us each 300

won. There were four of us: Punsun, a plump girl, another girl and
myself. We said farewell and went our separate ways. I got a train to
Taegu. I kept weeping and tried to hide myself from other passengers in
fear that someone might take me away again. I found my house, just as
run down and poor as before. My mother asked if I was a ghost or a real
person and fainted.
I couldn't dare think about getting married. How could I dream of
marriage? Until recently I had suffered from venereal disease. My parents
and brothers didn't know what had been
I through. My father was upset
merely because his only daughter wouldn't get married. Both my parents
resented the fact that they weren't able to see me hitched before they
died. I worked in a drinking house which also sold fishballs in
Hyangch'on ward, Taegu, for a number of years. For three years or so I
ran a small shop on the beach in Ulsan. For some time I ran a small stall
selling string. Then I worked as a saleswoman for an insurance company.

I gave up when I began to get too old.

My parents have died. My brothers long ago became concerned about

their older sister living on her own in her old age. People in the neigh-
bourhood were also worried because I lived alone. I got fed up with all
of them, and I felt a little sad that I would die without ever having had
the opportunity to wear a white veil. So at the age of 60, I married a 75-
year-old man. That was in January 1989. I chose an old man because I
basically dislike men. But he was jealous of me and he abused me so

much that the marriage failed. In February 1992 I divorced, and I now
live alone in Taegu. I pay 900,000 won ($1150) every ten months for my
housing. I have a small room with a kitchen attached. My brothers help
me each month with my living costs.
Now, having reported to the Council and after having poured out my
story, I feel so relieved. How many more years can I live? I am grateful

that the Council is trying to help us. These days I hum a song, Katusa,

putting my own words to the tune: 'I am so miserable; return my youth

to me; apologize and give me compensation. You dragged us off against
our own will. You trod on us. Apologize and give us compensation. This
lament, can you hear it, my mother and father? My own people will
avenge my sorrows.'
I visited my parents' graves the other day. I said to them: 'Mother, I

know you won't come back to life however much I may wish for it. My
own people will avenge me. Please close your eyes and go to paradise.'
CHAPTER 11

Taken Away at Twelve

Yi Okpun

Yi Okpun was bom in 1926 in Yongch'on, North Kyongsang province,

to well-off parents . She was the only daughter amongst four children. At
the age of eleven, she started to attend Nambu Elementary School. A year

later, herfamily moved to Ulsan. About two months later, while skipping
with her friends outside the house, a Japanese and a Korean man
approached her and told her her father was asking for her. She went with
them, was held for three months, and was taken taken by ship to a com-

fort station in Taiwan.

I was born in 1926, in Yongch'on county, North Kyongsang province,

the only girl in a family of four children. I had one elder and two

younger brothers. My father ran a stall in Yongch'on market that sold

fishing nets and food such as dried whiting, squid, chestnuts, plums and
the like. He had two men who helped him. My mother was kept busy at
home with housework and weaving. We had a plot of land let out to
other people, and we were quite comfortably off. I started at Yongch'on
Nambu Elementary School when I was eleven. I learned Japanese, and I
was quick to read and speak. The grown-ups in the neighbourhood used
to pat me on my head and say that if I had been born a boy I would have
been successful when I grew up. When I was twelve, we moved to
Ulsan. I had just completed the first term in the second grade and was on
my summer holidays. My parents were busy as before, looking after the
shop. I played with the neighbourhood children every day. We used to
skip, jumping over elastic bands singing the songs we had learnt at
school. I still remember two of the songs. One ran: 'Mother, what will
you do with this baby? Please come with me, you poor thing.' The
other: 'Twilight is descending, the sun is going down, temple bells are
ringing. Let's go home holding hands. Let's go home with the crows.'

Taken...
It was two months after the move. It was autumn, I think 16 September

95
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

1937. I was playing with my friends with the elastic bands as usual. A
Japanese man and who seemed to be working for him,
a Korean,
approached us. The Japanese man wore a pair of work trousers and the
Korean our traditional costume. They pointed to me and said that my
father was playing paduk (go) in Clio's guest-house and had asked them to
fetch me. The other girls ran away. Although I was only twelve, I looked
about 15 since I was tall for my age and dressed neatly. My father had
sent me on errands before, so I thought he was doing this again. I trusted
the words of these men and went along.
They took me to the guest-house and pushed me into a small room at

the rear. Three girls were there who had been similarly deceived. Two
were from Y6ngch'5n and one from Ulsan. They were older than me,
probably about 17. I still remember the Yongch'on girls: one was called
Tokiko and the other Myonggyo. The next day, another girl was
brought in from Chinju. Her name was Myongnan. I cried and shouted,
banging at the door asking for it to be opened, asking to be allowed to go
home to my mother. A man unlocked the door and rushed in agitated.

He held me by my hair and beat me on my back and bottom. We were

locked in that same room for three months, and we dared not cry too
loudly. The manageress brought us rice balls and pickled cabbage, kim-
ch'i, we had to use a chamber pot to urinate in. If we had to go to the
and
toilet, woman would accompany us and keep guard. The manager
the
and manageress watched over us all the time. When I returned home a
few years later, I went to Cho's guest-house, ready to demolish the
building and beat the couple to death. But the house was gone, and a
new building stood in its place.
After three months, the Japanese man came back. He was still wearing
work trousers. He took me and four other girls to Pusan. He put us on
board a ship. We had to get boarding passes, and because I was smaller
than the others he had me
on a wooden box when the police came
stand
to ask questions. He said that if I was asked how old I was, I should say I
was 14. It wasn't a passenger ship, but a cargo vessel. There were about
30 people on board, many of them Korean girls. At night I went up on
deck, but could see nothing but sky and water. As I cried up there, the
Japanese man came looking for me. He was afraid that I might jump

overboard into the water. He told us he was taking us to a factory in

Japan where we could earn money and go to school.
We left Pusan at about 5.00 p.m., and were told that it was about 8.00
a.m. when we arrived the following morning at Shimonoseki. Without
being given any food, we were immediately taken to a big hall, some-
thing resembling a warehouse. There were already 33 Korean women
there, so with our arrival the number increased to 38. The wooden floor

96
 Yi Okpun

was large enough for all of us to sit down. The man who took us there

said that we would soon be going to a nice place. He started to teach us

to count in Japanese: one, two, three.... Those who were quick were all

right, but anyone who was slow was beaten severely. Then he asked us to
raise our hands if we had been to school. I thought that if I raised my
hand I might be taken to the nice place he had promised. I was the only
one to do so. He some Japanese to the other girls, who
asked me to teach
appeared to be between 17 and 19. We were watched over by three
Japanese men wearing light khaki work trousers. They didn't tell us any-
thing of our fate. We were each given a dress, and for meals we had balls
of cooked rice.
We stayed for about a fortnight, during which time I continued to
teach bits of Japanese. Then we were all taken back to a ship. This ship
was a little larger than the previous one and was loaded with military
commodities. There were many Korean women on board, and the men
watched them like hawks. We sailed for about three days and landed in
Taiwan. We disembarked in the morning and then travelled by train for
some time. When we got off we were greeted by more Japanese men.
We walked to the place where we were destined to stay. Since I was
young, a guard let me ride his rickshaw. It was evening by the time we
arrived at what appeared to be a guest-house shaped like a temple. It was
a month before we learnt that this was Shyoka.
The house was a two-storey building with a vertical signboard at the

gate saying 'Shyoka Comfort Station' in Chinese characters. The station

was close to a mountain, and there were many other women there. Some
wore kimonos, and some had nice blouses. We found out later that the
man who took us there had sold some women from our group to other
comfort stations, and the rest of us were sold here. The man who took
me from Ulsan and sold me was called Nakamura. There were about 40
in the station when we first arrived, and we were told that it acted as the
headquarters of all the stations in the region. Women were constantly
brought in and sent on. The day after our arrival, seven moved on. The
proprietor was Japanese, in his early forties, and he also wore work
trousers. He seemed lost for words when he first saw me, because I was
so young. The police issued permits for girls to serve men from the age
of 14, and I was clearly too young to get one. So he let me do the wash-

ing and run errands.

One day as I was scrubbing the floor and carrying water for the
women as usual, I went upstairs and peeked into one of the rooms
through a hole. I almost fainted at what greeted my eyes. A Japanese man
wearing a yukata was clambering over a woman, and right next to him a
Taiwanese man with red lips and a Japanese soldier were doing the same

97
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

thing. I was terrified and wondered how I could survive. I noticed that
men paid money to the receptionist at the entrance. There were two
more Japanese men working there apart from the proprietor and the
receptionist.
I slept in a back room and had to get up at 5.00 a.m. to cook breakfast.
If I didn't, one of the women would cook. Over about three months I

trained myself not to sleep during the night, looking for an opportunity
to run away. One night, at about 3.00 a.m., while the guard was fast

asleep, I crept out of the back door, released the bar that locked the gate,

and ran away, holding my shoes in my hands.

I kept running, asking those I met on the street the way to the nearest
police station. I finally found it, and begged the sergeants through my
tears to help me. One policeman looked me in the eyes and shouted
'Aren't you a Chosenbi?\ a Korean woman. I kept on pleading until a
Korean interpreter asked me where I was from. I replied that I was from
Yongch'on, and they sent a telegram home to check my identity. A
month later, no answer had been received. Later, I learned that when a
policeman with a sword at his side came by to ask my mother if she had
a daughter with the name Okpun, my mother had been so frightened
that she denied my very existence. During the month I was in the police
station I did odd jobs. When I heard that there was no reply, I again burst
into tears.
There was a Chief Superintendent at the station called Hujimoto. He
told me that I could look after his young children. So I worked for his
wife as a maid. I looked after the children, I cooked and I cleaned. Then
the Pacific War broke out, in the winter when I was 16. The Chief
Superintendent's wife and family returned to Japan in 1942. I was now
17.1 had hoped that they would take me with them. For five years had I

not been paid a penny for my work. As my reward, he must have report-
ed to an army unit nearby that there was a Korean girl in his house.

...to a Comfort Station

Hujimoto asked me to mind the house while he was away and suddenly
left. I was alone in the house. The next day, two Japanese soldiers on a

truck arrived at the door. They were sergeants. They asked me to hurry
and board the truck and, although I told them I was meant to wait until
my master returned home, they kept on pushing me to get a move on.
Eventually I was lifted on to the truck, and we drove off for what I reck-
oned to be 24 km before we arrived beside a hill. The Kaohsiung
Commando Unit was based there. They had dug a tunnel through the
hill, and you walked in one side and came out the other. The soldiers

occupied an elementary school not far from the escarpment. It was a single-
 Yi Okpun

storey building with 17 classrooms. Each classroom was divided into

three by wooden boards. There were about 40 women there. In front of
the school was a sign saying, 'Commando Unit Comfort Station'. The
distance from the barracks to the station seemed to me to be about 2 km.
On Saturdays, the Japanese soldiers formed long queues outside the
school building. The ends of the queues were sometimes invisible. They
each had a piece of paper with a red chop mark on it. They came from

9.00 a.m. until midnight on both Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes, after
the soldiers had returned to barracks, officers came and stayed the night,
leaving at about 5.00 a.m. On such nights we got no sleep. Each woman
had to serve 20 to 30 soldiers a day. We were already very weak, but
going without good food and being forced to serve so many men left

some of us half dead. If anyone was too weak to work, the receptionist
dragged them out and put a more healthy woman in their cubicle.
Three to five weak women were typically kept in a back room without
any food. If they thought such a woman could not recover her health
with herbal tonics and medicines, she would be loaded on to a truck and
taken to a mountain. She never came back. Anyone who died was also

carted away to the mountain, the bodies left there, barely covered with
grass.

If you wanted to survive, you had to be tactful. If we made faces at the

men we were taken to a confinement room by the receptionist, so we
smiled regardless of whether we felt like doing so. Each man was given
30 minutes in the cubicle, and I would try to prolong the time in an
effort to lessen the number I had to serve, even to lessen the number by
one. At first, I got away with this, but later on I was too exhausted to do
anything but lie still like the dead with my face turned to the wall, avoid-
ing his stare. During menstruation we had to use cotton wool and con-
tinue to serve the soldiers. For my first months
eight I only served
Yamamoto, the captain of the unit. But once he was transferred to
Tayoko, I had to join the other women and serve 20 or 30 men a day. It

was better to serve officers, as they would order the proprietor and recep-
tionist not to send anyone else to me until they were spent and satisfied.

During my time there I was called both Haruko and Kohana,

whichever name the men chose. We took turns to cook our meals, typi-
cally rising at 5.00 a.m. We ate rice with some vegetables or pickled
radish as side dishes. Since we were given food only twice a day, we were
always hungry. We had breakfast in the kitchen at 9.00 a.m. and supper
at 6.00 p.m. We often looked at each other's rice bowl, wishing we
could have some of our neighbour's food as well. If one of us was ill or
looked extremely hungry, we would each them a spoonful from our
give
own bowls behind the backs of the Japanese. But if we were caught
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

sharing food, both sharers and recipients got a severe beating. The
Japanese had their own rations and didn't have to eat such meagre food
as we received.
The tickets, as I saw seal of the unit's commander. They
later, bore the
were The
as big as a small pocket diary. men handed them to a recep-
tionist. There were two receptionists, Eiko and Masako. They passed the

tickets on to the proprietor, Itakura. Itakura and Masako shared the same

room. Itakura was a sergeant. These three handled the soldiers well, and

there were no incidents such as soldiers stabbing us with their swords.

We didn't know how they managed money, nor were we ever paid.
Other matters were managed by other sergeants. I suppose since there was
awar going on, there was no more senior authority watching over us.
The cubicles were just large enough for two people to lie down in, and
we each had two blankets for bedding. There was a small box for clothes
and possessions and a dustbin in each room. Toilet paper was provided.
The soldiers all used condoms. We had a medical examination twice a

month for venereal disease in a big room resembling a warehouse more

than a hospital. We would wait in a corner surrounded by curtains for a

Japanese military surgeon to examine our vaginas by inserting an instru-

ment. There were no nurses. If the surgeon found any of us had caught a
disease, he gave us an injection. The shot was so strong that we couldn't
eat properly afterwards. It was said that the drug was strong enough to
separate the womb from the body. We didn't have any cosmetics, and we
were given two pairs of baggy trousers for our clothes in winter, spring
and summer. There was a war raging, so we were not allowed to go out.
Nonetheless, Yamamoto did take me out occasionally, and we went
twice to a Chinese restaurant. Because of the war we had to cut hay dur-
ing the weekdays, wearing a military uniform topped by a cap. Each of us
was told to cut a certain amount of hay. We carried the hay to the road-
side and burnt it, filling the air with smoke.
On weekday evenings we were made to sing, dance and play the violin
in the bomb shelter. Even there we weren't allowed to sleep properly.
The presence of officers in the shelter stopped the rank and file from
approaching us. The shelter was huge, 4 km long, 1

big enough to accom-

modate all the soldiers. We were taught how to play the violin by the sol-
diers so that we could entertain them. They had eight instruments. If we
couldn't play well, we were beaten. The men drank heavily and would
quickly become very violent. Because we had to sing to entertain them, I
still remember around 50 military songs, one about the commando unit,

1 Yi says '10 ri in her testimony, indicating a distance which would take about an hour to
walk from end to end.

100
 Yi Okpun

others praising Taiwan, lively Korean folk-songs, songs of blind men, of

youth, of comfort stations, of samurai, of pilots and so on. The song ded-
icated to the commando unit went:

See the aircraft in the blue sky; my heart flies with it.

The engine has started and I turn the wheel.

Mother, I am going before yon: when yon hear of my death,

please record my name in the temple;

When you receive my ashes, please hug them as if you were hugging me.

The song of the blind men ran 'If I could seewould know what you
I

look like', while the song dedicated to life comfort station went
in the

something like 'My body is like a rotting pumpkin left out in summer'.
I still when I was 19. In it I am working,
have a photograph taken
dressed in a military uniform.The woman in a dress standing behind me
came from Sariwon, Korea. In the original photograph there were many
Japanese soldiers surrounding us, but since I hated them I have since cut
them out.
The war was coming to an end, and Japan was thrown on the defen-
sive. The soldiers moved about in a frantic muddle. They fought during

the day, and at night they hid in caves. As the American bombing raids
became more frequent, soldiers could no longer come to the school.
Instead, they would abuse us in the caves at night. They demanded that
we sing, dance and pour drinks. If a woman was a little slow in meeting
their demands, they slapped her face without hesitation. If she cried from
the pain, she was slapped again. The comfort station was for the com-
mando no civilians were allowed in. Among the soldiers we
unit only, so
had to entertain, there were young Korean men who had been drafted as
a student corps. We got on very well with the Korean soldiers. We called
them brothers behind the Japanese soldiers' backs. We asked them where
they were from and talked about our home towns, sitting and smoking
together. Together, we wept a lot. If any of them suddenly stopped visit-

ing, we knew he had been killed on the battlefield.

When I recall my life, I feel an unspeakable anger rising in my throat.

Whenever any of us were beaten by the soldiers for having shared our
rice, I used to grind my teeth together, saying to myself: 'One day I am
going to kill you all. I will wipe out your descendants.' At the same time
I used to ask myself 'Why is life so tough? Why can't I have my life,

instead of living so wretchedly?' I lived each day hating myself that I con-
tinued to live. One morning I left the shelter at 3.00 a.m. while the oth-
ers were fast asleep. I went to the seashore, intending to throw myself
into the water, but I didn't have the courage. I tiptoed back and never
told anyone.

101
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Return
In 1945, when I was 20, Japan lost the war. When I went into the pro-
prietor's room to clean it — it was my turn to do the cleaning — I heard on
the radio that the Emperor had acknowledged defeat. The very next day
the proprietor and receptionists packed their bags and hurriedly left. I

told the others that our country had been liberated; Japan had been
defeated by America. There were about 35 of us, and we all went our
own ways. The Japanese left by ship to return to their own land.
Although our country had been liberated, we were still in Taiwan and
had to cope with the Taiwanese. To make a living I started to work in a
bar run by the local people. I entertained customers and sang Chinese
songs, wearing a Chinese dress. But I was soon discovered to be a Korean
and from then onwards wasn't allowed to work there. Nonetheless, I

stayed in Taiwan one more year, working in different bars.

Suddenly, a man began to hand out leaflets. They were written in
Korean and asked all Koreans to come to Yasukuni Temple at a certain
hour on a certain day. I went and found many of my countrymen already
gathered there. One of the draftees came to the front and told us that if
we stayed in Taiwan we all stood to be killed. He told us to find our own
ways to return to our home towns. And then he taught us a song: 'Asian
Coins, we the Koreans, we are smart and gifted...' 'Coins' referred to

the Korean people.

I started going around with Kim Nae, the woman from Sariwon. We
hid in a small cave in Shyoka for a few days, wondering what might be
lurking at the far end of the long passageway. Then we started walking
deeper and deeper into the cave. We must have travelled several kilome-
tres. Then we saw light, and emerged in an expanse of reeds. We could
see water. It was the sea. We couldn't walk any further. Disappointed, we
sat on the seashore, looking out to the horizon. There was a ship in the

distance. I took off my blouse and waved it about. The ship stopped and
a dinghy was let down which was rowed towards us. There were two
Korean men in it, dressed in American military uniforms. They asked us
our nationality. We shouted that we were Koreans and asked them to
help us. They told us to get on the dinghy. We got to the big ship and
found many of our countrymen returning to Korea from American
refugee camps. There were many women. We were each given a card

which we were told to stick on to our chests. It was big enough to cover
half my chest, and on it was written: 'This person was dragged away from
her home but has survived. Do not accept any money from her.
To kill time, we held singing competitions. When it was our turn to
sing, my friend and I sang the Song of the Commando Unit, since we only
knew Japanese songs. We were warned not to sing Japanese songs once

102
 Yi Okpun

we got home. After four days we arrived at the southern port of Pusan. I

had been taken away when I was twelve and now, at 21, I was finally

returning. Kim Nae took a train home. The first thing I did was go and
visit Cho's guest-house, but there was nobody left there. I went to
Sanakkol, the place in Kyongju where my mother's family came from.
My had died, because he believed he had lost his only daughter,
father
but mother was there with my three brothers. She didn't recognize
my
me. I showed her the birthmark on my neck and cried 'Mother, it really
is me. Can't you recognize this?' Only then did she realize who I was

and began to hug me. I lied to her. I told her I had been working in a

factory. My mother died three years back, unaware to the last that I had
ever been a comfort woman.
I stayed with my family for eight years, but when my brother married
and began a family, I left and settled in Pusan. I worked as a domestic
help and as a cook. I have been running a small cafe for the past 18 years,
ever since I was encouraged to do so by the owner of the petrol station
next door.
I have tried to forget my past. What prompted me to give this testi-
mony was an article I read in the paper last year. There, the Japanese
government said that comfort stations had been run by civilians and that
the government and military had had nothing to do with them. It isn't
true. I wanted to prove to those lying Japanese that at least I am still alive

and I know what they did. So in July 1991 I contacted the Pusan Daily

News and told them my story. They did not publish it immediately, but
held on until the end of November, when the Japanese Prime Minister
visited Korea. I told my story to the National Assembly in December
1991, and I visited Japan in June 1992, to sue them for what they did to
me.

103
CHAPTER 12

Back to My Wretched Life

Mun Okchu

Mun Okchu was bom in 1924 in Taegu. When she was eight years old
her father, who had been involved in the liberation struggle waged against

the Japanese occupation, returned home and died from illness. In spite of

her family's resultant poverty, her desire to study was so great that she

went to Manchuria with relatives who had promised to educate her. She

returned home in secret because they only wanted her to do their house-
work. In 1940, when she was 16, she was kidnapped by a Japanese mil-
itary policeman on her way home from a friend's house. She was trans-
ported to a comfort station in Manchuria and became a comfort woman.

Childhood
I was born in spring 1924 in Taemyong ward, Taegu city. I have lived in
Taegu all my life except for the years when was I a comfort woman. My
parents came from the countryside not far from Taegu. We still have
some relatives there, but I haven't visited them recently. When I was
very young my father used to visit us now and again. When I was eight,

he came home for good, but soon became very ill and died. My mother
explained his absences from home by saying that he had taken part in the
liberation struggle against the Japanese occupation in Shanghai and
Manchuria. 1

When he became ill, she said he had come home to die. All
I remember about himis that he was an educated man.

There were four of us children, with quite big age gaps between us. I
had a brother nine years older than me, and when I was three my
younger brother was born. I thought there were only three of us until
my father died. Then I learned that I had a big sister who had already

1 AKorean government-in-exile was established in Shanghai during the Japanese occupa-

tion of Korea. At one point in the early 1920s, Syngman Rhee, later the leader of the
Republic of Korea, was elected president. Communist and guerrilla groups also operated
in the 1920s in the mountainous areas of what is now North Korea, and across the border
in Manchuria and China. Kim II Sung, later to become president of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, appears to have been a minor guerrilla leader in the 1930s in
one such group.

104
 Mun Okchu

married and left home before I was born. My father gave my mother her
address just before he died.
My mother scraped a living by sewing or working in the homes of
others. Sometimes, her own family helped by giving us rice. I was said to

be a bright child, and I could remember almost everything I saw, but we

were too poor for me to be sent for a proper education. I learned by
overhearing the lessons in the village boys' school, and went to evening I

classes from time to time to learn Chinese characters, Korean and

Japanese. I was very eager to study and can still vividly remember how
much I wanted to attend school.
When I was about 13, a relative and his wife who were living in Japan
- whether they were directly related to my mother or my father I still
don't know for sure — came to the village for a visit. They asked my
mother to let them take me to Japan, and in exchange for light house-
work they promised to treat me like their own daughter, to send me to
school and to find me a good husband. My mother, unhappy at having
been unable to educate me, readily gave permission. I left home filled

with the hope that I would soon be attending They lived in

school.
Fukuoka where they ran a second-hand shop and had many men work-
ing for them. As soon we arrived, the wife chopped off my long hair
as

and from then on made me wear a bob. She didn't offer any apologies or
any sympathy for cutting my hair, and then started to order me to do the
housework. There was no mention of sending me to school, and from
then on I had to look after their children, do the washing up, clean the
house and do the laundry every day. I must have stayed for about six
months. I was angry about the way I was being treated and saved any
money I was given for running errands for the second-hand dealers. At

the same time I found out from the dealers how to return home. One
day, I left: without giving any notice. I returned home.
Back went to evening classes and continued learning to
in Korea, I

read and write. worked in a factory managed by the Japanese that

I

made slippers. The slippers were made of sedge for hospitals and were
very strong. I commuted from home to Taegu and gave every penny of
my wages straight to my mother. I felt proud whenever I handed over
the money, but the work wasn't regular and I was often laid off and had
to stay home. At such times I would go to a hill behind the village.
There was a crematorium on the side where the keeper had a daughter,
Haruko. She was two years younger than me and, since I often went
there, we became good friends. Haruko and her parents were Koreans
who had adopted Japanese names. It was her father's job to burn the
dead. Just before he put a corpse into the fire, he would always have a
ritual with food. I was often able to eat some of the food afterwards.

105
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Food was scarce, but I was able to have enough to fill me whenever I

visited Haruko.
In 1940, I was 16. One autumn evening, I left Haruko's, walking
home when the sun had almost set and it was getting towards dusk. I had
not gone far when a man in a Japanese military uniform, with a red band
around arm and a long sword at his side, approached me. He grabbed
his

me by arm and muttered something. As we were all afraid of the

the
police in those days, I went with him. He dragged me along without
meeting any resistance. He pulled me by the arm for a while and then
made me walk before him. I think I was taken to a military police station

where I was put with another girl. Without any food, we spent the night
on a long bench, first sitting up and then sleeping, the two of us
crouched one on each end.
The next morning, the same man took us to the train station where he
handed us over to two other men, one a Japanese in civilian clothes and
one a Korean. We got on board a train together. The train had a name:
Akachuki. It kept going north for about two days. From what we over-
heard as people got on and off we guessed we were passing places such as
Andong in Korea, Fengcheng in China, and so on. The men with us
were replaced by a single man who spoke Chinese who stayed to the end
of the journey. We had no idea who the men were. We wondered if they
could be detectives, but there was no way of finding out. They gave us
food now and again and one night asked if we fancied something special.

Manchuria
At duskwe got off at a place called Taoansheng in north-east China. The
man with us escorted us to a military truck and left us. There were three
men in uniform in the front of the truck, and we were bundled into the
back. The truck travelled for a while, passing villages and fields, and
stopped in front of a house separated and isolated from everywhere else.

As we got down, lots of women came out to greet us. They were
Koreans. There was a man and a woman who looked about 35 or 36,
and we learned later that they were the proprietors. We had to call the
man 'uncle' and the woman 'big sister'.
There seemed to I wondered why
be about 20 women, and although
there were so many in such a place, I quickly fell asleep from exhaustion.
The next morning I asked what kind of place this was. Nobody replied.
One woman asked if I had been paid to come and, when I replied I had
not seen any money but had been captured and brought here, she looked
very sad. I asked what was wrong and she told me this was a comfort sta-
tion where the soldiers came. I asked what soldiers had to do with us.
Exasperated, she said that this was a place where the soldiers came to

106
 Mun Okchu

sleep. I was still puzzled. I was naive, and couldn't see why the soldiers'

sleeping place should concern me in any way, nor why the women
looked so anguished.
On the third day, the proprietor assigned us each to a room. Each had
a mattress, a quilt and two pillows. From then on we had to serve sol-

diers. This was when I realized why the women had been so anguished.
On the day I lost my virginity, everything seemed to black out before my
eyes. wept and wept. Taoansheng was said to be on the border with
I

Russia, and it was extremely cold. The hats and clothes that people wore
were all made of fur. My room was one of the many lined up in two
rows, and in winter the walls were all covered with ice. There were nar-
row ditches at the base of each wall so that water from melted ice could
flow to the outside.
There were many soldiers. I think we served 20 to 30 every day. It

seemed to be the only comfort station in the neighbourhood, and the

rank and file officers came whenever they had spare
and commissioned
time. High-ranking officers came at any time they wished to, but only
officers could stay the night. They would sometimes give us money,

which was sort of pocket-money. None of them beat us, and none were
violent even when drunk. They used condoms, and none of the girls
became pregnant while I was there. Not only had we to entertain them,
but we also had to make garters for them.
We were to some degree free. The proprietor gave us Korean food
prepared with the help of two Chinese cooks. We didn't have any fixed
wages, but were given a small amount of money each month. When we
received our monthly allowance, we would take a horse-drawn coach to
the city and buy clothes and shoes or see films. No one watched over us,
but we dared not run away because we simply didn't know where we
were or where we could go.
I still remember Kim Kyehwa and Fumiko. There were some women

who said they had been comfort women for five or ten years. I already
had a Japanese name, Fumihara, but in the station I renamed myself
Namiko after a famous actress, Takeoto Namiko. Thinking about her, I

remember we used to sing many of the songs that were popular at the
time. On the rare occasions when we had something to laugh about in
our torturous life, and when we felt lonesome or miserable, we would
sing in unison or hum together quietly.
By the time I had become somewhat used to my lot in life I got to
know an officer in charge of the provision of military goods. I knew it
would be impossible for me to leave the station and return home in a
normal way. I thought that if I befriended someone with power among
the soldiers I might be able to persuade them to send me home. So I

107
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

flirtedwith this officer. I made him special garters and I put them on
him. bought him something special when we went shopping, I bought
I

groceries and I cooked him fine meals in the kitchen. It was around
September, and I had been stuck in the station for about a year. The offi-
cer asked me to set up home outside the station. Taking advantage of the
opportunity this presented I wove a story: 'When I left home my moth-
er was very ill, almost near death. Before I start to live with you, please
let me go and see her. I will return as soon as possible and then, surely, I

will live with you.' I pleaded with him and, after having made me
promise that I would indeed come back, he got me a travel permit.

Home
When I left, I still had some of the money given to me by the soldiers.
Before going to my home,
Kumch'on to find my eldest sister.
I got off at
Her address is still vivid in my memory: Naedong, Haam village, Sobuk
district, Kiimch'5n county, South Hamgyong province. Her husband's

name was Kim Yongch'an. I bought a few presents near the railway sta-
tion and took a taxi to their home.
I got out Naedong, gave my brother-in-law's name to the villagers
at

who were there and asked to be taken to my sister's home. One rushed
off to the field where she was working, and soon she ran towards me,
waving her hands wildly. She hugged me and began to cry. At first I hes-
itated, wondering whether she really was my sister, but I found myself

hugging her and weeping anyway. Even though we had never seen each
other, we were so glad at last to meet. I couldn't bring myself to tell her
about my experiences in China, so I said I had come up from Taegu to
see her. I enjoyed my time there. I still think blood ties are the only
things you can rely on in life. But that was our first and last time togeth-
er. I stayed with her for about ten days then returned to Taegu. In Taegu
I began to do odd jobs.
I made a new friend in the neighbourhood. Early in July 1942, she
asked me if I would like to come with her as she was going to begin
working in a restaurant for good wages. Since I didn't think I had much
of a future in Taegu, I decided to go along with her. She said she would
meet me the following day. I left without telling my family and together
we took a train to Pusan. All I wanted was to earn money and help my

mother financially. At Pusan station, we were met by a man and a

woman. Both were Korean. He was Matsumoto and, as we found called
out later, woman was actually a com-
he was to be our proprietor. The
fort woman. They took us to a guest-house. There were already about

15 or 16 women, and one of them was Kim Kyehwa, who had been
with me in Manchuria. I was both glad and puzzled to see her. I asked

108
 Mun Okchu

what had happened. She said it was her fate and began to cry. We stayed
the night. As we left the next day, I noticed the guest-house was called
the Kabul Guest-house.
On 10 July 1942, 18 of us boarded a ship at Pusan port. It was part of
a navy convoy and six or seven vessels sailed together. The ship we were
on steamed at the tail. As I remember it, there seemed to be many
women, perhaps 300 or 400, filling the ship. The 18 of us formed one
group, and there were numerous similar groups. The ship kept sailing for
about two months. Many women suffered from seasickness. I wasn't sick
throughout the long journey, maybe because I was so determined to earn
money, or perhaps I had very good health. I helped with the cooking for
my group, I cleared away the mess they made if they threw up, and I

looked after anyone who lost consciousness. When I saw women from
other groups, would ask if they knew where we were going, and every-
I

one replied we would be working in restaurants. No one seemed to

that

know what our impending fates were to be. We passed Taiwan and
Singapore and, after much sickness and trouble, we arrived at Rangoon.

Burma
As soon as we docked, the anchor was dropped. We were told that this
was our destination and that we should disembark, keeping in our
groups. As we walked off there were trucks lined up across the yard. We
all stood in our groups, and the men who had led us so far stood sepa-
rately. They seemed to be drawing lots. When this was over, the man in
charge of us told us that it had been decided we would go to Mandalay.
After a little while, one of the trucks drove towards us from across the
yard and as soon as we were all aboard it moved off. It dropped us in
front of a two-storey building in Mandalay, again isolated from the resi-

dential area. The man told us to go upstairs. We climbed a wooden stair-

case and found ourselves in a large hall with rows of cubicles on either
side. There were about twelve cubicles in total. The whole house was
built from wood and lookedwere to use the area
a litde run-down. We
There was an office downstairs, where the proprietor lived. We
upstairs.

went down to have meals that had been cooked by a Burmese woman.
The following day, about ten soldiers came with a truck-full of timber
and began to work on the house. The first floor was renovated. There
had originally been twelve small rooms, but as these would not be
enough to accommodate all of us, they put up six more cubicles in the
centre of the hall. The soldiers finished their work within a day and left.

We were each given one cubicle. On the third day, soldiers rushed in, in
large groups. I had been prepared to do any sort of hard work when I had
left home, but had little thought I would have to repeat my previous life.
109
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Iwas dismayed. Ours was the only comfort station in Mandalay. If my

memory serves me right, the unit we were attached to was called the
8400th Divisional Headquarters in Burma.
Many, many soldiers came. There was a further unit called the Marusa,
and the men from there also visited us now and again. One day, a soldier
came into my room sobbing. Tears were streaming from his eyes. I asked
him what was the matter, and he said that he was a Korean and had been
drafted to the Marusa Unit. There were 50 men in the unit, 30 to 40 of
whom were Korean. These Koreans brought tickets and condoms just
like the Japanese. We started to serve soldiers from around 9.00 a.m.,

straight after breakfast. Sometimes the men would queue from early in

the morning. The rank and file stopped coming at around 4.00 p.m., and
then officers would come until 10.00 at night. After that, some officers
stayed through the night.
The tickets were actually brown cards with different prices written on
them, according to rank. Tickets for the rank and file cost 1.5 yen while
non-commissioned officers paid 2 yen and officers 2.5 yen. Only officers

could stay overnight, paying 3 or 4 yen for the privilege. All the tickets
were handled by the proprietor. We had one big bathroom which we
shared. As it was warm, a mattress and a blanket were enough. We wore
Western clothes such as blouses and dresses, or Japanese baggy trousers.
Our cook prepared meals with rice. Sometimes we had meat soup, but
mosdy our soup was made with wild vegetables collected on the hillsides.
I continued to use my Japanese family name, Fumihara, but took Yosiko
as my first name. I became close to Hondamineo, a man who managed
provisions. From my experience in China I knew how useful it could be
to befriend such a person, so I made an effort to get close.

I think we stayed about seven or eight months, but the Divisional

Headquarters moved to Akyab (Sittwe) and we had to follow. To get
there, we used a military truck, then boarded a ship called the Taihatsu to
cross the dusty, brown sea.The coast was dotted with many islands. As
we sailed we had to land on some of the islands to escape shells dropped
by American planes. When we landed anywhere, the soldiers stationed
there would surround us and welcome us. They would ask us to stay a
litde while and comfort them, and with permission from higher authori-
ties we would stay one or two weeks. Whenever this happened we
stayed right beside the unit, eating and sleeping with the soldiers. When
bombing raids took place, we hid in the jungle with them.
At last we arrived at Akyab, where we were to stay about a year in a

three-storey building. There were comfort women from Japan and

China living there in other houses. We Koreans served low-ranking sol-

diers and non-commissioned officers while the Japanese served solely

110
 Mun Okchu

officers.Many of the Japanese women had been geisha back in Japan, and
there who looked at least 30 years old. We knew nothing about
was one
the Chinese women. Our life was just the same as it had been in
Mandalay, except we didn't serve officers anymore. We moved on to
other places, but continued a similar lifestyle wherever we went. Not
long after we had settled in Akyab, Hondamineo arrived. was glad to I

see him. He stayed with the same unit, which meant that he was with us
till the war ended.
Then we moved inland to Prome. First, we again boarded a ship at
Akyab. We stayed in Prome for four or five months. There were only
Korean women there, and our proprietor, who had been with us all the
way since we left Korea, disappeared. We guessed that he had run away
because the war was intensifying. From then on, the soldiers managed us
directly. They cooked our meals and handled the tickets. We were next
taken by truck to Rangoon. There, we were put up in a station called the

Rangoon Kaikan, which was allocated to us directly by soldiers. It was

managed by a Japanese man, and counting those who had been there
before us there were about 30 women altogether. Life was a little easier

with more women around, but the soldiers seemed more wild. I

remember one drunk man who clung to me for more than an hour,
hurting me terribly.

One day, a drunk soldier came in and tried to murder me with his

sword. I attempted to calm him down, asking how he could do this

when I was there to make him happy. He kept threatening me with his

sword. So I attacked him, ready to die. He didn't expect this and

dropped his sword. Without realizing what I was doing, I grabbed it and
stabbed him in the chest. He was taken away, bleeding. I was arrested by
the military police and stood trial before a military court. I was so fright-
ened that I was unable to speak Japanese, although I was normally quite
good at it. I explained the details of what had happened in Korean, con-
standy weeping. I was released after a week and started to entertain the
soldiers once more. After this, I attempted to return home together with
a new friend, Tsubamery, and Kim Kyehwa, my old friend from China.
But I failed.

After three months we were transferred by

in the Rangoon Kaikan,
train to Thailand. We weren't required to serve men there but stayed for
about eight weeks. It was temporary. From there we were moved to
Ayutthaya on a military truck, where we were to look after wounded
soldiers. At first we were trained for a few hours a day to take pulses, give

injections, give ice-pack treatments and so on. We had been looking

after the wounded for about four months when we heard that Korea had
been liberated. We then stayed for a further three or four months, still

111
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

looking after the wounded. During this time I was the leader of my
group. We didn't have to work as comfort women anymore. We weren't
paid, but we worked very hard looking after the casualties.

During those three years and four months, except for a year at Akyab,
we lived for short periods in many places: Mandalay, Prome, Rangoon,
somewhere in Thailand and the old Thai capital, Ayutthaya. Wherever
we went we were taunted and despised for being comfort women and
for being Korean. We had a weekly medical examination for venereal
disease, and the soldiers used condoms. If any didn't want to use a sheath,
I would kick them between their legs and demand that they put one on.
If a soldier still refused, I would report him to the military police. Some

women had babies. I know where some of them live now, but since I
don't know why they have not registered themselves with the Korean
Council I won't say anything more about them. I will restrain myself
from encouraging them to register.
I few incidents that happened in Akyab. Once, I felt life was so
recall a

miserable that I got drunk and threw myself down from the second floor.

I might have covered my head with my arm, for my left arm and shoul-

der were badly damaged in the fall. The soldiers rushed to me and pulled
my left arm in an attempt to put it back into joint. This was so painful
that I fainted. I had to have my arm in plaster and stayed in hospital for
three months. On one occasion I was missing my family unbearably. I
went to the unit headquarters and asked if I could write home since my
mother had been very ill when I had left her. They allowed me to write
a letter. After some time I received a telegram saying that my mother was

indeed very ill and might die soon. This was followed by another
telegram that curdy said my mother was dead. I went to an officer in the
unit and asked if I could send some money home so that my family could
arrange a proper funeral. I was allowed to send some. When we were
staying in the temporary place in Thailand, I sent home more money. I

still had quite a lot of money saved in my bank-book, but the book was
lost somewhere in Burma. When I sent money home the officer recom-
mended I send all that I had, but I wanted to keep some so that I could
settle down when I returned to Korea.
Talking about money, I tried very hard to save. When we were in
Akyab the officers would compliment me on my good Japanese and
singing ability. When they had birthday parties or farewell parties, they
would often send for me along with Japanese women. They thought
Fumihara Yosiko, me, to be the best Korean. We would pour drinks,
dance and sing. There were two or three parties a week, and I was called

to every one. They gave me tips, and I saved every penny. I wasn't beau-
tiful but it was said that I was cute. Some officers came to sleep with me

112
 Mun Okchu

on a regular basis. Whenever they were with me, I didn't have to serve

the rank and file. I saved money given to me by the officers. I was often
able to get free drinks or cigarettes, and I exchanged these for cash, sav-

ing everything in my account. I was really upset when I lost the deposit

book by the Shimonoseki Post Office.

issued
There is also one unforgettable event that happened on the way from
Mandalay to Akyab. One of the women was infected with tuberculosis,
and she couldn't move any further after we had reached a certain island.

All the others left, but I stayed on to look after her. She died within ten
days. The soldiers wouldn't come near the body, so I burnt it and scat-

tered her ashes at sea. I saved a few ashes and ground them into powder
so that I could later pass them to her family. But, since we were being
moved so often, the bag holding her ashes was also lost.

Home Again
After Ayutthaya, we were taken by military truck to a refugee camp. Just
before we left, Hondamineo asked me to go to Japan with him. But I just
wanted to get home. The camp was crowded. It resembled a large school
building, with a playground in the middle. We saw American jeeps arriv-
ing now and then. We we embarked on a
lived together. After a while,
ship bound for Korea. We landed in Inch'on. We were kept busy on
board, making flags to use when we arrived. But cholera broke out
among the passengers, and the ship had to stay offshore of Inch'on for
two weeks. We had to have our whole bodies disinfected when we got
off. We all had short hair and wore baggy trousers and geta. As we walked

down the gangplank, waving the flags we had made, people on shore
welcomed us with drums and gongs. We could hear the anthem through2

a loudspeaker, '...May Korea be protected by Koreans for ever...'. We

were moved to tears. Each of us received 1000 won as we disembarked.

I went home as soon as I landed, to find my mother was still alive. She

said that she had sent the telegram thinking that I would rush home if I

thought she was dead.

I had only been back a short while when my aunt by marriage — my
uncle's wife — visited and said they couldn't allow someone like me to
stay at home and disgrace the family. I was not treated as a human being
by my relatives. I was sad and upset, but I quickly grew bold, telling
them to mind their own business. I didn't pay much attention to what
they thought of me. About a year later, my mother sent me off to train at
a kwonbon, a school for entertainment girls, kisaeng, in Talsong. I was 22.

2 Korean percussion bands, known under the umbrella term nongak, were a feature of cel-
ebrations and festivals until recently.

113
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

I learned to be a kisaeng over three years, and I paid for my training by

working part-time.
After I had finished the course married a Mr Kim who ran a business
I

in Taegu. He was six years older than me, and his first wife had died. He
had a daughter who was already married and two other children, anoth-
er daughter and a son, still living with him. I lived with them for about

six years. But then his business collapsed and he took his own life with-
out having provided for the family. So, I went back to work as a kisaeng
to support his children and my mother. I must have been 32 by then. In
the kisaeng house, met another man. He was running a confectionery
I

factory. He said he was the same age as me, but later I found out that he
was three years younger and already married, with a daughter and four
sons. He was caring and understanding, and never interfered with what I

did. By up house with him, I was able to support my mother and

setting
the two children of my late husband until they became independent. I
also continued to carry out the ancestral worship rituals for my deceased
in-laws. When I passed 40, I brought home one of the sons of my com-
panion, and he still behaves as if he my own
is son.
There is no single healthy part in my body. I hurt everywhere. There
was a time when I suffered severe insomnia. But since I have now
poured out my life story to you I much more easy. will be able to
feel I

sleep and eat much better. Until last year, when I was first encouraged by

a friend from my days at the school for entertainment girls to register

with the Council, I kept my life in China to myself. I was so ashamed of
what had happened that I did not want to let other people know any-
thing about it. So I told people what had happened sparingly. Now that

everyone knows the story, however, I feel I have nothing to fear. So,
now I have told you everything about myself, I can rest easily.

114
CHAPTER 13

It Makes Me Sad That

I Can't Have Children
Yi Sunok

Yi Sunok was born in 1921 in Yongdok, North Kyongsang province. A

relative in the village had been actively involved in the independence

movement against the Japanese occupation and, because of him, police sur-

veillance was tight. When she was 11, she heard a rumour that the

Japanese government was recruiting girls, and registered herself on paper

though not in reality as married. It was difficult for a young girl to pretend

to be a newly-wed. So, intending to earn some money, she left home with
a man who had promised her work in a Japanese factory . She was taken
to a comfort station in Guangdong, China.

Branded and Deceived

I was born in 1921 in Yongdok, North Kyongsang province, the first of

four children. I had two sisters and a brother. My father was a farmer
who sometimes worked in the gold mines near Ky5ngju and Yongch'on.
Because I was the first child and was in poor health, my parents took spe-
cialcare of me. They wanted to bring me up gently and then find me a
good husband. I didn't help with the farm but helped mother around the
house. When I was 15 or 16, I went to evening classes in a thatched
house used as the village hall to learn to read and write Korean. The
teacher was a young Christian.
About that time, a distant relation lived with his family just behind our
house. He had been in prison for taking part in the independence move-
ment against the Japanese occupation while he had been studying in
Japan. He and his family had lived in Kyongju before moving to
Yongdok. My father treated him well, saying he was intelligent and had
great knowledge. The authorities, though, kept a tight watch on us, on
the grounds that he was a member of our lineage. If the police visited his
house, they would also come to ours and search it. Sometimes my father
was taken to the police station for questioning.

115
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

When I was about 17,we had to practise drills. These were led by the
Korean village head. He frequendy made us sing Japanese songs. An
alarming rumour was floating around that the authorities were offering
Korean girls to their government back in Japan. My father was afraid that
I might be taken away, and discussed tactics with my uncle. They decid-
ed to register a marriage, in name only, not in actuality, between me and
a Mr Pak from Ch'ongha district. It was October 1937. My uncle said he
had met Pak in Japan while he had been a student and that he had helped
run errands for the independence movement. Pak was much older than
me and already had a wife and a son, but he had divorced because he had
a personality clash with his wife. I never lived with Pak, and I had never
even seen his face at this time. It was agreed that when I really married,

my registration with Pak would immediately be cancelled. After rilling in

the documents to register the marriage I went around like a newly-wed,
putting up my hair and wearing a scarf. We told our neighbours to say
that I had been married off if they were asked about me.
After a short while, my uncle suddenly died. Ever since then we have
had no way of finding out what happened to Pak. We moved to Yasa
ward in Yongch'on, where a married aunt was living. Now there were

seven in the family: me, my grandmother, my parents, two sisters and my

brother. Another boy had been born just after me, but he died soon after

birth.

In Yongch'on we lived in the annexe of a big house where some

acquaintances of my aunt, the Moritas, lived. They were an elderly

Japanese couple who said they had lost their son in the war. Although
they were heavy drinkers, they had kind hearts. They spoke good
Korean, maybe because they had lived in our country for such a long
time. I washed clothes and carried water for this old couple, and they
were kind to us. I asked Mrs Morita about Japan. She told me that there
were many factories there where girls could earn lots of money by work-
ing. She said that everyone worked and earned money, and that no girls

of my age were jobless. I had been finding it hard to act as if I was mar-
ried, with my hair up even though I was still a virgin. I also found it

difficult to live in a strange area which was not my home town. So I told
the Moritas that I wanted
go to Japan to earn
to a living. They said my
father would be displeased and advised me not to talk about such things.
We kept discussing it until one day a man, a Mr Oh, aged about forty,

visited Mr Morita. I was there, listening to them talking about different

topics while they drank in the hall. Oh said he had come to recruit girls

towork in a factory. Knowing what I wanted, Mr Morita asked Oh if he

knew of a good place for me. Oh replied that there was a silk factory
which needed many girls, since they had recendy opened a new building,

116
 Yi Sunok

and that any young girl could get a job there. He added that the

factory would pay travel expenses and that many would be going.
girls

He also said I could leave at any time if I didn't like the work there. Oh
came and asked me if I wanted to go, and I answered that I would like
to, given such good terms. My parents were against the idea, but I

persuaded them on the grounds that I found it very difficult to act as if

married, with my hair up and covered with a scarf, besides which we

were very poor. In this way, I left home with Oh. I was wearing blue
summer clothes, and it was the season for cucumbers. It must have been
early summer 1938.
I got on a train at Yongch'on with Oh, and we travelled to Taegu.

There, we were joined by Yoshiko from Taegu, Itsimaru from Kyongju,

Sadako and Masako. These were the names given to the girls later at the
comfort station. I was to be called Takiko. Yoshiko was from a kwonbon,
a training school for entertainment girls, kisaeng, in Taegu. She said she

had come along because her foster mother had told her to volunteer for
work in a Japanese factory. We had our hair cut at a hairdressers then
boarded another train. Oh put us in a cargo carriage, and took himself off
to a passenger carriage. We must have been early for the appointed date,
for we got off at P'yongyang and stayed about a week in a house reached
after a long walk from the station. At night, Oh went out to attend to his
affairs, and we took baths or washed our clothes. A woman in her fifties
cooked for us, making side dishes of fried potatoes and cucumber salad.

We slept together in a large room. Namiko, Mitsuko, Yuriko and Eiko

from C holla province joined us there.
After a week, we boarded another train at the station. There were
many Chinese on it. We got off somewhere, and stayed for a while. A
Korean cooked for us there, but the pickled cabbage, kimch'i, was terri-
ble. Then we took a khaki-coloured truck covered with canvas. The dri-
ver was Japanese and wore a military uniform. Oh sat beside him while
we crouched in the back. The vehicle stopped after a short ride. We had
heard that Japan was a clean country and we thought it strange, for this
place was filthy. Only then did we find out that we had come to
Guangdong, in China, not to Japan. From then on, our wretched lives
began.

Beaten
When we got off the truck it was cold and there was a biting wind. We
were standing in front of a two-storey red brick building. From the out-
side, the entrance door was very high and big, but inside we found an

empty house with no people and no furniture. There were many rooms,
each the same size, divided by partitions into cubicles. There was a

117
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

wooden fence along the little track in front of the house, and a military

unit could be seen directly beyond it. There were hardly any Chinese
around. We could see no Japanese women, just Japanese soldiers. Once
we had all entered, Oh talked to the soldiers then disappeared. The
house was cleaned with disinfectant. A woman in her fifties from Cholla
province came to us. She was obese and had lived in Japan for many
years. She always cautioned us to keep ourselves clean. We were to call

her Obasang, grandmother. She told us not to wait for Oh.

On the day we arrived we were sent to rest in the rooms. The follow-
ing day, Obasang told us to have a bath. The same day, high-ranking sol-
diers came and stayed the night. I hated what they forced me to go
through. It was the first time in my life that I had sex, and I wept a lot.

The soldier whom I served first He came again

was about 30 years old.

after that, once in a while, and was always kind to me, telling me to look

after myself, and not to forget to use condoms. He even gave me a ring,

which I wore during my time as a comfort woman but which, when I

was returning home, I threw into the sea thinking it useless. High-rank-
ing officers hardly ever came; our soldiers were mosdy low-grade privates.
About 25 came each day, and many more from 9.00 in the morning
onwards on Saturdays and Sundays. We waited in the ground floor hall.
When soldiers came in, they would choose a girl and go into her cubicle.
We had a box in which to store belongings, and a small cement space
for our shoes. My room was on the first floor, and it was about one
p'yong, 3.2 square metres in size. It had straw mats on the wooden floor,
laid so badly that the floor creaked whenever I stepped on it. We spread

mats and blankets out. We were given four blankets each, two to He on
and two to cover ourselves with. On the door was my name and photo-
graph. Cotton curtains hung at the door which were let down when sol-
diers came. We were not paid, but soldiers gave us pocket-money once
in a while. I owed nobody anything, but those who drank became
indebted to Obasang. The military police often looked around the com-
fort station and talked with her. She kept a sword and pistol in her room,
and later she would sometimes wear a military cap. If the women didn't
listen to her commands, she beat them severely. I was beaten on my
abdomen and bottom. If the bedding was dirty or if I refused to serve
men, Obasang threw my stuff outside.
Among the soldiers, some carried a flask of alcohol at their side. They
would get drunk and become violent. Not long after I arrived I was
stabbed on the thigh by one. This happened after I tried to refuse him
when he went for me several times. I screamed when I was stabbed and
the other women and soldiers in the station rushed to my room in sur-
prise. I had to continue to serve the soldiers, even while I was receiving

118
 Yl Sunok

treatment from the military hospital. When this wound had nearly

healed, another soldier pushed me backwards for not welcoming him.

My hip was hurt, and my thigh began to swell because of the impact. It
became so swollen and painful that I had to have an operation. I stayed in
hospital for about a week, but was then discharged to rest at the comfort
station because of a shortage of beds. The hospital was very small. It only
had two military surgeons and three or four beds. After my discharge, I

went back to the hospital by rickshaw for treatment. For some time there
was a notice on my door that said I could not serve men. While in bed,
because I was not serving men, I was given no warm rice, only cold rice
with pickled radish.
We took our meals together downstairs. There were long wooden
tables and benches in the dining room. Rice and pickled radish were the
usual fare. When we served more men than usual, Obasang would treat

us with a small portion of pork boiled in soy sauce given by the unit.

There was no heating at all. When it was very cold, we could have hot
water tins, but only those who had been obedient to Obasang and had
served many soldiers were allowed them. The slightly larger rooms were
divided into two by a curtain down the middle. There were about 20
Korean girls in the house, and Chinese women did the cleaning, cook-
ing, washing up, nursing and laundry. We wore yellow underwear and
navy long-sleeved dresses. These were issued to us. We also got baggy
navy trousers. Later, we were given kimonos and haoris. We hung the
clothes on the walls. Our hair was always bobbed, and Obasang cut it. We
went weekly to the military hospital to have check-ups for venereal
infection. Obasang delivered a box of condoms and cotton wool for san-
itary purposes to each of us in the morning. Even during menstruation
we had to wash ourselves with an antiseptic solution, insert cotton wool
and continue to serve men.
After three years we went to Singapore with our proprietor. We
weren't given any notice. Suddenly, one night, Obasang distributed cot-
ton sacks and told us to pack our things. Some girls remained, but some
volunteered in the hope of seeing Singapore. We heard new girls would
be sent to replace us. I kept quiet, saying nothing, but the proprietor told
me to go. The seemed to be moving on, and we actually
soldiers also
went with them. We took a truck, a military train, then a ship. In the
truck, there were two soldiers. It was covered, so we could not look out.
We were transferred to the big ship by a small boat. There were three or
four ships, and all held women in a similar predicament to us. As the
ships began to sail in convoy, we waved our handkerchiefs to the girls in

the other vessels. We wept, wondering how we would live so far away.
We understood that one ship was going to an unknown island and the

119
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

others to different places. In the main, Japanese soldiers occupied our

ship, and Chinese men carried their luggage. We weren't allowed to
leave our cabins, and we only managed to look at the sea through a small
porthole. We ate in a small dining room and were given cooked rice,

pickled apricots and pickled radish. When we were eating, no one else

was allowed in the room. The cabin floors were covered with soft tatami

mats, and the nights weren't cold. I don't remember how long we sailed

for. When we disembarked, we used small boats again.

In contrast to the comfort station in China, which had been secluded
and had hardly any trucks passing nearby, Singapore was a city hectic

with the buzz of heavy The comfort station was a single-storey

traffic.

long wooden building surrounded by a wooden fence. It seemed to have

been purpose-built. Another comfort station could be seen beyond the
fence, but I never visited it. Our station had about 30 cubicles. There
was an electric fan in the ceiling above every two cubicles. All the

women were Korean, and our Obasang again managed the place. There
was a pregnant woman amongst us, and a girl from Cholla province gave
birth to a daughter. There was one who had come along believing she
was going to an island, and another who had previously worked on
another island. We could overhear Obasang and the proprietors talking
between themselves as they went in and out of the house. They would
say 'These girls are obedient', 'girls in such and such a place wouldn't lis-
ten to us', and 'it is easy to work the girls from Kyongsang provinces'. If
a woman drank, Obasang reported her to the soldiers, and a soldier would

come and give her a mighty beating.

We got up in the morning, cleaned our rooms, washed and had break-
fast. Then the soldiers began to come. There were chairs lined up outside
the building where we sat, waiting. The soldiers chose whoever they
liked and went to the cubicles. There were more women than there had
been in China, so we each needed to serve fewer men. We sometimes
tried to be clever and serve even fewer. The soldiers would drop into
Obasang's room before they came into a girl's cubicle. I don't know if
they paid her any money. I don't remember being paid except for occa-
sional pocket-money. Although I had left home specifically to earn
money, I had never thoughtwould end up in this kind of place. In the
I

evenings, high-ranking officers came to stay the night, leaving at dawn. If

they came to have a drink, they were given a nice big room. Among the
soldiers, there were some who taught us to read hiragana and katakana,

the Japanese writing systems.

It was very hot in Singapore, and there was a downpour every day.

Outside the back door of our station, there was a place where we could
take baths, and we threw cold water over ourselves once a day because of

120
 Yl Sunok

the heat. Amongst the shower cubicles, one was curtained so that we
could wash our genitals. We were given condoms in boxes, as we had
been in China, and we had check-ups once a week for venereal disease.
Often, Obasang did the check-ups herself at the station, but sometimes a
soldier came to give us injections in her room. If we became seriously ill,
we would be taken to the military hospital for treatment. Our meals con-
sisted of cooked rice and pickled radish. All the time I was a comfort

woman, I never ate anything spicy, so I still cannot take hot food. There
were many fruit trees and gum trees around the comfort station, and we
ate a lot of red fruit which looked like plums, and something similar to

pumpkin.

Japan and Home

Fujiwara, actually a Korean from Kwangju in Cholla province, was one
of my regulars. He was a carpenter and a civilian employee working in
Singapore. I earnestly appealed to him, saying I wanted to go home, even
if I died in the process. He agreed to help. Some women had already left

the station to return, but it was said that ships bound for Korea were
often bombed so many died on their way. Even so, I desperately wanted
to go home. After a while, me and some
he asked of the girls to meet a

high-ranking soldier. He seemed to know senior officers quite well, I

suppose because of his carpentry work. Six of us slipped quietly out of

the comfort station, asking the others to tell Obasang we had gone for a
walk into the gum tree forest if she came to look for us.
We reached the barracks, and Fujiwara said something to the guard.
We were allowed in. We entered and met the officer. He asked us how
long we had been there, and we told him six years. We said we wanted to
go home to Korea. He told us that a hospital ship was short of nurses and
asked if we would look after patients on our way, and enquired whether
we would be any good at it. We replied in the affirmative. He told us that
it was a Red Cross ship and would leave for Japan in a fortnight, and that

we should board it. In this way, the six of us were able to leave Singapore.
It was winter 1944. An army official came to the comfort station and told
Obasang to let us go. She didn't like it, and muttered and moaned. But
new Korean women arrived to replace us before we left.

Among my regulars, there had been Haname.

a Japanese soldier called
He proposed to me before I left Singapore, but I turned him down

because I wanted to get back to Korea. One day, he said he would buy
me whatever I most wanted and took me by car into the city. I chose a
handbag. On the day we were to depart, Haname bade me farewell. He
gave me an armful of bananas, but what with seasickness and having to
look after patients, I wasn't able to eat them.

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True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

I still remember Sadako, Itsimaru, Masako and Fujiko, four of those

who left with me. Yosiko, Midori and Eiko had already left, but I had
been told that they died in air-raids while at sea. On board the hospital
ship, the patients slept on the main deck and the nurses on the lower
deck. There were only a few qualified nurses, and numbers were made
up with the many helpers like ourselves. The patients smelt and suffered
from many different types of wound. Some had lost eyes, some arms,
some legs and some their hips. Some grasped photographs of their fami-
lies in their hands, saying they would remain with them until they died.

Our job was to look after these patients. We took a bowl of rice gruel
and one pickled apricot to each, and we spoon-fed those who could not
eat because their lips had been damaged. For the first few days, I couldn't

eat properly because of the strong smell of the patients and their dreadful
wounds. The air on the ship was very bad, so the nursing staff were
allowed up on deck to get fresh air. I noticed many Red Cross flags, but
American planes still flew near our ship, and some torpedoes menacingly
approached On some days, the air-raid sirens went off several times in
us.

an evening. We put on baggy trousers and red socks and held a float in
our hands. There were many small boats tied around the ship, and we
were told to lower them and jump in
bombing got too serious. if the
We arrived at Oshima, Japan, after 20 days. As soon as we came ashore
in a small bay, we had to rush into a shelter because of enemy bombing.
The shelter was packed. When
the air-raid siren stopped, we told the
people who we we had been looking after patients on a
had joined that
hospital ship and asked where we could spend the night. They led us to
the town guest-house. I remember an earthquake that occurred while we
were sleeping on the first floor. We thought it was another air raid, but
the proprietor came up to tell us what was happening. The next day, we
asked how to get to Korea. We were told that Shimonoseki was not far
and that from there we could take a ship to Pusan. We were told where
to board a train. We had received certificates with the seal of the high-
ranking officer when we left Singapore, so were able to travel free if we
showed them. In this way, we got back to Kyongju. From there I went
to Talsan district in Yongdok county, where my parents were living. I

couldn't them that I had been a comfort woman.

tell

About six months after my return, Korea was liberated. I worked in a

restaurant in P'ohang run by a childhood friend. But the venture was
unsuccessful, so I worked with my friend in the canteens of various banks
for about six years. We rented a room
During those years, together.
Sadako and Masako often me, but then Masako died following an
visited
operation. She had been one year older than myself, and had she still
lived, she would have registered at the Korean Council with me. Some

122
 Yl Sunok

of those who were comfort women with me still live in Kyongju, but it
seems they have not registered. I don't know where Sadako is now, nor
how she makes a living.

After leaving the canteens, I sold fabrics back in P'ohang. I carried

them on my head to market. Then I decided to return home to live with

my mother, who was by then farming. I reported a divorce from Mr Pak
in 1960, thereby putting my registration documents in order. When I

was 42, through a became the second wife of an elderly

matchmaker, I

man who two daughters. But I didn't move in

already had three sons and
with him, and for the next 15 years I stayed with my mother in a village
where my sister also lived. I kept a small general store. After my mother
died, only then, I moved into my husband's home. But we don't get on
well together, so I live mostly at my brother's house.
My brother and sisters encouraged me to register as a former comfort
woman, but I felt so ashamed. In this society, people still talk behind our
backs. I would feel humiliated, even if I was to receive compensation.
But then, I would feel mistreated if I didn't get any compensation.
Whenever I think of those years, my heart pounds and my whole body is
racked with pain. I live now only with the help of my brother and sisters.

My wish is to live the rest of my life on my own in comfort. My greatest

regret is that I was not able to have children. This was the result of my
life as a comfort woman.

123
CHAPTER 14

I Came Home, But Lost My Family

Yi Sangok

Yi Sangok was born in 1922 in Talsong, North Kyongsang province.

Her family was comfortably off, but she had to leave school because her

elder brother strongly objected to her studying. She was so determined to

continue with her education that she left her parents' home and secretly

went to live with an aunt in Seoul. She attended school there for four
years then, vexed by her aunt, joined what we today might call an escort

agency. She left with other women who had been told they would be going
to Japanese factories to earn money, but she was taken to the Palau

islands, where she became a comfort woman.

I was born in 1922 in Choya village, Talsong district, Talsong county,

North Kyongsang province, the first daughter in a family which eventu-

ally numbered two sons and three daughters. I was registered under the

name of Sangok, but was called Umjon at home because I was so quiet
and gende. I was born in the Year of the Dog, and my grandfather used
to say that I was an ill-fated child who would have to be a second wife.
1

We were quite well off, since my father was the mayor of the town, and
we had servants to work our farm. We even employed a wet-nurse for
my brothers and sisters.

Before I went to school, I had attended evening classes, but had

stopped going after I became frightened of being attacked by wild ani-
mals late at night. I started school when I was nine, and was soon able to
read first-grade books. But my brother, who was three years older,
stopped me going, saying it was useless to educate a girl. He burnt all my
books on the kitchen fire, saying that educated girls ended up leading
loose lives. I insisted on going. He took me to the old Confucian

1 Yi's grandfather was presumably referring to the almanac and his comment reflects the
time of Yi's birth. The calendar is divided into sets often heavenly characters and twelve
earthly zodiacal animals, which occur in juxtaposition to give a recurring 60-year cycle.
The Year of the Dog marks one of the zodiacal animals. .

124
 Yi Sangok

academy, 2 as he could not beat me in front of our grandfather in the

house, and threatened to kill me with a sickle. How I envied the tall girl

next door who freely went to school! Since I wasn't able to attend
school, left home without even letting my mother know, in late spring
I

the same year. I decided to go to my aunt in Seoul. left home and I

boarded a train. A child, without any money, I was able to travel free. I

got off at Seoul station, took a tram south to Ipchongjong and walked to
my aunt's. Her house was in that district.

My aunt was a widow, and though she sold dress fabrics, her living
conditions weren't that good. She kept on telling me to return home,
and she made me work for my keep. My cousins were older than me, but
they took my side, asking if she intended to give me work instead of
sending me to school. They pointed out that I had come to Seoul to get
an education. So the following year, at the age often, I was able to start

school again. I cannot remember the name of the place. My aunt paid. I

had to continue to clean the house and to sew when I came home,
which didn't leave me much time to study. The school was far away, and
I had to have an early breakfast and leave. There were some Japanese
children at the school, and I still remember my teacher stroking my long
hair, and saying I had a good brain. There weren't many girls, but there
were lots of boys. Sometimes, on my way home, I used to stop to play
jackstones or skipping with other children, arriving home at about
supper time. But when I did that I was scolded by my aunt for being late.
I shared a room with my female cousins. One had finished school and
was working. I didn't have any pocket-money, and once I bought 5
chon worth of sweets with the money my aunt had given me to buy her
cigarettes. She didn't scold me, but gave me more money to buy the cig-
arettes. Since I had begun to live with her, every time she went to
Talsong to visit my family, my brother made a fuss about me. He would
bother her and ask why she had sent me to school. I understand he even
stopped my parents coming to get me, saying they shouldn't regard me as

their child. To him, I wasn't a dutiful daughter. I didn't write home. I

found schoolwork interesting; I read all the textbooks as well as every-

thing else I could lay my hands on.
My aunt paid my school fees up to the fourth grade. Then she told me
to return home since she was no longer able to meet the expense. Even
before then she had told me many times to finish school. I had cried and
said I didn't want to go back to TalsSng because my family wouldn't

2 Confucian academies provided the mainstay of traditional local education until the late
nineteenth century, when they were closed by a decree issued by the Prince Regent, the
Taewdn'gun.

125
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

allow me to attend a school and, unable to change my mind, she had let
me stay on. I so wanted to continue, and knew well that my brother
wouldn't let me
went home. I managed
if I to go to school for only four
years, even though it was a six-year course.
My aunt bothered me so much that I finally left her. I was 14. I was
afraid to go home in case my brother beat me to death. I wandered about
until I came to a house where I could hear people talking and singing.
The was wide open and there was a signboard with the name of an
gate
agency, and the name of the owner, Kim Munshik. It was at 123
Ipchongjong, Seoul. It wasn't far from my aunt's home. I didn't know
what the name meant but, hearing the singing, I went through the gate
wondering if I could learn to sing. I knew no fear. When I went in, I
found women in the hall playing drums and men listening to them.
Later, I noticed that the agency called girls and told them to sing: those

who sang well were sent away on rickshaws. It was what we today might
call an escort agency.
As I entered, a woman asked me where I had come from. I lied a lit-

tle, saying that my home was in Talsong, but that I had been staying with
an aunt in Seoul. I had done something wrong, and been thrown
I said

out. She asked if would like to stay in her house, and I said that I
I

would. She said she would have to foster me. So I stayed for about a year,
cooking and doing the laundry. In return, she fed and clothed me and
once in a while gave me 10 or 20 chon for pocket-money. I undid the
stitches from a corner of my dress and kept the money hidden there. She
was the manager, Kim Munshik. She was over 40 and had very little hair,

just like a man. While I stayed there I listened to the girls singing and
playing the drums and learnt to hum many songs.
After one particular day, girls began constandy to be brought to the
house. Every day, one or two came, some of whom had clearly been sold
by their fathers. It was said that an elderly Korean man working for Kim
and a Japanese civilian employee were travelling the country recruiting
girls. The Japanese man wore a brownish khaki uniform with red and

green lapels, and a badge depicting something like red seagulls.

I asked the girls where they were going, and they replied that they
were on their way to Japanese factories with the Japanese man. I asked if

I could go with them, and was told that I could. So I talked with the
Japanese man. He said he was glad, and wrote my name on a list. I told
Kim Munshik and she said it was fine by her if it was what I wanted. I

didn't contact either my parents or my aunt. When there were ten girls

including me, we set off with the Japanese man. The girls had come from
various districts in North and South Kyongsang and Cholla provinces.
They were 16, 17 and 18 years old, while I was 15 and the youngest. I

126
 Yi Sangok

think it was spring 1936. I wore a lined blouse and a dark skirt. We trav-

elled by train from Seoul to Pusan. We boarded a ferry at once and

crossed to Shimonoseki. There, we had our long hair bobbed, after our
keepers told us that we would be recognized as Koreans if we had long
hair. whenever the other girls felt hungry, I went out
In the guest-house,
to buy biscuits or eggs since I already spoke some Japanese.
We stayed about a week, and then were told to board a ship once
more. We asked where we were going since we were already in Japan.
There was no reply. Anyway, it was a very big vessel with a cafe and
bathhouse on board. The ten of us were the only women. Many of my
colleagues suffered from seasickness, but after eating the pickled apricots

and soya bean soup I brought them they seemed to stop suffering. I don't
remember how long we sailed for, but one day as I stood on deck look-
ing at the waves I sang some of the songs I had learnt at the agency. Tears
streamed down my face before I realized what was happening. The
sailors said that we were going to a place where black people lived naked,

except for a few leaves, and that we would all die there. We asked what
we would do, and they told us we would work in a factory making pot
cleaners, tawasi.

As our ship passed by islands, the sailors pointed out Saipan and Yap,
then the Palau islands where they said we would disembark. We reached
Palau, but the ship wasn't able to get close since there was no proper pier.

The ship sounded its horn and a negro came to the ship on a raft. He had
no clothes except for a piece of red cloth which roughly covered his pri-
vate parts. A ladder was let down from the ship and, just as we were
about to climb down, the sailors called out jokingly to be careful since
the natives used to eat people. We were scared and refused to leave the
ship, but they made us hurry down. The raft was very small, just big
enough for two people, and it had to make many journeys between ship
and shore.
As we landed we noted that the island was undeveloped. It retained its

natural innocence. People didn't wear clothes, and women were only
covered up to their waists with palm leaves. We walked to a single-storey
house built of wooden boards in a long L-shape. It had a big yard with a
flower-bed in one corner. The proprietor was a Korean man. He lived
with his wife. He was called Hayashi, though we never knew his first
name. He was illiterate, but his fat wife spoke good Japanese. He asked us
where we had come from and whether our parents knew of our where-
abouts. We were hungry and crying by now and didn't have the wits to
answer him. The proprietor paid some money to the man who had
brought us this far. According to the amount of money paid, the terms of

our service were apparently decided: 18 months, two years, three years.

127
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

My term was 18 months. I wasn't given any money.

At first we ate a lot of papayas, pineapples and bananas. After about a

week, rice arrived, and then we could eat cooked rice and soya bean
soup. There was a Korean women in her thirties who cooked for us. She
was a relative of the proprietor. To start with we didn't serve soldiers but
spent our time talking to each other. When it rained, we collected the
rainwater to drink and to wash our clothes in. The weather was like that

in May in Korea, and it was cool whenever it rained.

There was a signboard with Chinese script on it but, preoccupied with
weeping, I didn't pay much attention to it. A sliding door led into the
hall, and the proprietor's room was adjacent to this. Then there was a
kitchen and office. Next, there were many small rooms facing each
other. When it rained, the water flowed down through the rafters into an
underground tank. This water was sterilized for drinking, and was con-
nected to the bathroom through pipes for washing. In front of the pro-
prietor's room was a small tank for their own use. The proprietor said he
could only start business when he obtained a licence. This happened
about a fortnight later. We didn't know what the business was.
One evening, he asked us to sit in the hall. A little later, soldiers came
in carrying their shoes in one hand, and each chose a girl he fancied,
walking into her room. It was terrifying to serve a soldier for the first

time. I screamed and resisted. He hit me for crying. The soldiers began to
come at 3.00 or 4.00 in the afternoon. The proprietor introduced slight-
ly older and more mature girls to the high-ranking officers, but he always
introduced ignorant rank-and-file soldiers to me, the youngest. They hit

me heardessly, saying I didn't obey them. Sometimes, if a soldier chose

one of the girls and left his shoes in the hall, that girl would take his shoes
in her hands and follow him to her room. I served two or three soldiers
at the most each day. After only two I was exhausted and had to stay in

bed. While sitting in the hall with the others, when the proprietor asked
me to take a man in with me, I shook all over and wept. Then he would
ask one of the others to serve the soldier. The others had to serve about
20 men. Some of the soldiers had white uniforms and some wore khaki.
We didn't see any Korean soldiers. We didn't know where the army unit
we heard it was by the sea.
was, but
Each soldier was usually allowed an hour. There were some who
would remain undressed after intercourse than start all over. I refused
men who tried to have sex several times. I wouldn't meet their demands.
I screamed and shouted. They would beat me or stab me with a knife. I

was struck so many times in those years that I still cannot hear well in my
right ear and my body is covered with scars. If I tried to run away, they
subjected me to all kinds of abuse, like tying a rope around my neck and

128
 Yi Sangok

dragging me around. The soldiers didn't care whether we were having

our periods or not. If I told the proprietor that I wouldn't be able to
work because was the time of my period, he would scold me severely.
it

I didn't have regular menstruation and no one was kind to me. I was cold
and resisted them. And they hit me.
The proprietor gave Japanese names to all the girls: mine was Nobuko.
I didn't call the others by their names much, so I don't remember them.
I remember only one, Hanako, who was from Cholla province. She was
very pretty and, accordingly, much harassed by the soldiers. The soldiers
sometimes paid their money at the office, or they would pay the girls in
their rooms. The girls then passed payment to the proprietor. The fee
was usually 1 yen, but 3 yen for those who stayed overnight. The
currency was Japanese. We each had a room with a small wardrobe and
bedding, the cost of which we were told was to be deducted from our
income later on. The rooms had tatami and were about two p'yong (one
p'yong is 3.2 square metres) large. My monthly income was said to be 30
yen. But the proprietor provided me with things like clothes, cosmetics
and and deducted the cost of these from my promised wages.
a mirror,

So I never had any money in my hands. He said that we had to keep

clean and have nice clothes in which to serve our clients, so he gave us
Korean dresses, Japanese kimonos and Western dresses. He also offered

us expensive food, but always deducted the expense from our wages.
We even had Korean pickled cabbage, kimch'i, with our three meals a

day. But we weren't given enough, so we went hungry. We ate pineap-

ples from the trees. The door of the house was always guarded, but some
of the more clever girls would bribe the guards with money and go out
shopping.
We went to hospital once a week for check-ups. It was a military
with one Japanese surgeon and two Japanese nurses. We were
hospital
examined for syphilis, and the girls who served many soldiers were
often contaminated. This was because some soldiers used condoms and
some didn't. Anyone found with the disease was hospitalized for treat-
ment. I was never infected. I always washed myself in the bathroom
immediately after I had served a soldier. I found the whole sexual act
filthy. There were some soldiers who stole my things while I was in the
bathroom. Then the proprietor bought what was missing again and
told me to take the things to my room. I turned him down and said 'I
don't want to buy them. They will only be stolen by the soldiers again.
It's like making soup and giving it to dogs.' The proprietor insisted that

I should take them and beat me, saying that all the other girls bought

them. He asked why I was so persistent. If anyone became ill and was
hospitalized, the proprietor would make much fuss. He harassed them,

129
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

asking how they would pay their debts if they stayed in hospital for
two or three months. If we didn't pay him back, our terms would be
extended.
The Korean proprietor and his wife handed the comfort station to a
Japanese couple after a few months. The new couple were in their forties
or fifties. With new cook and a new manager. But we
the change came a

were treated the same way under the new management. At first there had
been just ten of us, but more girls arrived later. Among the new arrivals
were some entertainment girls, kisaeng, one of whom had been well
known in P'yongyang. She was older than the rest of us and attracted
many men. After her arrival, many men wearing Japanese costume visit-
ed. They called for the kisaeng and made them sing. Among the men
were some who could speak Korean. Some of the kisaeng danced well
and some could play the zither, kayagiim.* One sang popular folk-songs
from the Korean south-west well. Even they had to serve the men.
Many people died because of the war, but no girls committed suicide.

I started to menstruate properly when I was 21. One morning, I woke

to find blood on my bed, and I thought I was going to bleed to death
without even being ill. A girl in the next room came in, and I told her
about the blood. She asked how I could be so stupid, rushed out, ordered
gauze on the telephone and showed me how to cut and use it. In Palau,
just before the Pacific war broke out, I once danced Arirang on a stage. I

had learnt from the Japanese soldiers. They would often sing Arirang.
it

Arirang was a folk-song which became famous as a patriotic song in the

1920s. Sometimes by now 40 or 50, would be drilled,
all of us girls,

wearing khaki army uniforms and by a Japanese soldier. Even small

caps,
faults, such as putting on the caps askew or doing up the buttons in the

wrong manner, were pointed out. Standing under the sun with an empty
stomach I fainted several times. Because of this I was beaten.
When there were no clients, a man in the office gathered us together
and taught us to read and write Japanese. I already knew some Japanese,
and when I answered him in the language, he told me to go away while
he concentrated on the other Not long after we had arrived,
girls.

Korean pioneers began to move in. They farmed the land, made roads
and built houses, developing the island in many ways. Once I went out
and saw Korean people working in the fields. The emigrants from Cholla
province were the largest group. They would visit us, hearing that there
were Korean women in the brothel. The proprietor asked us to serve
them, but I refused.

3 The is a 12-stxing long zither based on the Chinese zheng and similar to the
kayagiim
Japanese For over 100 years it has been common for entertainment girls to sing while
koto.

accompanying themselves on the kayagiim.

130
 Yi Sangok

Once, a violent common soldier stabbed me in the chest, arms and

feet, and I had to be hospitalized. I still have the scars. There was only
one hospital, and it was smaller than the house where we lived. In hospi-

tal I cried, calling for my mother, and the Japanese military surgeon asked
me where she was. I replied that she was in Korea. Because I was able to

speak some Japanese, the surgeon spoke to his boss and got permission
for me to work in the hospital. Following his instruction, I helped him
examine the women, with an instrument which looked like a duck's
beak. We were most busy when women came in for their weekly check-
ups. More than 100 women came, of whom about 50 were Korean.
While I was working there I learned that there was both a Japanese
brothel and a Korean brothel in Palau.
The uterus of infected women was filled with pus and could not be
easily cleaned. There were usually ten women undergoing treatment at

any one time. A suppository as big as a bird's egg was inserted into the
womb, and the vagina was sealed with cotton wool. After 24 hours, the
womb was examined once more. Patients with minor symptoms were
discharged after two or three days, but severe cases stayed about a month.
Through these examinations, I discovered that there were some women
who had given birth. My hospital wages were 50 chon a month. This
didn't leave much after I smoked furtively. I
had bought cigarettes. I

wore Korean dresses at work, and there too was called Nobuko. Not
long after I had started work in the hospital, the doctor, nurses and a few
others went with me to Singapore by air. I think it was 1942. In
Singapore, I worked in a field hospital.
After a few months in Singapore we returned to the hospital in Palau.
But the bombing raids became more frequent, and we often had to run
for cover during work. In emergencies we used a motorbike which

looked just like I helped the doctor and nurse look after
a ship's rudder.
wounded At the beginning of the Pacific war, the surgeon wrote
soldiers.

me a diagnosis and told me to go home. Having lived so long in Palau,

he thought I might be susceptible to local diseases. I went to the police
with this and began departure proceedings. I packed my bags and was
ready to leave the next day, but the ship was bombed. So I couldn't get
home until the war was over.
The house I lived in to start with was in an open field and was an easy
target for bombs. It now had many holes in it, and many women had died
there.I stayed in the countryside, away from it, but even there I was not

safe:one day I jumped down from the first floor when I heard the explo-
sion of bombs and hurt my leg. As the bombing became more severe, I
left the surgeon and nurses and was evacuated to a place called Iwayama
with some other women. We didn't have much food and ate large snails

131
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

that we found by a stream. The natives didn't eat them for they believed

them to be poisonous. Later, we even ate live lizards and rats.

One night, we put our last few handfuls of rice into a hanggo, a sort of
saucepan which had been given to us by a soldier, and managed to find
some water in the dark. We collected wood and lit a fire and then a
bomb fell on us. We ran away holding the pan of rice, and found in the

morning the rice had turned red. In the dark, we must have used water
mingled with the blood of dead soldiers. There were seven of us. We
debated whether to eat the rice or not. We had to eat it, as we were
almost starving to death, but we did so with our eyes closed. I don't
know what happened to the other six who escaped with me. I seem to be
the sole survivor. While evacuating, I covered myself with a blanket and
walked through the trees trying to avoid bomb shells. The others told me
to leave the blanket because the weather was very hot, but I kept it

around me. Even in the confusion, some soldiers raped us. Once, one
soldier bit my lips so hard that they swelled up. My lower lip still bears a
darkish mark.
When the war was about to end, American planes flew overhead and
scattered leaflets. They were written in Korean, and said that Koreans
should come out from the jungle with their hands up. The Japanese sol-
diers with us pointed their guns at me and asked what was written on the
leaflets, but I misled them, saying I was illiterate and couldn't read. When

Japan was defeated, a soldier with us committed suicide by dashing his

head against a broken bottle placed upside down on the ground.
American soldiers came and made us stand apart from the Japanese. Then
the Koreans were asked to move towards a ship, and after some hesita-
tion I obeyed. The Americans gave us cigarettes and asked to swap
Japanese watches. So we made the exchange while those who had no
watches gave money instead. In this way, we were able to earn a little
money.
At night, I slept with the blanket wherever I could find space. In 1946,
I boarded a ship bound for Korea with a family who had earlier migrated

to the islands. I arrived at Pusan in cold December. I went home to

Talsong. There was no one there, and neighbours told me that my par-
ents and family had moved to Sangju, my mother's home town. I went
there, but no one knew my family. I travelled all over the country look-
ing for them, but in vain.
During the Korean War, I lived in Tangjin, South Ch'ungch'ong
province, and didn't even attempt to evacuate as battles ranged around
me, thinking it couldn't get any worse than what I had experienced in

Palau. After the war, I lived in Taech'on and cooked for labourers at the
building site in Namhansansong, the South Fortress near Seoul. I went

132
 Yi Sangok

back to Tangjin, where an acquaintance from the South Pacific still lived.

The friend asked why I was living alone when I was still young, and
introduced me to a man. I moved in with him. His wife had died, and he
had been living alone with three children. He was very poor, and I was
not all that eager to live with anybody, but I took pity on the children
and decided to move in. It was 1957, and I was 36. He asked me to
marry him, but I thought it unwise to marry someone with three chil-

dren, so we just lived together.

After Imoved in, I got pregnant once. But the foetus was aborted in
the seventh month, and I have never been pregnant since. My husband
died of a stroke, so I lived with his eldest son's family. But that son flirt-

ed with many women, and in the end divorced his wife to live with a
mistress. His mistress was violent and treated me badly. So I moved in

with a distant relative of my late husband. I have been living in this latter

household for the last seven years. Since moving in, the family has
become prosperous and are quite well off. But I still receive benefit from
the government as a needy person.
Whenever I think of the events of the past or talk about them, I get
headaches and am unable to sleep for many nights. Even if I cry aloud, I
don't think I can feel relieved. My anger has become a kind of disease. It
shoots through me, and even in the depths of winter I can only sleep
with my door open. The doctor who sees me often tells me I must not
be upset about the past. My right leg gets cramp at night and is very
painful. It is because I lost a great deal of blood when I was stabbed try-
ing to resist a man in the South Pacific. These days I feel tired and can-
not be bothered to do anything. I started to take Myongnang tablets for

headaches when I was 20 in Palau. Now am I addicted to them, taking

two every day. I also feel very short of breath and need to see the doctor
regularly.

133
CHAPTER 15

Wandering around Manchuria,

China and Sumatra
YiTungnam

Yi Tungnam was born in 1918, in Koch'ang, South Kyongsang

province. Her father spent his time gambling and drinking, and he was so
violent that Yi looked for an opportunity to leave home. She went to

Manchuria to work with an aunt in her cafe. In 1939, at the age of 22,
she left there with other girls who worked in the same place, and was taken
to Hankou to become a comfort woman.

I was born on 5 October 1918, the eldest daughter in a farming family in

Koch'ang, South Kyongsang province. I had two younger brothers and
two younger sisters. We were poor and never had enough of anything.
My father became a heavy gambler and gambled away the crops we pro-
duced, even though there were not enough to feed us in the first place.
My mother and I would often stay up until late at night, fighting sleep,
and wait for him to return home. He would arrive drunk and treat us
violendy, waking my brothers and sisters. When I was nine, my mother
placed me in school without letting my father know. One morning he
caught me going out to school. He stared and said 'A girl, studying?' He
snatched my school things and threw them on to a fire. He repeated this
a number of times, but my mother continued to send me off to school.
She said that girls, not just boys, should be able to open their eyes to the
affairs of the world. But I keep up with school
found it very difficult to

work, for I had by my father and needed to

to try to avoid being caught
help with housework. I gave up school after something like two years.
My father's drinking became heavier by the day, and whenever he saw
me he would shout at me for no reason. I hated living under the same
roof. One day, I had taken my brothers and sisters fishing and we were
on our way home with other village children, when I noticed my father
running towards me. He was shouting 'You bitch, you go fishing like a
boy? I will kill you!' I was so frightened that I threw the basket holding
the fish I had caught down and, without much thought, ran towards my
134
 Yl TQNGNAM

uncle's house across a stream. As I was crossing the bridge, my father

threw a stone at me. It caught the back of my head but, without realiz-

ing I was bleeding, I ran on. My aunt had been working in her yard and
saw me coming. Frightened at the sight, she rushed to me. I hid myself
behind her back and wept hysterically. My father followed me in but my
uncle, who was also in the yard, scolded him and sent him away. My
uncle put some soya bean paste on the back of my head. I stayed with
them for a few days until my mother came to fetch me.

The year I turned 17 my parents were talking about marrying me off

to a son of the family who kept a fabric store in the neighbouring village.

I had the impression that my father wanted to marry me off, as the eldest
child, to reduce the number of mouths he had to feed. I felt like I was
being sold. So I left home, as quietly as I could, and went off to earn
money with friends. We took a train to a fabric factory in Inch'on, the

port near Seoul. It wasn't easy to find a job in what was a strange place to
us, andwe were afraid because we were away from home for the first
time. So we returned within a few days. I told my father I had stayed
with a friend. After a while, an aunt who lived in Manchuria visited. I
asked her to take me back with her, but she refused. At dawn a few days
after she had left, I stole money from my mother's pocket when every-

one was asleep and boarded a train to follow her.

My aunt kept a cafe called the New World. She was surprised to see
me and asked how I'd got there. I told her I had sneaked away from
home. She said I might as well stay a few days since I was there already. I

helped her in the kitchen and ran errands for her. She gave me some
pocket-money. She tried to send me home, but I refused. So she let me

stay on. I stayed about a year before I decided to go home for a visit. My
father still drank heavily, and he often stayed away from home whole
nights. One day we heard a commotion outside, and looked out to find
several men in the yard. They swore and shouted, demanding that we
pay back the money my father had borrowed and then gambled away.
My mother panicked; my brothers and sisters cried. Looking at her, her
spirit seemed to have been crushed, and I made up my mind to earn the
money to pay back the debt. After
a few days, I returned to Manchuria.
There were two women older than me working in the cafe, and they
were very kind to me. I ran errands for them as I looked here and there
for odd jobs. Many Japanese and Korean businessmen came to the cafe.
Among them was one Japanese who frequendy came; he was about 31,
had a fair complexion and wore thick glasses in a golden frame. One day
he told the women he would introduce them to another cafe, where the
pay would be better. He noticed me doing odd jobs in the kitchen and
asked who I was. On hearing was the owner's niece he said I could go
I

135
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

along too. The women responded that I shouldn't work in a place like a
cafe, but they knew I had been looking for a job. The girls told me they

were moving to a cafe where they could earn more and that they would
make sure I was generously paid if I went along and continued to do odd
jobs such as their laundry.

I It was 1939, and I was 22. We boarded a

decided to go with them.
where we stayed in a guest-house for perhaps a
train for a distant place

week. The Japanese man bought our clothes and meals. He left us for
about three days, then returned with three more Korean women. One
said she had come direct from Korea to Manchuria because she had been
told she could earn money. I began to feel uneasy. I felt guilty that I had
left my aunt without telling her what I was doing. When the man

returned, I asked him to send me back. He asked if I realized how much

it had already cost to bring me that far. He told me to pay back the
expenses for the train and guest-house, then slapped me on the face with
his fist. I blacked out.
That night as I was lying on the bed, I overheard the others talking.
'Why on earth did we ask her to come along? We are already ruined, but
she is still a virgin...' It was Tokiko, one of the two I had come with. I

found out later that they had sneaked out of the New World to sleep
with men. But they later told me that they had never dreamt they were
becoming comfort women for soldiers. They simply thought they were
going to work in a better cafe. I wept constandy and begged the Japanese
man to send me back. Every time I pleaded with him, he hit me with
brute force: I still have a scar on my forehead. The day we left the guest-
house he brought two Japanese women, so eight of us boarded a train

and went to Hankou. There were no seats available, and our feet swelled

up because we were forced to stand throughout the journey.

We arrived at Hankou, where the Japanese man handed us over to a
Mr Kaneyama. He was a Korean, really a Mr Kim, and he seemed to be
in his late thirties. Kaneyama led us to a house which had once been
owned by the Chinese, a few metres away from the edge of a Japanese
military unit. He seemed to have come from Kyongsang province. He
had with him a brother-in-law, who looked about 26 and who helped
him. Not long after we arrived the brother-in-law left for Korea.
Kaneyama was friendly with the soldiers and frequently visited the unit.
There were many comfort stations around it. Each room had a bed made
from wooden boards. There were 20 Korean women altogether includ-
ing us newcomers. Ten came from T'ongyong. I can still remember
Hideko, Asako, Sumiko, Masako, Tokiko, Umeko and Midori, but the
rest are blurred in my mind. The youngest was 15 years old, and four
were older than me. But most were around my age. The two Japanese

136
 Yi TQngnam

women were much older. I pleaded with Kaneyama to send me home,

but he said he could do this only when I paid back the expenses he had
incurred on my behalf. He told me that since there was nothing else I

could do, I should harden myself to the job and earn money.
I sat and cried for several days without eating. Then one day a soldier

entered my room. I was frightened and tried to run out, but he seized me
and raped me. At first, I tried to fight him off, but finally gave myself up
in despair. He tore my vagina, so I wasn't able to serve any other soldiers
for about a week. We had to visit the military surgeon for weekly check-
ups for venereal disease. Our meals were delivered from the unit. Daily
necessities, such as soap, came from we had no other
the soldiers since
way of getting them. Some soldiers own condoms, and
brought their
some used the ones I collected. Whenever we served soldiers, we
squeezed out 5 cm of cream from a tube to lubricate the condoms. When
many soldiers came, we each had to serve about 20 daily. Generally, the
rank and came from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and non-commissioned
file

officers visited from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. From 10.00 p.m. until

midnight, officers came, some of whom would stay through the night.
The soldiers paid money to Kaneyama down the hall. They took a
ticket that showed the number of the room they wanted. High-ranking

officers went straight to the rooms of women they liked, and on such

occasions we had to receive the money direcdy from them and then buy
tickers from Kaneyama. Every morning we counted the tickets, each of

which I think cost about 2 yen. Kaneyama said that he would keep 70
per cent of our income and we would get 30 per cent. He claimed to be
keeping a record so that he could give us our money in one lump sum
when we left the station. Sometimes, if we asked for money to buy
clothes that we needed, he would give us about 20 yen each and say he
had deducted it from our respective record. However, he barely gave
enough money for new clothes, offering us a little perhaps once every
few months. The money I had was given to me by soldiers once in a

while. And, even if I wanted to buy something, it was never easy to

go out. Kaneyama disapproved of us leaving the station to buy any-
thing from the merchants up the road. He argued that we might miss
customers.
In our third year there, Kaneyama said women were needed in Aceh
in Sumatra and that he had agreed to
1

transfer our station there.

In 1942, when I was 25, we travelled south. Kaneyama and 22 of us
boarded a ship and travelled for some time. We disembarked at

Singapore and stayed for two days, then boarded another ship and went

1 The Korean text says 'Kutarodja'.

137
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

to Sumatra. This last ship was large and belonged to the navy. Many oth-
ers boarded at Singapore, and we all disembarked at Medan in Sumatra,
where many women stayed. The rest of us took a train and went into the
countryside of Aceh province. Kaneyama led us to an L-shaped house
with red roof tiles which was said to have once been inhabited by Dutch
colonists. The two Japanese women, and six women whom Kaneyama
had brought who looked like Indonesians, were forced to stay in a house
next to ours. Kaneyama thus started business with 28 women, and his

system remained just as it had been in China. My room was similar to the
one I had had earlier: it was about 1.7 p'yong in size, with a bed made of
rough wooden boards and a basket in which to keep clothes. But it was
much hotter here than in Hankou and we had big electric fans and bath-
rooms. There was plenty of water and we were able to draw it for a bath
almost every day. While I was a comfort woman, I saved money the sol-
diers gave me and now and again posted it to my mother.
There were various units around the comfort station - a security unit,

a field hospital, military police and so on. Many soldiers from the hospi-
talcame to us. Our meals came from the military unit, but they didn't
cook rice well, so we sometimes got uncooked rice from them and pre-
pared it ourselves.
We had awho did odd jobs around the station. He was
Chinese boy
17 and He was very fond of me, and sometimes cleaned my room
local.

and bought me things needed when asked. With Kaneyama's permis-

I

sion, I visited his family a few times. His parents were farmers and they
offered me lovely food whenever I visited. His mother took pity on me
and was very kind.
We again had weekly medical check-ups. I paid particular attention to
my health, and washed myself thoroughly every time I served a soldier. I

was never infected with venereal disease. Even the assistant medical offi-
cer complimented me on my health management. But, because my
vagina and womb
were weak, I was often ill. Once I got very ill, and my
vagina swelled up and became very painful. The assistant who treated me
told Kaneyama I was unwell and asked him to give me a break. I was able
to rest for a week. The assistant was very kind, and I learned how to give
injections and from then on would sometimes help him with odd jobs
when he exanuned patients. We were told to be careful with condoms,
and we had to wash them and re-use them two or three times. Whenever
I washed them, I shuddered as I thought that the more I washed the more
men I would have to serve. Some soldiers tried not to use them, but I told
them that unless they did I would not serve them. I insisted.

The soldiers were all different. One would blindly demand my ser-
vices even if I told him I was ill. One would throw a fit if I refused. One

138
 Yl TUNGNAM

would demand I did strange things. One would shout and go into a tem-
per if the man before him was slow. I could go on for ever, relating the
stories. Whether here or in China, the violent men were beyond descrip-
tion. Captain Sikai, for instance, was about 30 years old and very eccen-
tric. He was one of my regulars, and he would swing his sword or hit me
given the slightest provocation. I had no power to stop him visiting, and
I had to please him to survive. On the other hand, there were some who
cared for me whom became fond of. One was a non-commissioned
I

officer called Hara. He was a pilot. We first met in Aceh, and we hated
to part.So he would buy more tickets from Kaneyama to prolong his
time with me. One day he went to the front line at Sabang to the
north, and I never heard from him anymore. There were a few others
who were fond of me. One soldier from Osaka asked me to live with him
once the war ended. He frequendy brought sugar and used to
massage me.
We used to go to Medan, the nearest city, to buy clothes and other
necessities. It took more than two hours by train to get there. Medan was
a busy city that had many more comfort stations than where we were.
We went less than four times a year, and Kaneyama still tried to stop us,

making a huge fuss. I once had a big quarrel with him and sneaked out
without telling him. When we went out, we would always have to rush
back. We lived on an island surrounded by water, and the soldiers kept a

tight watch on us. Anyone who tried to run away was shot, and anyway
we felt the natives were threatening. Our life as comfort women became
harder as time went by. Everyone became more and more tense. One
day, I went for a bath with some Japanese women in the neighbouring
comfort station, and in their conversation I overheard them saying
'Those Koreans, you can't do much about them'. I was angry and shout-
ed at them, asking what it was that they had against us Koreans. They
were taken aback by my aggressive response and apologized.
We much from venereal disease and malaria. The woman
suffered
from P'yongyang who had come with me from Manchuria caught a
venereal infection from a soldier which lingered and in the end caused
her death. Though we had regular check-ups with the military surgeon,
they were not much use. Midori, who was two years younger than me,
became pregnant. Without knowing, she kept on serving soldiers until
she became noticeably larger. It was too late to abort, and she had to give
birth. She then had to continue to work and had someone else look after
the baby, but it died of sickness after just eight months.
The military units moved more frequently as time went by. We stayed
on in the same place, but the bombing was becoming more serious. One
of us was almost killed by a bombshell on our way to a shelter. The

139
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

soldiers became more violent towards us and our life became more
miserable with each passing day. I missed home and wept at my miser-
able fate, especially when we had special simple meals with the army on
Japanese holidays. I tried to kill myself once by drinking hairdye, but I

kept seeing my mother's face before me, and I wasn't able to see the
thing through. A woman from T'ongyong took drugs to kill herself, but

was immediately taken to the doctor. He managed to save her. The war
was getting more fierce, and many were killed. The army used us com-
fort women as nurses. Five from our station, including Umeko and me,
were sent to a field hospital 15 minutes drive away. Since I had learned
how to give injections, I was assigned that job. We went every day, did
the laundry and helped treat wounded soldiers. In the evening, we
returned to the station where we still had to serve soldiers.

Sometime later, a soldier visited and told us that a ship bound for
Korea had been bombed with total loss of life. A few months before,
Kaneyama had left the station in the charge of one woman, and had
taken that very ship. Not long after we had heard of his death, I was told
by a Japanese soldier in the hospital that the war had ended. The soldiers

left hurriedly, and no one came to our station anymore. After a few days,
American soldiers moved us to the hospital where I had been working. A
Korean man dressed in an American uniform was put in charge of us. He
made us fine up and do exercises every morning. He said we would be
able to go home in a few months and gave us instructions on what we
should do when boarding the ship. We were in a refugee camp where

men and women were housed separately, but the number of women
only reached about 500. Every day, we quarrelled. Before we left, that
same Korean man asked each of us our age and home town. After about
three months we boarded a big naval ship. was still with the women I

from my comfort station. On the pier, many people milled around, all
trying to embark. There seemed to be about a thousand men and
women. We got on board but had to wait several days before we started
to sail. We stopped in Taiwan for about a week, and now and again the
ship would stop here and there.
Whenever we were at anchor, we went to buy salt and to eat fruit
from the and take vegetables from the fields. Local people would
trees
approach us with their goods. They had sweet potatoes and cigarettes,
and we bought them with money or swapped whatever we possessed to
satisfy our pangs of hunger. After more than a month, we docked at
Pusan. We had to stay on board because of an outbreak of cholera. When
we finally disembarked we had to go through a formal entry process, and
the officer examining our luggage took 500 won from me and returned
only 100. Without understanding what had happened, I walked off the

140
 Yl TQNGNAM

pier with my colleagues, and then we all parted.

I was 28 when I returned. I couldn't gather enough courage to go

home. I month, wandering around and living on
stayed in Pusan for a
the money I had brought back. Then I made up my mind to find work,
to earn money and then to go home. I looked around Namp'o ward but
it wasn't easy to find work. I started a job with a family and in a cafe. I

had worked for a while before I met people from my home town on the
street. They told me that my father had died not long before. I immedi-
ately went back to Koch'ang. My mother started weeping as soon as I

entered the house. She was very perceptive, and seemed to have guessed
what had happened to me from my letters. She said that she had prayed
to the Buddha every day for my safe return. My brothers and sisters asked
me where I had been and what I had been doing. The house was in a

mess. There wasn't enough food and everyone seemed on the verge of
dying from hunger.
I thought I must earn money went back to
to support my family, so

Pusan. I worked in a worked

restaurant called Songjuk.
in other I also

restaurants, desperately trying to earn whatever I could. Then, on 13

January by the lunar calendar the following year, I heard that my mother
had died. I worked for about three more years in Pusan. I was 31 years
old. My body, which I had thought would always stay young, became

very weak, and I had to give up working. I went to stay with my sister,
who had married a man who ran a printing shop in Pusan. I helped with
her housework and brought up her children almost single-handed. I

liked the city and stayed there for 23 years, after which I moved to
Hapch'on. Another sister had opened a guest-house there, which she
asked me to manage. She had money. The business prospered for a num-
ber of years, but something went wrong and my sister began to issue dis-
honest cheques. Since the guest-house had been registered in my_name,_
I was the one who went to prison.
Since my release, I have lived on my own in a house my sister bought
for 600,000 won for me in Hapch'on. But I have to pay rent, 10,000
won ($12) a month, for the land. I have to fetch water from the well next
door. The water is not good, and I have to boil it before drinking it. The
local town office gives me rice and barley. Until last year, I was entitled
to nothing because I had property registered under my name, but since
they found out my real circumstances the authorities have given me
some help. I ache all over. I have stomach-aches, and a fever which rises

and then drops suddenly. I always feel uneasy. With the after-effects of
those years spent in the comfort station, my abdomen used to hurt
terribly, as if my womb was being cut away from me. The pain has eased
a little now.

141
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

People should live in accordance with their fate. If we try to be too

ambitious, whatever blessing we may have will run away. I don't have
great ambitions anymore. I used to be a spirited woman, but after having
wasted my youth as I am afraid to meet people. I just want to live
did, I

quietly on my own. When I am ill, feel lonesome, but I spend each day
I

with two dogs who are like children. I only wish I wasn't These days ill.

I keep losing weight. I don't know why. I used to weigh 45 kg, but now

I weigh just 32 kg.

142
CHAPTER 16

I Thought Would Die I

Yi Yongnyo

Yi Yongnyo was born in 1926 in Yoju, Kyonggi province. Her family

were very poor, and from the age of eight she worked as a housemaid.
Three years later, she went to Seoul to work in factories and as housemaid
to other families then, at 14, was sold to a drinking house, where she did

odd jobs and waited at tables. In 1942, she was deceived by her employ-
er, and travelled through Pusan, Taiwan and Singapore before arriving in

Burma. There she became a comfort woman in the mountains.

I was born 10 January 1926 in Pungnae district, Yoju county, Kyonggi

province. I was the second child in a family of five: my brother was five
years older but I was the eldest daughter. I am my parents orig-
told that
inally lived in Yangp'yong, where they owned farmland, but my father
lost his land gambling. We were very poor, and I never went to school. I

began working for other families when I was eight years old. We were so
poor that to survive I had to live in someone else's home and work there.

The first worked for was wealthy and lived in Yoju township,
family I

and I still remember washing floor cloths every day.

In Yoju we had no land and had to live on rice borrowed from the
local authorities. My parents kept on borrowing until the quantity of rice

was so great that they could never pay it back. They had no way to make
a living, so eventually they packed up their few belongings and moved to

Seoul. I joined them, and we stayed with my father's sister in Ahyon

ward. My aunt let us use one room, but it was too small for all six of us.
So I moved out to live in and work with another family, the Ims, while
my elder brother was sent away to work. The Ims kept a large draper's
shop. I had to work every day, carrying their baby on my back. My back
often came out in a rash when the baby wet itself, and in winter my
hands bled from washing nappies all the time.
My family moved from one rented room to another until they finally
built and settled in a small hut behind what is today Ahyon Elementary

School. They didn't have much to eat and went without meals as often as

143
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

not. My mother gave birth to her youngest child. Because she had not
eaten properly the baby was very small. My would
grandmother said I

have to find food for my mother otherwise, having given birth, she
would go mad and starve. So for six months I begged for food with
which to feed my family. I went from house to house in the city centre
with a sack and a basket, and I begged. When I went to prosperous areas
such as Sajik ward, people would ask me
homes and work
to live in their
for them instead of begging. I had to turn their offers down, saying my
mother had just had a baby and repeating what my grandmother had
said. I told them I had to find food, so I couldn't live in someone else's

house. Some people would give me cooked rice, and others offered
money. A b ,g of sugar cost 5 chon in those days. I would boil the rice I
had begged and make it into gruel. I fed this to the baby with a little bit
of sugar.
We also bought draff— hog wash - from the brewery and boiled it to
eat. Sometimes we would buy Chinese noodles from the factory after

they had fallen on the floor and been mixed with dirt. These were very
cheap, and we ate them boiled and seasoned. For a short time, my father
sold vegetables, some of which we would season and eat. I once got food
poisoning from the vegetables. My face turned a sickly brown and I

almost died. My father told me that if I lived with a Japanese family,

where they would surely eat good food, I would be able to get rid of the
effects of the food poisoning. So I found a suitable family, and for a while
lived and worked for them. But I soon returned home and began to beg
for would carry water to the top
food again. I of the hill where we lived.
My father alwaysdemanded that I should fetch the water, get sugar or
feed the baby. Words cannot describe how hard I had to work while I
was still a young girl.
When I was 14, I was working in a small confectionery factory locat-
ed near the Hongje ward crematorium. I had been there for about a year.

My father sent my brother to call me, and I arrived home to find a plump
and elderly lady dressed in a long coat and wearing gold jewellery. She
was waiting for me, and asked me to go home with her. She said that if I
did so my would be better off and I would be given food and
parents
clothing. My mother sat facing the wall and said nothing while my father
told me to go with her. I felt I had no choice. Later I learned that the
lady had lent my father money which was supposed to be repaid by
monthly earnings.
How did this state of affairs come about? Well, the government had
given a piece of land to each family who were living in makeshift huts in
Ahyon ward. At that time, there weren't any houses in Hongun ward,
only graveyards. The authorities told us to dig up the graves and burn

144
 Yl YONGNYO

any human remains, then to build our houses. So my father moved our
hut to Hongun ward. He rebuilt it, so he had to buy timber on credit,
and when he was unable to repay the loan, he was told he must either
find a way to pay or vacate the house. So he decided to send me away
and take my wages in advance.

I followed the old woman to her place — a big bar in front of the prison
at Sodaemun, Seoul's west gate. My job was to clear tables, set them with

wine and run errands for customers. I had worked there for about a year
when the woman asked me if I would like to go elsewhere where I could
earn lots of money. She told me I would not go alone, but would be with
several others, so I shouldn't be afraid. I asked where the place was, and
she told me Japan. I didn't ask where in Japan nor how I would travel

there. I agreed, given the promise of money, nice clothes and a nice

place. My family had always been poor and hungry, and the idea of good
food, nice clothes and money appealed. She bought me some herbal
medicine and told me to take it and go home. She said I must take it at

home if I didn't want to be seasick. She told me to rest until she contact-
ed me and gave me some money. I can't remember how much it was,
but I do recall buying a set of clothes for each of my brothers and sisters.

I got home and rested for about a fortnight. During that time I told my
friends that I was going somewhere nice, and described the job I had
been told about. Two of my friends, Kim Toksul and Kim Hakkun, had
been working in a factory in Seoul and decided to come with me. They
were two years and one year older than myself, respectively. We were
finally instructed to get ready. It was 1942, and I was 16. I left home
wearing a white short-sleeved dress and white high-heeled shoes. I

arrived at the appointed place, a Chinese restaurant in Myongdong

below Namsan, the hill to the south of central Seoul. There were sever-
al dozen women already there. My father accompanied me to the restau-

rant and then went home. TSksul and Hakkun were with me. We had a
lunch of sweet and sour pork with fried rice. I think it was the first time
I had eaten anything with sea-cucumber in it. Immediately after eating,
we boarded a train for Pusan.

It was night when we arrived at the port, and we couldn't see much.
We stayed in a guest-house in the hot spring area of Tongnae for a week
or maybe ten days. The day after we arrived, I wanted to go out to see
the sea. Our supervisors told me that the coast was at the end of the main

road in front of the guest-house, but they wouldn't let me go out. A

Korean man and several Korean women were in charge of us. We took
baths in the hot spring water every evening and we ate good food, but
we weren't allowed out at all. We boarded a large ship at Pusan during
daylight. Some of the supervisors stayed behind. I am not certain

145
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

whether it was a merchant vessel or a navy ship. When the sun was about
to set, Japan was pointed out to us across the water. There were hundreds
of women on board. At one point we overheard the conversation of
Japanese soldiers and learned that we were going to become comfort
women. Because I had worked for a Japanese family, I was able to under-
stand them, but none of us had any idea what a comfort woman actually
was.
The ship went south, not east towards Japan as we had expected. I
suffered badly from seasickness and stayed in bed for most of the time. I
didn't eat. We anchored in Taiwan for a short while but weren't allowed
on shore. I still remember lowering my hat to buy fruit from vendors.

The ship also dropped anchor for a while in the middle of the ocean,
while the sun rose from the sea and set in We anchored at Singapore,
it.

but were again not allowed on shore. We were tired by then and would
pass the time of day motionless, as if we were dead. Whenever the ship
swayed, we felt sick. It took more than a month for us to arrive at our
final destination, Rangoon in Burma. We disembarked and boarded a

train to a small village. That was where my life as a comfort woman start-
ed. From then on I was called Harata Yojo. When we were taken, I

thought to myself 'Now I am dead!' I couldn't think of anything else.

The comfort station was a two-storey building by the road. My room

was on the top floor, and had a cement floor. There was a basement
where we were whenever the air-raid siren sounded.
corralled
The station was some distance from a native village. We didn't know
where the military unit was, but soldiers came in the evenings. While we
lived there, I became close to Takeutsi, a civilian employee. He delivered
rice, groceries, clothes and the other things we needed. He lived in a

house that looked like a private residence, not the military barracks, and
he normally wore civilian clothes and a white shirt. He asked me to
starch and iron his shirts. Among the women, one committed suicide by
taking sake mixed with opium. The soldiers burnt her body on a pile of
wooden sticks, and gathered us in front and forced us to watch. After
about a year, we were moved on, this time by truck. As we took a break
in the journey, we saw hot water flowing from a spring in a big field.
There was nothing around, but the hot water poured out. It was a hot
spring. The soldiers collected water in drums and took baths sitting in

them, but we women refrained.

We travelled until dusk. We arrived at a small village on a mountain-
side where there was just a single military hospital. The comfort station
was situated across a small stream that flowed right past the hospital, and
only soldiers from the hospital seemed to come to us. First we went to
the hospital and had our wombs examined with some sort of instrument.

146
 Yl YONGNYd

The comfort station was old and unoccupied. We had to clean it out
before we could begin to live there. It was a square shaped two-storey

building with an enclosed yard and rows of rooms on both floors. It was
well built with high ceilings and staircases at both ends. On the first floor

there were 20 rooms; mine was one of these. A sign on the gate
announced that this was a comfort station, and in front of the gate were
many Buddhist figures.

A Korean couple led 50 women to the house, but they disappeared

once they had allocateda room to each of us. On the door of each room

was number and the name of the woman, though I can't remember my
a

number because I've been a fool all my life. The room was about six feet
by seven. It had a wooden floor, a bed, a bucket and a few other things.
There was nowhere to throw away water, so we emptied it straight into
the yard from the upstairs windows. There was a dirty and messy dining
room downstairs. Three Chinese men cooked our meals. Rice came from
the army. We normally wore Western-style clothes that were provided for
us. My health deteriorated through not eating properly. About two years
after I began my service as a comfort woman, I got malaria. I must have
taken too many quinine tablets, because my face swelled and I developed
jaundice. None of the women looked after me. I could think of nothing
but going home. For about six months I was mentally deranged. I walked
about at night looking at the moon and talking in delirium. Once I hurt
myself in a fall while wandering, and I still have the scar.

One night, I tried to get into the hospital wearing the uniform of the
military surgeon who was sleeping in my room. The guards were about
to shootme when they looked closer and realized who it was. They took
me in and gave me sedatives, then took me back to my own room. Some
nights, I went where there was some water, sat on a plank and
to a place
moved my arms back and forth as if I was rowing, telling anyone who
came to listen that I was sailing to Korea. No sooner had I been brought
back to my room than I would walk out again. I was told about all this
when I regained my senses. At that time I was close to a second lieu-
tenant, an army surgeon who treated me. As I began to regain my mind,
he gave me glucose drops and swathed me with hot towels. He also
forced tablets into my mouth, holding my nose to make me swallow. He
would come a few times a week to treat me, and when I was completely
recovered he used to sleep with me in my room.
We
had check-ups for venereal disease once a week at the hospital. If
anyone was infected, a sign went up on her door saying it was off-limits,
and no soldiers were allowed to enter. We were given an antiseptic solu-
tion which turned water red if you diluted a few drops. If you used too
much, the water became almost black, and too little left the water pink.

147
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

The solution could kill you if it was swallowed. We washed ourselves

with it. As for condoms, some soldiers brought their own, and some used
what I had. Everyone used sheaths, and I was expected to put them on
for each man. But the surgeon didn't use a condom. He came to me reg-
ularly for more than a year until the end of the war. When the soldiers
came, they would give me tickets. The tickets were the size of a business
card. I received about ten a day, sometimes 15. The largest number I ever
received was 20. Those who served more soldiers got up to 30 a day. We
collected the tickets and handed them to the office once a week, where
they were calculated as money. We understood that the money was
being put in a bank, but we neither saw deposit books nor dared to ask
for details. The surgeon didn't give me tickets.

The office was downstairs, but I can't remember who ran it. The
Koreans who first took us there disappeared without saying anything,
and I think Japanese soldiers might have been working in the office. The
soldiers who came went into any room where there wasn't a man
already. I can't remember whether we had fixed hours during which we
had to serve them, but soldiers who were on leave would come during
the day. I didn't use make-up. Daily necessities were provided by the
hospital. We had a chest to keep our clothes in, and a box and a mirror in
each room. I was told that I lined up all my belongings neady on the
floor when I was out of my mind. Three or four women committed
suicide. Some left the comfort station to set up home with officers, some

died of illness and some ran away, reducing our number to 20. When
I recovered from malaria I noticed that the number was much reduced.
We were able to go out only in groups and then only with permission.
This was not easy to get. The mountains were rough and the people
were of a different race, so we were scared to run away. We
were once
told to climb a nearby hill to see the body of a white American who had
been killed when his reconnaissance plane had crashed. The torso had
only thighs and hips but no head or arms. Not long after that, the soldiers
suddenly stopped coming. We made inquiries and learned that they had
all left.

The war was over. It was about a year after I had regained my mind.
The lieutenant I had thought I was close to also disappeared without say-
ing farewell to me. We didn't hear guns anymore. When we were in the
first comfort we were often evacuated to the basement when the
station,

air-raid siren sounded, but we never witnessed any actual bombing.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, some Korean men arrived and led us out.
The planes didn't drop bombs, but they flew very low. Whenever we
saw one we would hide. We walked through rain, under the scorching
sun, and our feet swelled from the constant tedium of the march. When
148
 Yl YONGNYO

we had to cross a river, we would carry rice, chilli powder and salt on
our heads and wade across with the water coming up to our necks. right

In some places, we had to cook rice with red, muddy water. We kept on
walking day and night, with only an hour's rest once in a while, until we
reached Rangoon. We were so excited about the prospect of returning
home that we didn't mind the walking. We must have gone on like this

for about ten days.

Rangoon, we stayed in a refugee camp with other Koreans, most of
In
them men who had been in the Japanese forces, and women who had
worked as comfort women. There were about 50 women, assembled
from all over the place. In Rangoon, we were given cooked rice and side
dishes. We even had soup with pork in it. The camp had a big yard

which looked like a school playground. We women would be lined up

in two rows in the yard, and we were taught how to cross main roads, or
we simply ran around. We also sang the Korean national anthem. One
evening, a stage was set up, and we acted out plays and sang into a micro-
phone. I sang too. I think I sang a song which began 'No nameplate, no
number...'. It was always very hot in the camp. The barracks had a

wooden floor, and we slept in rows on a mat. There was a dentist who
treated our teeth; he pulled out my back teeth. We were free to go in
and out of the camp as long as we returned at a certain hour.
The ship which was to take us back to Korea was huge. We arrived at
a pier in Pusan in March 1946 according to the lunar calendar. But
cholera broke out among the passengers and we had on board for
to stay
several days. The ship then set sail again for Inch'on, where once again
we weren't allowed to disembark. We were told we could only disem-
bark if we gave in all our rings and money. So we handed in all that we
had. In return, as we we were each given 1000 won.
landed,
Toksul was with me when we finally disembarked. Somehow her
mother and brothers had found out about her arrival and had come to
meet her. There was nobody there for me. I went home to Hongun
ward, butmy family had moved. felt helpless. Fortunately, was able to
I I

track a friend of my father who used to live in the same neigh-

down
bourhood, and he took me to my brother in Ulchiro. learned my father I

had died on 2 December 1945, in the same year that Korea was liberat-
ed. He had sold vegetables and other them around on his
things, carrying
back. Then, he had bought a little grocery shop, but he gambled away
all the money he had, turning a blind eye to his starving family. He
had been so irresponsible that before I left Korea I had once asked why
he didn't just die. But when I heard that he had actually passed away, I
was sad and felt guilty for saying such a nasty thing to him. I discovered
that my younger brother was now disabled, having wounded his leg

149
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

while working on a building site managed by the Japanese.

I was 21. I started to work in restaurants and in the homes of families
in order to make a living. I was distressed, so I drank a lot. I drank two or
three botdes of rice wine, makkolli, daily. When I was drunk, I would cry
aloud lamenting my lot in life. My teeth are now rotten and I can't eat

anything either too hot or too cold. I also have a bad stomach. I never
dreamt of marriage. When we were fleeing south during the January
retreat in the Korean War, I met a man 17 years my senior in Ch'ongju
and started to live with him. We were never close, since I felt I could
never like men. Of course I couldn't have children. My companion died
five or six years when he was 74. treat his son like my foster son,
ago I

and we live on despite our many difficulties.

All I want is to have my own room and to live the rest of my life at
ease. The Japanese occupied our country and abused us. I don't mind

whether am well off or not, but I want them to compensate us for the
I

sacrifices we were forced to make when we were still virgins. They took

us completely under their control, but now they are making feeble
excuses about the recruitment of comfort women, and they say that we
volunteered. It was their politics that drove us to the place of our deaths.
I want to tell the Japanese government that they must not evade the issue

any longer.

150
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Death and Life Crises

Kim T'aeson

Kim T'aeson was born in 1926, in Kangjin, South Cholla province.

After her parents divorced she was brought up by her uncle. Herfather was
an opium addict and quickly disappeared from family life, and a few years

later Kim's mother died. When she was 18, two men visited her uncle

and promised Kim work in a Japanese factory . Trusting their word, she

left home, passed through Pusan Refugee Camp, Osaka and Saigon (Ho
Chi Minh City) and finally ended up at a comfort station in Burma.

I was born on 20 February 1926, in Hangmyong village, Kangjin coun-

ty, South Cholla province. I was the youngest of three daughters. My
father helped on a farm owned by his elder brother. Whenever his legs

ached from neuralgia, he took opium. My mother tried to stop him,

believing drugs were bad for his health, but he beat her severely if she

said anything. She found it impossible to live with him and eventually
left home for Kwangju, the provincial capital. My father sold our house
and promptly disappeared. I followed my mother to Kwangju and
attended Pokchdng Elementary School for four years. My eldest sister
was already married, and my second sister lived with an aunt in Haenam,
a town further south. When was twelve, my parents formally divorced.
I

I went to live with an uncle, another of my father's brothers. He ran a

business in Kwangju but, unable to make a good enough living, moved
back to Kangjin. I went with him and lus family. My mother died a few

years after the divorce became final, but by that time nobody knew
where my father was or even if he was still alive. My uncle consequently
took over all responsibility for me. He tried to find me a husband, and I

had to meet several young men he arranged for me to see. He couldn't

find a suitable young man, so I continued to live with his family.
It was some time early in September 1944. was 18. My uncle had
I

told me of a rumour about men taking girls away and one day, when I
returned home from outside, he told me to hide myself immediately. I

went to the attic, and continued going up there every morning after

151
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

breakfast until 2.00 or 3.00 p.m. for about a week. One day, when I was
still hiding during the morning, I became so hungry that I came down
and had lunch with my uncle and his family. A Japanese man in his thir-

ties, dressed in civilian clothes, and aKorean man in his forties and wear-
ing a Western suit, kicked our brushwood gate open and entered. Both
spoke good Japanese, and at the time we thought they both were native
Japanese. The Korean was really called Mr Ch'oe but went by a Japanese

name, Iwaoka. Later, I asked him if he was Japanese, and he shook his

head.
Ch'oe urged me to quickly finish lunch. It was September, and we had
left the door open, so I could see from the room the two men sitting at
the end of the hall. As soon as I had finished, he asked 'Wouldn't you
like to earn money in Japan? Come with us and work in a factory for a

year where you will earn lots of money.' They grabbed me by both arms
and marched me out. We walked for about 30 minutes to the bus station.
We took a bus for Kwangju, where they led me to a house which
looked like a guest-house but had no signboard. There were four girls
there already from Naju, Posong and Yosu. As we were all from the
Cholla countryside we soon became friends. We stayed the night, and
the next day walked to Kwangju railway station. We took a freight com-
partment with Ch'oe and the Japanese man and travelled north to Seoul.
There we took another train in a further freight carriage and went to
Inch'on. There were civilians and soldiers on the trains. In Inch'on, the
port to the west of Seoul, we were taken to a place which looked like a
hostel. There were two or three rooms, and in one about 20 women
waited. Some were young and unmarried while others had already had
children. Some came from Ky5nggi province in central Korea and the
Kyongsang provinces in the south-east, but the largest number came
from Cholla.
In Inch'on, I took the Japanese name Mizuko. This name reflected
Kwangju, the place where I had come from. I had adopted a Japanese
surname, Kanetani, in Kangjin. Even here, the two men told us that we
were going to factories in Japan. They said there were many factories and
that we would work as factory hands. We were given clothes: two pairs

of dark baggy trousers, two blouses and two sets of underwear. The
blouses were of many different colours, but I asked for white ones
because it was my favourite colour. When I had been taken from my

uncle's home I had been wearing dark baggy trousers and a long-sleeved
blouse. All the others seemed to be wearing geta. We stayed a week at this
house, during which time we were subjected to medical check-ups. Two
one Japanese and one Korean, examined us with a stethoscope.
doctors,
They looked down our throats and a few of us were diagnosed as having

152
 Kim T'aeson

lung problems. We didn't have gynaecological examinations. I was

healthy, 1 60 cm tall and weighed 55 kg.
We boarded small ships, 20 to each, and sailed around the coast to
Pusan. We arrived on or about 20 September and were led to a camp that
housed in iny women. It was a large prefabricated building which looked
like a warehouse, and it was sited some distance from the pier. There we
were each given a ball of cooked rice. We asked once again where we
were goin ;, and were told simply that the factories were in Japan. The
factories ir Pusan, we were informed, couldn't employ many more peo-
ple. We wi re watched by a Korean man, not a Japanese. He kept a close

eye on us, and even followed us when we went to the toilet. He wore a
Japanese military uniform, and talked with Japanese soldiers in their own

tongue. I think we stayed about a week. Around the end of September,

we boarded trucks and were taken to the pier, where we embarked on a
ship. About 40 of us were to be sent to Osaka, and about 20 to
Shimonoseki.
I was in the group sent to Osaka. There, we were housed in a reloca-

tion camp, alongside a Japanese military base. Besides the 40 of us, there
were about 50 more Korean women who had arrived earlier. We stayed
in this place fortwo weeks, and still had not seen any factories. Ch'oe
said we would have to go on to another place. We responded that we

had come as far as Osaka for the factories, and asked why he was propos-
ing to take us elsewhere. And we asked how much longer we would
have to wait before we got our jobs. He said a ship would come within a
week, but in actual fact we waited about a fortnight. After the beginning,
no, in the middle of October 1944, about 100 of us boarded a large boat
with five decks called the Arabiya Mam, with its name stencilled in
Japanese script. We women occupied the first, second and third decks. I

cannot remember whether I was on the second or the third. As we sailed

south, about 60 women were taken off at Okinawa. The ship sailed only
at night because of the danger of daylight bombing raids. There were
soldiers on board.
We travelled as far as Saigon. I think it must have been around the
end of October. When we arrived, there were already other women
there, so the total number rose to 100 again. It was here we learned
time that we were going to comfort stations. We were
for the first

watched even more tighdy. Guards followed us to the toilets, our meals
were brought to us. Even when we were asleep, they kept up their
surveillance.
We were divided into three groups, and my group of 20 were sent to
Burma. I don't know where the others went. The Japanese man and
Ch'oe, the two who had brought me all the way from Kangjin, came

153
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

with us. We arrived at Rangoon either at the beginning or towards the

middle of November. It was very hot. When we disembarked, a truck

was already waiting, and there were Japanese soldiers on it. We travelled

north along a road clinging to the mountainside for two or three hours,
and arrived at a house with a signboard saying it was a comfort station. It

was dusk. The was situated on a wild mountainside. We could

station
moving about in the nearby army unit. We could even
hear the soldiers
hear bombs falling. The unit sent enough cooked rice for 20 of us: it
could not have been far from the comfort station. Two Burmese women
cooked for us in a kitchen.
The station comprised two long buildings separated by a road. There
were ten rooms in each building, giving 20 in total. It was new and had
no gates or fences, so people could walk in and out freely. There was one
dining room and two bathrooms. Each room was the size of one tatami
mat, and the walls and floor were built from wooden boards. Each room
had two blankets. Of the 20, 1 was put in room number 3, which was not
far from the office, perhaps 7 or 8 m away. Each room had its number,

and under my '3' was written my name, Mizuko. The entrance to each
room was closed by a curtain. All we had with us was a small bundle of
belongings. There were thousands of mosquitoes, which tortured us day
and night. We were watched closely, and couldn't run away.
We had to begin working the very next day, and this was the first time
I had had sex with a man. The first client was a soldier about 25 years old
with an Osaka accent. When he came into my room, he said he was glad
to see me and shook my hand. He told me he had to rush because there
were so many men waiting, and he just opened his fly and finished what
he had come to do in no time. Because this was all so sudden and I had
to serve so many men from then on, my abdomen hurt and I began to
bleed. I couldn't lift my legs up because my body hurt so much. Ch'oe
said'You won't become pregnant or get an infection so long as you use
condoms. Just tolerate the pain for a little while, and soon you will be all
right.' The young soldiers were very excited and ejaculated in a very
short time. I think that was the reason why we were able to serve so
many men and yet survive. Nonetheless, it was sheer agony for a week or
so. We had breakfast around 7.00 and started to serve soldiers from 9.00.
We had to serve the lower ranks until 3.00 p.m., then non-commis-
sioned officers from 3.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m., and officers until 10.00 p.m.
Some officers stayed overnight, leaving at about 6.30 the following
morning. We
were given three meals a day, usually a ball of rice cooked
in salty water which was so meagre it could almost be blown away, pick-
led radish and soya bean soup. When it was very hot, we were allowed a
bath, using water from a pump which had been installed outdoors.

154
 Kim T'AESdN

The soldiers waited outside the huts in orderly lines. When they came
in, they would keep their shoes on and just pull their trousers down. They
wanted to save time. I, too, just pulled my underwear down. On busy
days, I had to serve 20 of the lower ranks, five or six non-commissioned
officers and three or four officers. The smallest number I ever had was

about ten regulars during a day. The soldiers' Osaka accents were very
noisy, and sounded rather like a Korean Kyongsang accent. They were
unkind to us, probably because they were staring death in the face, and
some kicked us as ifwe were litde more than animals. There were, how-
ever, some officers who tried to comfort us. Some just sat and talked then
left without doing what they had supposedly come for in the first place.

After about a became somewhat used to this life. Some soldiers

month, I

would return and visit me again, and I would then help them take off
their shoes or clothes, or put on condoms. This made them come more

quickly. Sometimes, the kinder officers and non-commissioned officers

brought large strawberries or grapefruit carefully wrapped in paper.
When we were ill, we received some treatment. I suffered for about a
week, and was given ointment for my soreness and allowed to rest.

Although illness and so forth meant that some rooms were gradually

vacated, no new women arrived. The Japanese man who had brought
me all the way from Kangjin took tickets off the soldiers at the entrance
to the station, and Ch'oe told them which room to go to. When officers

and non-commissioned officers came asking for me, Ch'oe would lead
them to my room after making sure I was alone. It was Ch'oe who kept
a record of thenumber of soldiers we served. I kept my own record,
dividing it number of privates, non-commissioned officers and
into the
officers served each day, and would show this to Ch'oe. We didn't

receive any money from the soldiers. The station was on a mountainside,
and if we had got money, we would have had nowhere to spend it
because there was nothing to buy.
Condoms were distributed to us and we used them on soldiers who
didn't bring theirown. But there were never enough to go around. So,
we condoms in a jar and washed them with soap in a
collected used
nearby stream whenever we had time. We would dry them in the sun,
then spray them with a white antiseptic powder to use again. This was the
worst of the jobs we had to do, and I hated it the most. I saw one soldier
wash his penis with a blue antiseptic fluid after his condom burst. Even
when we were menstruating, the soldiers didn't pay any attention and
just at it, as if they were oblivious because they had condoms
kept going
on. The Japanese man and Ch'oe, the two men who controlled us,
shared a room. They didn't sleep with any of us. I worked for about a
month from the middle of November 1944.

155
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

After 10 December, Allied bomb

became more frequent. The
attacks

army would be moving in about

told us to get ready to leave, since they
ten days time. Three days before the predetermined move, we were hav-
ing our supper when an officer from the unit visited the station. He con-
finned that we would be leaving, and when we asked him where we
were going he responded that we just had to follow the troops. Ch'oe
suggested it might be better if we ran away. He told me in confidence
that I and my two best friends, Haruko from Kyongsang and Kimiko
from Cholla, should be the last to board the truck on the day of the
move. On the allotted day, the comfort station was completely demol-
ished. A truck drove up and we hurriedly packed our clothes and board-

ed it. I waited with my two friends until the others had leaped aboard.
Coundess trucks seemed to be rushing here and there and, while we hes-
itated, all of the others drove off. We were left alone, Kimiko, Haruko,

Ch'oe and I. We sat down and discussed what we should do. All through
the night we walked and came to the conclusion that, since the troops
had moved to the front line, we would die if we followed them. We
began to feel that whether we died from bombing at the front line or
from being shot while trying to escape, we would soon perish anyway.
So we determined to run away as far as we could get without being
caught. We had also realized that if we didn't hurry we would all die
where we were crouched.
We began walking south. The bomb attacks were too serious during
daylight, so we walked only at night. During the day, we found whatev-
er shelter we could. At one point, we walked into a Burmese village to
ask for help. We managed to find some rice and fruit. Ch'oe had money
he had received as his wages, and he exchanged this for red-coloured
Burmese currency. Being able to use local money certainly helped us as
we walked along. After about ten days, we came to a large river. The
year of liberation, 1945, began some time then. It was New Year, but we
still hadn't reachedRangoon. We attempted to cross the river on a small
boat, but it capsized. There were about 20 of us on it and we all fell into
the water; people threw ropes to us from the bank. Ch'oe managed to
get to the bank and threw us a rope. He called out to reassure us that the
river wasn't deep and that we would survive so long as we kept hold of
the rope. But Kimiko was weak. She couldn't catch hold and drowned. I
held tightly until, in the end, Ch'oe and a Burmese man pulled me to the
bank. We had to cross many rivers, both big and small, after we left the
comfort station.

There were three of us left: Ch'oe, Haruko and me. Then, cholera
reared its ugly head. We knew that the disease could kill us, but we had
no medicine. We were determined to survive, but Haruko died. The

156
 Kim T'AESdN

bomb attacks ceased in May 1945. Ch'oe and I walked into Rangoon.
We had wandered around the front line for six months.
British and Indian soldiers were in Rangoon. Ch'oe and I went to the
British camp. A Korean-born British soldier interpreted for us. We told

them how we had run away from a comfort station. They didn't ask any-

thing about out personal background. So far as I know, I am the only

surviving woman from the station. was I already infected with cholera,
but the British gave me antibiotics which helped me recover. The camp
was clean and had nice rooms. I think we stayed for about a month.
Then we took a train to Bangkok. In the autumn, Ch'oe and I boarded
a large ship off Bangkok and sailed back to Pusan. On board were
Korean and American soldiers and about 20 women who like me had
served as comfort women. Two held tiny babies. We had medicals on
board, and we were all disinfected. We disembarked after a week and
were taken to a refugee camp where we received a further check-up
because of the prevalence of cholera. It was breezy and cold when we
arrived back in Korea.
Ch'oe originally came from Seoul. Although he was the one who
took me to the comfort station in the first place, I don't think he had any
choice at the time about it.

I went to Inch'on from Pusan and worked in a restaurant for about

three years. My employer introduced me to a man in 1948, when I was
22. I lived with him quite happily. We had two girls, and it was only
when I went to register their birth on the family registration that I learnt
my husband already had a wife. So my daughters were registered under
his first wife's name, and so far as my family registration is concerned, I

am still unmarried. Both daughters graduated from high school. My hus-

band died of stomach cancer, and I have worked and lived with a family
as their domestic help for the past 20 years. I have been going to church
for a decade. I now blame my past on my ancestors. What happened
occurred because my country was poor. I sometimes wonder if I would
have become a comfort woman had been married at the time my uncle
I

tried to hide me. I think it was my misfortune to have been born when

and where I was. My daughters know nothing of my past. don't think I

it is necessary to tell them.

I pray to God every day, but I will never forget those months. I feel
relieved, now, as I pour out the story of my past. I am now receiving
medical treatment because I have trouble with my colon.

157
CHAPTER 18

Hostage to My Past
PakSunae

Pak Sunae was born in 1919 in Muju, North Cholla province and mar- ,

ried an extremely poor man at the age of 16. When she discovered his
poverty she left him, and in 1936 became the second wife of a more
wealthy man. Two years later she gave birth to a son. In 1941 she was
sold to an introduction agency by her husband, who had always been sus-

picious of her chastity. Tliere, she heard that a comfort group was being
recruited, and volunteered since she felt this was a way she could earn
sufficient money quickly so that she could live with her son. She was taken
to Rabaul in New Britain.

Sold
I was born in 1919 in Muju county, North Cholla province. I was the
third of six daughters. My mother was extremely capable, and bought
five majigi (about 2500 square metres) of paddy fields with money she
had earned from weaving linen and cotton cloth by hand. My father cul-
tivated the fields with the help of a farmhand and provided just enough
food for the family. My elder sisters helped with the paddies, but I was a

small child and simply used to run out and play. My parents loved me just
as I was and never scolded me, since they thought I was sickly. I went to
an elementary school for two years. Even then I used to play truant and
climb a hill to play instead of going to class. Whenever my mother saw
me coming home with mud on my pants, she simply told me I could
give up school if I wanted to. So after two years I gladly stopped going. I
had been taught Japanese at school, but I wasn't particularly good at it.
After a while, I started to go to evening classes to learn how to read and
write Korean.
When I was 16 1 was married. My mother consented to an arranged
marriage on the understanding that my new husband's family was well-
off.But there were nine in his family and they turned out to be very
poor. My husband was also illiterate. All we had to eat every day was a

158
 Pak Sunae

gruel made of barley and wild vegetables. Neither my husband nor any-
one in his family abused me, but I couldn't endure the poverty. So I ran
away to Koch'ang where a cousin lived. I stayed for some time, but I
knew I couldn't stay indefinitely so I agreed to become the second wife
to a Mr Kim. He lived in the same neighbourhood. It was 1936, and I

was 17. My husband wanted to remarry because his first wife had had an
affair man next door. His family was quite nice and they were well
with a

off, but Kim himself was always suspicious of my fidelity and would

often beat me when he got drunk. If he became violent, would run to I

my father-in-law, who was always kind and told me to try to be tolerant

of my husband for him, and such things. I stayed in this marriage because
of my father-in-law; I thought he would live for ever.

I gave birth to a son in 1938. My husband was over 30 and was happy
to have a son. He
home some kelp for me, food which was very
brought
scarce at that time. I think we were the only household in Koch'ang
whose rice chest was always full. Then he became ill. He heard of a good
doctor in Yongch'on, and went to him, taking all the money he made by
selling our house. I was forced to move in with my in-laws. He was soon

cured but, instead of returning home, went to Japan. When our son was
three he returned, bought five majigi of paddy fields and left again for
Japan.
When he returned once more he started to beat me. His suspicions
about my fidelity were aroused once more. I had had some of my hair
cut because it had become too full, and wore what was left in a bunch.
My husband found fault with this and kept criticizing me. Then he took
my child away and handed me over to an introduction agency. It was
around October 1941 by the lunar calendar, and I was maybe 23 years
old. At the agency were many women who had run away from their

homes without taking anything. We were fed and clothed, but the
agency charged a large sum if our own family came to take us home. So
once you were in there you had little chance of returning home. Most of
the women were sold on and taken to Manchuria. I was passed to a fur-
ther agency in Seoul.
The agency was housed in a large building with a thatched roof and
four rooms in Ahyon ward, Seoul. The owner was Im Manjun. Dozens
of people dropped in, and sometimes the Japanese police would come to
visit. There were quite a few of us there. I met a woman named Kumsun

who had lost quite a lot of weight and most of her hair because of a fever.
We became friends and waited for some job for us to do to turn up.
Whenever she had any information, Kumsun would tell me. She had
heard that if we went to a place where the war was going on, we could
earn a lot of money in very little time. We became very close, almost like
159
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

sisters, and I decided to follow her. People came from all over the place
to buy The agency staff told me I wouldn't be able to
us as cheap labour.
pay back the debt I owed them if I stayed on and worked in Korea. I
only learned that I actually owed them something when I arrived in
Seoul. I knew some money had been given to my husband before I left
Koch'ang, but I had no idea I was the one meant to pay it back. I was
told the sum would be enough to buy five majigi of paddy fields. Once I

knew about the debt, I wanted to repay it as soon as possible. I just want-
ed to earn enough so that I could live with my son.
Some time later, we heard about the comfort corps. It was said that the

corps' duties were to wash clothes in field hospitals and to look after

wounded soldiers for a term of three years. We heard that the term
would enable us to pay off our debts and still have a lot left over. We
were told they were recruiting 25 women. Ktimsun and I, alone in the
agency, volunteered. The others told us that we would be going to a nice

place. It was December by the lunar calendar. We stayed on, waiting for
our departure. Pak, who recruited us, bought us each a pair of pink
shoes, a blue dress and a small suitcase. When we arrived at Seoul station
many women were already gathered. As we left families, who had come
to see their daughters and sisters off, were in tears. One girl, Sumiko, was
an only child, and her parents wept a lot as she train. There
boarded the
was no one to see Ktimsun and me off. The
went to Pusan.
train

Twenty-five of us left Seoul led by Pak, Kim and Cho, and another 25
were led by a man known as Hayasi. We arrived at night and straight
away boarded a ship. We sailed to Shimonoseki and anchored there for a
day. As soon as we arrived, vendors gathered around. We lowered
money them on
to string, and they tied dried squid and whatever they
were selling on the string in return. The ship then sailed south until we
arrived at our destination. It was a navy ship with a restaurant, cinema,
hospital and bathrooms, and it even had horses quartered on board. We
took turns to bring meals up from the kitchen. Two of us would get
cooked rice and soup in wooden buckets and sufficient bowls for each
meal. The ship went here and there to avoid torpedoes, and arrived at
Rabaul in New Britain after about a month and a half.

'Sizuko'
It was a bright afternoon at about 4 o'clock when we reached Rabaul. It

had been planned that we should stay the night on board, but ceaseless
bomb attacks made the ship sway so much that we couldn't stay. At dusk,
a cargo truck came, we disembarked and were taken away. We watched
the bombing, which looked like a grand firework display, as the truck
took us and dropped us in front of a two-storey house. It seemed to have

160
 Pak Sunae

recentlybeen occupied by white people. They must have kept a shop,

because we found books and soap on display. You entered the house
through a gate that opened straight out on to the road, and there was an
office right beside it. The building was then divided into two parallel

sections with one storey on the right and two on the left. Rooms on the
ground floor opened directly into the courtyard. The staircase was at the
end of the building on the left. Twenty-two women had rooms down-
stairs, and only three, including me, were housed upstairs. Below the
staircase were a kitchen and a small store-room. A larger store-room and
a toilet were sited behind the buildings across the road.
We had never dreamt we would have to have sex with soldiers. We
knew only what we had been told: we would do laundry and look after
wounded patients. We were, thus, perplexed when soldiers began to
come into our rooms. We all frantically fought them off to start with. We
confronted the men who had taken us there and told them we had not
come to do this sort of work. I locked my room and didn't venture out
except to go to the kitchen for food. The proprietor was furious and told
me would never be able to pay back my debt. Sumiko, who was bare-
I

ly 17, resisted for two weeks. But with constant abuse from the propri-

etor and soldiers all around us, we couldn't keep up our resistance. Even
running away was impossible, because the place was surrounded by water
on all sides.

Our lives as comfort women started. We would begin work at 7

o'clock in the morning, serving the rank and file until 4.00 p.m., non-
commissioned officers until 7.00 p.m., and then officers through until
10.00 p.m. Some officers stayed overnight. The soldiers were brought to
us in vehicles, and we had no where their unit was. We only served
idea
the rnilitary, but once in a while Korean civilian employees same. The
latterwore shabby clothes and were not supposed to visit the comfort
station.But they would sneak in occasionally.
The soldiers bought tickets before they came to our rooms. The regu-
lar soldiers had white tickets, non-commissioned officers blue tickets,
and officers red tickets. They were priced, respectively, at 2 yen, 2.5 yen
and 3 yen. Those who stayed the night paid 6 yen if they arrived before
midnight, but a different rate if they came later. Sometimes officers
would stay the night without tickets and give us money direcdy, but we
had to hand this in to the office without fail. Pak, Kim and Cho worked
in the office, counting the tickets every morning. I don't know about the
others, but I took no interest in the number of tickets I collected. I just
handed over what I received. The men in the office calculated the
money daily, giving us a token amount but keeping the rest with the
excuse that they were saving it for us. I cannot remember how much was

161
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

meant to have been saved on my behalf. At first we women would sit in

the office for soldiers to select. But after some time, the soldiers knew
which rooms we occupied and came in directly. There were name-plates
on each door, and I was called Sizuko.
When there weren't many soldiers, we served about 20 each per day,
but when things were busy we would serve over 30. They were allowed
an hour each, but no one stayed that long because there were so many
others waiting in the corridor in orderly queues. On Sundays especially,
the soldiers crowded into the station like ants. We normally wore dress-
es, but on busy days we had no time or energy to bother to wear pants.
My abdomen swelled and my womb throbbed. Life was so hard that I
would plead with any man who seemed like he might be kind-hearted to
help send me home on a plane. The reply was invariably that there was
no room for women on planes.
The Japanese were terrified of venereal disease, and a medical team
would come once a week to give us check-ups. Three or four doctors
came, but we never saw a female nurse with them. We lay on a bed, and
they examined us with an instrument. They made the soldiers use con-
doms so that we would neither become pregnant nor catch disease. Some
soldiers brought their own sheaths, but the office supplied them to us for
those who didn't bring any. We had to put the condoms on, and about
one in twenty tried to refuse to use them. I refused to serve men who
didn't wear protection, and they would then often become violent, slap-
ping me on the face and shouting at me. The doctors gave us tablets to
dilute in water which provided an antiseptic solution with which to wash
ourselves and even some of the more dirty soldiers. There was a water-
tank on the top floor, and we would use water from this when it had
anything in it. I was absolutely determined to look after myself and as a

result never caught venereal disease. Once I got malaria, but Lieutenant
Abe, one of the surgeons in the field hospital, looked after me well.
There were two sisters who had come to the station together. The
younger one gradually lost her sight. She had to depend on her sister
even to go to the toilet. I wondered whether syphilis had caused her
blindness. Anyone infected with venereal disease received treatment for
about a week, and had a sign posted on their door saying it was closed. I

put this sign up when I had my period. The hospital gave us balls of cot-
ton wool to which threads were attached to deal with menstruation.
We were taught simple Japanese phrases and were told to use the lan-
guage to address the soldiers. I was not good at it, and I can still remem-
ber how I used to repeat to myself Iratsyaimase iratsyaimase
'
, , 'Welcome,
welcome', as I went up and down the stairs. The proprietor wore a
Western suit and he made much fuss of arriving soldiers, shouting

162
 Pak Sunae

4
IratsyaimaseV Food was provided by the army. An elderly Chinese man
cooked rice, but it was difficult to eat without side dishes. Water was also

supplied by the army. Soldiers shared their ration boxes with me a few
times.
When I had resigned myself to my fate and had begun to adapt myself
to this lifestyle, I gained enough composure to look at my surroundings.
When I had a moment to spare, I would look out of the window. I could
ce Hayasine next door. Though we were neighbours with just a wall

separating us, we didn't talk to each other. I could see a person going in
and out of the rooms shouting that the time was up and asking men to

leave.Sometimes I could hear women singing in the courtyard, and

some of them sang really beautifully. Though I couldn't sing well, just
watching them seemed to release some of the resentment which knotted
my heart.

I felt like I was in a prison and wanted to escape to get a breath of fresh
air. But a military police check-point was posted right in front of the
house, and we We needed a permit to venture
weren't allowed out.
beyond the compound, and we were intimidated into staying put by
being told that in the compound we were protected from the natives
who would otherwise rape and kill us. So we didn't go far, though we
did occasionally sneak out to a store across the street. They sold goods
such as clothes and small umbrellas. Our work started after 9.00 a.m., and
we were able to sneak out straight after breakfast. With the small amount
of money the proprietor gave me, I could sometimes buy high-heeled
shoes or colourful sunshades. The comfort station was located right in
the town centre, and we could see two-storey shops and many people
from different countries - natives, Chinese, Japanese and whites. Not far
from the station was a building with white people which made much
noise; it could have been a factory. The sea was not within sight. There
were no military units around us, and the only permanent residents
appeared to be natives. The men didn't wear shirts and walked around
barefoot, while the women wore vests. They were given jobs such as

cleaning and running errands for the Japanese.

The officers sometimes took us on outings with the permission of the
military police. One morning, at around 8.00 a.m., Lieutenant Abe came
for me and took me out in a car driven by a private. It had a canvas roof
and was big enough for four people. Abe had a picnic basket with bis-
cuits, wine, bananas and other food. We
smoking vol- drove towards a
cano. It looked quite near, but we had to drive for a long time. I wished
to go nearer, but Abe said it would be too hot if we went on any further.
In the evening, he stayed the night with me although everyone else had
left, and a private came to fetch him the following morning. Lieutenant

163
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Abe came to see me regularly, and when he came he looked after the ill
among us. Consequendy, the proprietor treated me well. Seeing how I
was treated some of the women accused me of sleeping with the propri-
etor. My room was upstairs and I didn't talk much with the others. I

couldn't understand why some would fight with the soldiers or would be
beaten by them. They seemed to quarrel with the proprietor a lot.
On public holidays, we gathered in a big hall with a stage. None of the
rank and file were there, only officers we had not seen before. We were
there from morning until lunch time, and the officers recited the Oath of
Imperial Subjects and lectured us. We sang the Japanese national anthem,
and sometimes the Korean folk-song Arirang, on the stage. There were
some Japanese women, although we never knew where they came from.
Most were older than me. Once, this ceremony was interrupted by an
air-raid.

In Rabaul, I missed my
son so much. One night, the moon was shin-
ing brightly and on top of the bomb shelter across the courtyard
I sat

thinking of him and my home. It was about midnight and I had finished
work for the day. A soldier approached the shelter and went inside. As he
came out he was struggling to put his jacket on. I heard something fall on
the ground, but he didn't notice it and just went his way. I sat for a
while, then as I made my way down to go back to my room I picked up
what he had dropped. It was his wallet, complete with an ID card and
money. The following morning, I handed it in to a military policeman.
He made a telephone call and, a few minutes later, a soldier came and
thanked me, politely bowing several times. There had been 50 yen in the
wallet, and the policeman told the soldier that since I had been honest I

deserved to receive the money, and asked him to give me half. I turned
hismoney down.
Later, when I returned to Korea, a citation came to my mother's home
one February. It was issued because the money I had turned down had
been donated to the state by the soldier in my name. I kept the citation
in a chest, but it was burnt with my other things in air raids during the
Korean War. I wrote to my parents while was in Rabaul but they, igno-
I

rant of my actual situation, used to write back and say they would love to
come to visit me but could not afford to. The letters came via
Shimonoseki.
Air raids got more and more serious, and we were anxious to return
home. We often confronted the proprietor and demanded he should let

us go as our terms were well over. He refused, saying he could not let us
go because no replacements had been sent. Sometime later, we were
somehow allowed to leave even though nobody had come to replace us.
All 50 of us left together. Just before we boarded a ship, the proprietor

164
 Pak Sunae

gave us each a savings book. He told us we would be leaving within a

week, and should keep the books secret, not let on about their existence

to spies. He advised us to hide the books around our waist. Each book
was a reddish colour, and we were told we could draw money from any
post office with it. I think something like Arai Kiyoko was written on the
cover. None of us had ever visited the post office in Rabaul.
The ship was as large as the one we had taken to get to Rabaul in the
first place. One morning, when we had been on board about seven days,
Akiko, whose real name was Ch'oe Kumsun, and I were on breakfast
duty. We had just finished eating and were about to return the buckets
when, suddenly, water surged into our quarters. The ship must have
been hit by a torpedo. We had been told to keep life-jackets on all the
time, but we weren't wearing them because of the heat. The water kept
pouring in, and a woman from Kwangju was washed away. Her
abdomen burst open as she was carried off: she had been pregnant. There
was a huge creaking sound and the ship split into two. We clung to a rail

as the ship rocked terribly. We tried to stay on board, but in vain.

Women were being swept away by the tide. Akiko, too, was lost. I faint-

ed, and when I came to I was holding a piece of wood, floating in the
middle of the ocean. I heard someone shouting 'Kochi koi, kochi koi\

'Come here, come here', in the distance, and saw a soldier swimming
towards me. Each soldier had a rope around his waist, and the one who
shouted to me threw the end of it to me. By grasping it, I could gradual-
ly move towards them. It was a rule that we should have a small white
flag to call for rescue, but no one had anything. So I took off my white
underwear and we used it as a substitute.

A
boat came to our rescue. It could not approach us easily because of
the bombing and Allied fire. It was about 4.00 in the afternoon by the
time a navy ship managed to get close enough to us. We had been in the
water for eight or nine hours and barely managed to climb on board,
holding fast to the ropes. We were given a bowl of gruel. Those who had
been wounded groaned and screamed, while others were busy trying to
tend to them. It was a chaotic scene. I had bruises on my arms and hips,
and there was a wound from shrapnel on my forehead.
The vessel returned to Rabaul. Only 15 of us had survived. Sadako
had broken her shoulder and Kimuyo's leg was so badly damaged that she
had to have it amputated. We took turns to look after the injured. Once
Kimuyo recovered to some degree, she worked in an office. Kim, Pak
and Cho, the men who had taken us to Rabaul in the first place, had
man aged about 60 managed us. We called him
gone, and a Japanese
There were three Japanese women there - we had no idea
'Father'.

where they had come from - who disappeared once we returned.

165
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

'Father' told us that since we had come back we could not return to
Korea unless we completed a term again. We thought this very unfair,
but had no choice. We started to serve again. All our luggage was lost in

the shipwreck, and we had no possessions left. There wasn't even much
food. We exchanged cigarettes for papayas and bananas. If we had lived
just on the food given to us at the station, we would all have starved.
Air raids had now become extremely frequent. Attacks were so severe
that sometimes we had to run around to avoid the fire. During raids, we
would open our mouths and cover our eyes and ears. Most of the
Japanese soldiers we served died as soon as they went into battle. Not
long after my return, Lieutenant Abe also died on the front line. New sol-
diers arrived from Manchuria and they were much more rough with us.

Home
We were finally allowed to leave because Japan continued to suffer
defeats. The ship was again wrecked by bombing, but this time we were
rescued straight away without suffering any fatalities. We didn't return to
Rabaul but went to the Palau islands, where we stayed about a week. It

was more peaceful there; there were buildings with pointed roofs and
functioning theatres. Several Japanese women joined us. Some women
remained behind in Palau to earn money. The one I remember most
clearly said she would work in a brothel to earn money,
was Hitomi. She
because she thought would be too dangerous to return to Korea by
it

ship. I hated being there and wanted to get home, even if I had to risk

my life. I don't remember how long I was on the next ship, but I arrived
at Shimonoseki on New Year's Day 1944. The two women who had

been severely wounded earlier were with me and remained in

Shimonoseki to receive further treatment. I went on to Pusan. I don't
remember how I managed to pay my fare, since I had no money. It is

possible that we were given free passage because we had been at the front
line. My friend Kumsun, who had taken the Japanese name Hanako, and
I travelled together by train to Yongdong and then went our separate
ways. I haven't heard from her since.
When I returned home my parents were still alive. If I had had any
money, I would have tried to bring up my son. But I had lost my savings
book and wasn't able to do anything for him. I wanted to see him so
much that I tried to go to Koch'ang to visit, but my mother stopped me.
She had seen how my husband had beaten me, and said he would hold
me a virtual prisoner if I went to him, and that he couldn't be considered
a human being the way he behaved. He realized that he had been cheat-
ed by his uncle once he had sold me to the agency, and hear that he I

beat up his uncle. That should never happen. My parents had many

166
 Pak Sunae

problems because my father kept a mistress in his old age. I couldn't stay
athome, so in that same year I became mistress to a man who worked in

the town office. He thought I had been working in a hospital in Rabaul.

I didn't think I could have children, but as soon as I started to live with
him I became pregnant. I am deeply sorry that I never had a normal mar-
ried life. I regret the fact that I ruined my children's fortune.
After Korea was liberated, the man I was living with resigned from his

work, and we spiralled down into abject poverty. I did all kinds of work
to support and educate my children, but things didn't work out well. I

sold imam (ginseng). I helped with housework and I sold vegetables,

often leaving my youngest daughter alone at home. Life was very hard. I

have three children, but I am listed as single on my family registration. I

have recently been living on government aid for the poor.

My cousin's wife, who lives in Songnam to the south of Seoul, report-
ed to the Korean Council on my behalf. I decided to report my past in
the hope that my case might be of some help to my country. I think that
Korea should never be controlled by another country again. I have lived
with resentment buried deep in my heart for what I was made to go
through. I am grateful that the Council is now trying to help me release
this pent-up resentment.

167
CHAPTER 19

Silent Suffering
Ch'oe Myongsun

Ch'oe Myongsun was born in 1926 in Seoul. In early 1945 a

Neighbourhood Community Centre official came and suggested it would

be good for her to find work rather than stay at home doing nothing; at
home, she might be drafted by force into the Women's Voluntary Corps.
She considered this for a few days, then left home with him. She arrived
in Japan and became an officer's mistress. After pleading to be sent home,
she was handed over to a Japanese army unit and became a comfort

woman. Later she married and had children but, because of diseases con-

tracted at the comfort station, her eldest son became mentally unstable.

I was born in 1926, so am 67 this year (1992, age according to Korean

reckoning). Through the course of my life, I have suffered every possible
hardship a woman can possibly endure. Because of this, I look about 80.
In this report I will grasp the chance of releasing the resentment which I

have buried deep within my heart, living for so long in fear that my chil-

dren or husband might find out about my past.

I was born in Tongja ward right in front of Seoul station. I had an

elder sister and two elder brothers. My father stood as guarantor for
someone else's loan, but it was not repaid, so we had to move from one
rented room to another. I hardly remember
home, my father being at
and I remember what he was like or what he did for a living. He
don't
was away for many months at a time, and when he came back he stayed
only a short while before he upped and left yet again. My mother had a
hard time feeding us children, and she worked for other families in order
to bring us up. When I was about nine, my brothers and sister were
already in school. My sister was eight years older than me. She was very
pretty, and neighbours often said that I would be lucky if I grew up half
as pretty as her. But one day she disappeared. My mother travelled
around all over the place looking for her. My sister's school friends also
tried their best to find her. Our neighbours were concerned, too. My
mother wept daily, and my father returned for a few days, but then left

168
 Ch'oe Myongsun

again in anger. We didn't move, but stayed in the same room anxiously
waiting for her return.
After two or came back, looking for all the world like
three years, she
a beggar. Our neighbours crowded into our house to look at her. She

was nothing but bones. The neighbours said that a pretty woman's des-
tiny was to endure misfortune. Then, when I was out doing an errand
for my mother, I how my sister had been
overheard some neighbours say
taken away by the Japanese police. we left the neigh- Soon after this,

bourhood. My mother was scared of something, but she never told me

what and didn't allow me to go out to play unsupervised. started school I

when we had moved to Sogong ward. was eleven or twelve, a little old I

to start school. went to Hwagang Elementary School in Sup'yo ward,

I

but I had to give up in the winter of my fourth year after we moved fur-
ther away from the school, to Hongje ward. By this time, my mother
couldn't afford school fees any longer. I left my school and my friends in

tears.

My sister was now very ill. My mother gave her herbal medicines and
went to shamans to get them to perform rituals.
1

My sister took to her

bed, gradually getting worse, and she died during the winter of the year
she returned home. Her body was buried in Kumgok, where my mater-
nal grandparents had lived. My oldest brother was by now married but
had no permanent job, and my second brother was working in a printing
shop. I was particularly close to my second brother. did whatever he I

asked me to do and he, in return, would do anything for me. I was more
attached to him than to my parents, but he was drafted into the military
when he was just over 20. Shortly afterwards, my oldest brother moved
with his wife and family to Manchuria in search of work, and I was left

alone with my parents. I missed my second brother very much, although

he wrote to us from Hiroshima. I was gradually getting more and more
fed up with our life of poverty.
was January 1945, and I was 19, when we moved once again, this
It

time to Tadong. A Neighbourhood Community Centre official visited

me and asked if I had thought of finding work. He said that if I stayed at
home with no job I ran the risk of being drafted into the Women's
Voluntary Corps. I could avoid went to Japan to work, and at the
this if I

same time I would be able to earn money. I said I would discuss his

1 The indigenous ritual specialists in Korea are often referred to as 'sorcerers'. Since early
in this century, it has been common among folklorists and anthropologists to label them as
shamans. Koreans use the term rnudang to denote a shaman, and those practising in and
around Seoul experience the possession and trance which characterize classic Arctic
shamanism.

169
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

proposition with my mother when she returned home. I happened to be

on my own at the time. He came again a few days later, urging me to
make up my mind quickly. I hadn't said anything to my mother, but one
evening I told her about his proposal. She told me not to do anything,
then added, somewhat curiously, 'Oh, dear! We will have to move
again!' I didn't agree with her, because at that time I didn't understand
what she was worried about. After all, she was our sole bread-winner,
and I thought if I worked it would ease our financial difficulties. Not
only that, if I went to Japan as the official had suggested, I would be able
to meet my brother. So I began to direct my thoughts towards going
abroad.
My mother insisted I shouldn't go, but I thought about it overnight,
then packed some clothes and left while she was at work. I went to the
Neighbourhood Community Centre. The official and I boarded a train
for Pusan the same day. We journeyed through the night, and in Pusan
he handed me over to two Japanese men. I was scared. I had learnt some
Japanese at school, so I understood a little, even though I pretended not
to. I was afraid they might start talking directly to me if they found out
that I knew Japanese, so I just followed them without saying a word.
They led me to a ship. There were about ten Korean women on board,
all of whom looked older than me. They sat silendy, and none of us had
any idea where we were going. I went to the toilet. went up
I felt sick. I

on deck to look out. We were in the middle of the ocean. There were
no houses or mountains in sight, only an aeroplane circling around in the
sky above us. One of the Japanese men came up, said something, slapped
my face and grabbed my hand. He broke my hand! As a result of that
brutality, my knuckles still jut out. He seemed to think I was about to

throw myself overboard. I went back below and lay down as he ordered.
I now regretted that I had left my mother. I hadn't listened to her. I

began to weep.
Some time during the evening, we disembarked. The journey seemed
to have taken about eight hours. As I walked on to the dock I heard we
were in Shimonoseki. The name of the place was strange, but I tried to
commit to memory, repeating 'Seki, Seki'. I was worried and wanted
it

to return home. I didn't know where I was. The other Korean women
disappeared, and I was left alone with the two Japanese men. We board-
ed a train on which all the windows were blacked out. I had no idea
where we were going. All I could think was that I was finished and
would die without seeing my brother. My situation looked dark and
bleak. train stopped, we got off, and went to a certain house. A
The
man of about forty appeared, apparently very pleased to see me.
Japanese
The men talked together briefly, and the two who had brought me left.

170
 Ch'oe Myongsun

The new man pointed me to a room and asked me to enter. I soon

summed up his situation: his wife was ill and bedridden, and he had a son

about 20. I went in, ate supper brought in by a maid and stayed still,

afraid of doing anything. The maid came back in the evening, spread

bedding for me and told me to lie down. I sat still for a while, not know-
ing what was going on. A little later, the man came in, lay on the mattress
and pulled me to his side. I shook my head and tried to resist, but he
forced me to the floor and began to take my clothes off. I was too scared.

My head was stunned, and my body turned so stiff I couldn't move.

Something was entering me, and at first I thought it was his knee. It hurt
so much that my head swam. Blood flowed, wetting the mattress. My
womb hurt as if it was going to spill out. I realized I had been raped. He
continued to sleep with me. But when he stayed away from home, I
didn't have to go through the ordeal. He hardly visited his sick wife's
room. Even in the midst of that hateful nightly ordeal, I felt guilty and
sorry for her and I thought about the agony she must be going through.
His name was Suhara; his son Ziro. He was a soldier, and his uniform
had a rank badge with stars on a red lapel. He wore the uniform to work
each morning. The house had three rooms, and I still remember pho-
tographs, a whip and a long sword hung on the walls in the hall. The
family also kept a horse. I lived there, waited on the wife and helped
with housework. I was not allowed to help cook and nobody else in the
household abused me. I often heard the sound of bombing. I asked him,
using sign language, where I was, and he replied Hiroshima. I pretended
I didn't know any Japanese. But when I heard this was Hiroshima, I

wanted to see my brother. After a while, when I was less scared, I said my
brother was in the same city and asked him to help me find him. I
showed him a letter from my brother which I had brought with me
when I left home. He nodded and spread four fingers, indicating so far as
I knew that I could meet my brother in four days' time.

Suhara took me by car to a building which looked like a factory. I met

my brother, though I don't know what he was doing there. When he
saw me, he asked what I was doing in Japan and told me to get back to
Korea quickly. I told him how I had been brought there, bursting into
tears. He was upset and told me
to leave by whatever means I could, for
this was not which to live. We wept and talked for
a suitable place in
three or four hours before Suhara came to take me home. We hugged
each other and bade a tearful farewell. Back at Suhara's house, I did my
utmost to please him, constantly asking to be allowed to go home. I

asked his wife to let me go, telling her that her husband didn't come to
her because I was there. If I went back to Korea, I said, her husband
would love her much more. I took Japanese lessons from their son for an

171
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

hour or two every evening, and I asked him, too, to help me get home.
For two months or so, I kept pestering them, and the wife began to get
fed up with me. She became nasty, but I kept on pestering her from
morning until night. Suhara normally gave me anything I asked for, but
if I asked to go home he would quickly become angry. One day, after

Suhara had left for work, I begged both the wife and son to let me go.
They talked together, then the son told me to pack. I was grateful and
excited, so I packed my belongings. We left for a railway station. There,
the son met two Japanese men to whom he talked before handing me to
them. He shot me a quick glance as he left. The men held me by my
arms and tried to take me away, but I resisted them, shouting that I was
on my way back to Korea. One kicked me hard in the thigh and told me
to follow them. I was dragged away.
I was taken to a small building which looked like a warehouse. There
was a row of perhaps ten rooms, and I was taken into one, about one
p'yong in size. It had nothing but a blanket. Soon, a Japanese woman
appeared with food and waited on me. I thought Suhara must have felt

guilty to his wife for having me in their house, and that he was leaving me
here until he could send me back to Korea. expected to see him in the
I

evening, but the same woman brought me a basin of warm water to wash
in. washed and was ready to leave at any time. Soon afterwards, though,
I

came in. I thought it was at last time to leave. I thought

a strange soldier

he had come to take me off to Suhara. But instead he smiled and asked me
to lie down. I clutched my bundle of possessions on my lap and pushed
him away, shouting athim to go away. He pulled me to him and tried to
pacify me. He pushed me on to my back and raped me even as clutched I

the bundle. I still hoped he would take me home after he had done this,
thinking merely that he must have been desperate for a woman. But then
my new life began, a which I had never imagined possible. I shudder
life

and feel repulsed at the mere recollection of what happened. Even now I
regret that I pestered the family to let me go, since if I had kept my silence
I would not have gone through that awful ordeal. It would have been
easier to stay with one than to serve so many men.
We got up
at about 9.30 or 10.00 in the morning for breakfast.

Soldiers would sometimes come before lunch, but mostly they visited
during the afternoon. On Sundays they crowded in from morning
onwards. They queued and each man spent about five minutes, or ten at
the most, with a woman. They kept coming in one after another, and my
living hell ended only at about 10.00 p.m. On days when there were not
many, I would serve 20 soldiers.
Because I didn't do as I was told, I was often beaten. I would faint and,

when I did so, I was given injections to bring me round. If I lay still,

172
 Ch'oe Myongsun

wetting myself and with my womb bleeding on to the ground, some

men would just kick me and leave. was beaten so I often because I would
lie with my face covered by my skirt, because I would not suck them off
when I was ordered to, because I spoke Korean not Japanese, and so on.
I was beaten so much that I seemed to lose my spirit. I just lay like a

corpse, with my eyes open but not focused on anything. When air-raid

sirens sounded, the soldiers all disappeared, locking my door from the
outside. I was scared at first and banged the door to be released, but soon
enough I just lay there staring at the ceiling.
Some soldiers ejaculated quickly and left, but some took longer and
were unable to finish. If one stayed for more than ten minutes harassing
me, I would faint. If I did, the Japanese cook would douse me with cold
water and feed me rice gruel. I couldn't imagine ever surviving. I just ate

whatever food was placed before me whenever they

and served soldiers

came. Three or four soldiers guarded the entrance, and these seemed to
change often. They would beat me if I tried to go out for fresh air. The
soldiers who came for sex seemed to pay the guards money. Only recent-
ly did I learn that they could have paid either in tickets or in cash. All I

was given to wear was an outer garment. I didn't have any underwear.
The woman who cooked and did our washing never changed. She
was Japanese, and about 40 years old. She tried to console me. She
helped me because I fainted so easily. Whenever I came round, I would
ask her where Shimonoseki was and beg to be taken there. Instead of
responding, she would try to calm me down and wipe the blood from
me. Even though she was Japanese, she was kind. She was the only per-
son I felt I could trust. When I asked where I was, she told me I should
not ask such questions. But I think she once said I was in Osaka. I never
spoke to any other women there. I bumped into one only once, on my
way to the toilet. I wanted to ask where she had come from, but I passed
by silently in fear that I might be noticed by a guard. I was beaten so fre-
quendy if I ventured out that I stayed in my room except when I had to
visit the facilities. My meals were brought to the room.
The soldiers were all different. Some behaved very badly and were
simply less than pigs or dogs. There was one man who would just hold
me in his arms without my body, and one who just talked to
demanding
me, saying he would come back for me once the war ended. One officer
tried to be good to me. He slept with me only once, and on subsequent

visits just talked and left. He even washed my womb when he saw what

a mess I was in. But I didn't get to like him, and I refused to talk to him
since I was suspicious he might send me to another, even more awful,
place. Every soldier seemed to bring his own condom, and some used
them while some didn't bother.

173
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Because I was forced to serve so many men, my womb became raw,

red and swollen and began to smell badly. A military surgeon came and
gave me injections, but nothing improved. Even in this state, I had to
keep on serving men. Once, a soldier was about to get down to his busi-
ness when he saw how red and swollen I was. He swore and pricked me
with something sharp, perhaps a nail. The wound became infected, cov-
ered in blood and pus, but I still had to serve the men. The soldiers

weren't human beings, and tried to enter me as they had come to do

even after they had seen the infection. Pills and injections didn't improve
my symptoms. I don't know what the injections were, but they made me
feel sick and a nasty taste would retrace its way back to my mouth and
nose. The surgeon said that drugs and injections wouldn't heal me.
Once, the kind officer came along with the surgeon and said something.
It seemed he asked him to send me away. I thought he wanted to send

me to another place.
One day, the cook told me would be going back to Korea. She said
I

they were releasing me because was sick. When I heard this, I began to
I

think that I should have died earlier instead of surviving for so long. I felt

resentful towards the cook because she had brought me back to con-
sciousness whenever I had fainted, instead of leaving me to die. Of
course, I am grateful she looked after me and Iam grateful that was able I

to leave, even in the sorry state I was in. Looking back, the officer must
have helped me return home.
The surgeon gave me a piece of paper with some writing on it. A sol-
dier took me to a pier where a ship was berthed. I showed the paper and
boarded the ship with a guide. Once on board, I could think of nothing
except that I was alive and was about to return to my mother. I disem-
barked at Pusan and the guide helped me get a train then left. I arrived in
Seoul alone. I had left for Japan after New Year's Day 1945, stayed at

Suhara's house for two months, served soldiers in Osaka from March to
July and now was returning after more than six months. When I got to
Seoul station, I was penniless. I walked to Tadong where we used to live,
with no luggage except for the clothes I was wearing and a pair o£ flip-
flops. My abdomen hurt every time I took a step, and I had to sit down

frequently and rest. Fortunately, my mother was still living there. I

opened the gate and walked in quiedy, and found my mother sitting on
the threshold of the room. She saw me, rushed out, grabbed me and
wept, saying she must be dreaming. Because I had a diseased abdomen,
she took me to hospital, trying to keep my illness secret from the neigh-
bours. She deliberately didn't ask me where I had been. Itseemed that
she knew everything. She used to weep, saying that her two daughters
had been ruined in the same way.

174
 Ch'oe Myongsun

My abdomenhurt very much, and my mother felt me and said she

thought must be pregnant. At the hospital a doctor examined me and
I

announced that the baby was already dead in my womb. It had been a
boy, and half of the foetus had already rotted. The doctor said that germs
had caused it to die. The foetus was six or seven months old and had
been dead for about a month. He must have been Suhara's child. I never
had a period while I was in Japan. My mother borrowed money from
here and there and took me to several reputable hospitals. Finally I was
treated in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic owned by Yi Kwangsu
and my infection was, to a certain degree, cured.
My mother heard that the Women's Voluntary Corps were again
recruiting in our neighbourhood. She panicked and married me off to a
man who had lodged next door. I didn't know what his job was. Shortly
afterwards, Korea was liberated. My infection was never completely
cured, because I married before my treatment was finished. I lived with
my husband for a few months before he started to beat me and threw me
out of the house, saying that he had got syphilis from me. I went home
to my mother, pregnant again. I seemed to get pregnant easily, for I had
lived with him only a few months yet was so soon with child. I was afraid
that this child too would die. My brother returned. He had been injured
when the atom bomb fell on Hiroshima and came home with his body
burnt. He suffered from radiation sickness, his ribs crumbled into small
pieces that looked like chipped teeth, and he died within a year. That
same year, I gave birth to a boy in my mother's house. The child seemed
to be healthy, and I felt a great sense of relief wash over me. I stayed at
my mother's, doing housework and my child.
raising
One day, the mother of a friend introduced me to a man, saying that I

was good looking and should re-marry even if I already had a child. So,
I met and married my present husband. His parents and sisters treated me
harshly simply because I already had a child and I was thrown out of the
house many times. I cannot describe in words how sad I was. I was mis-
treated, and the backs of my hands were torn and constantly bled because
I was never allowed to use warm water to wash the cotton clothes with,
even in mid- winter. My husband must have married me just for my
looks. He changed completely after we married and often stayed away
from home. He had women and he tormented me
affairs with other
while he was young, but no position to complain. I kept having
I was in
children, and I had to do all kinds of odd jobs to feed them and support
my in-laws. My first son was badly treated by his stepfather. I wasn't able
to educate him properly. He managed to complete primary school, and

then did all sorts of odd work. He went around, almost begging, but I
wasn't in any position to look after him.

175
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

When I I began to develop restlessness and to become

turned 30,
mentally confused. would suddenly hate my husband, my blood would
I

run hot and cold and I would throw a fit, shouting at him to get away.
He scolded me, asking if I intended him to become a monk. I would be
resdess whenever I heard people talking or heard the radio or television.
I would lock the door and refuse to let anybody in. I fainted when I

heard gunshots. I got scared when I met people, and shuddered when I
heard any loud sound. I stayed indoors for 30 years, crawling on my
knees. It has only been in the last four years that I have started to walk
properly. I still take medicine, tranquillizers, without which I would be
resdess.

I have had four children with my present husband, three daughters and
a son. They are now all self-sufficient. live with my youngest daughter,
I

but I used to live with my first son. Even though he only went to prima-
much by working for different people and used this
ry school, he learned
knowledge to set up and run his own business. This became quite pros-
perous, but suddenly he developed mental problems when he was over
40. He was confined in Ch'ongnyangni Mental Hospital. was called to I

see the doctor. He made others leave the room, and asked me if I had
had my son while infected with syphilis. I dropped my head, wept and
left, unable to say anything. I am to blame. I have ruined my son's life. I

litde imagined that my past

make my son mentally ill after so long:
could
hadn't he been born normal? Hadn't he grown up normal? He has now
been released, but he has a fit about once a month. I am sure the doctor
did not tell him anything, but last year he threw plates and dishes around
and tried to attack me. He said he had gone mad because he had been
born illegitimate and shouted that he would kill me. I was so scared that
I left the house and moved in with my youngest daughter. My daughter-
in-law had already left home.
I have lived looking forward only to death, and without telling any-
body my story. My tribulation has remained buried deep in my heart.

Now I have reported to the Council and I take part in various activities
of theirs. But I am anxious in case anyone recognizes me. I have a hus-
band and children, so I cannot bewail my life and be so resentful in pub-
by any chance, my children's spouses and families discover I was a
lic. If,

comfort woman, what would become of them? I look normal on the

outside, but I suffer from a nervous disorder and from diabetes. I am
unable to live without medicine. Who would be able to guess what inner
agony I suffer with this awful story buried in my heart? My story, as hid-
den as it is from those around me, will follow me to my grave.

176
CHAPTER 20

From the Women's Volunteer

Labour Corps to a Comfort Station
Kang Tokkyong

Kang Tokkyong was bom in 1929 in Chinju, South Kyongsang

province, and lived with her grandparents after her father died and her
mother remarried. Her grandparents were well off, and she was sent to ele-

mentary school. In 1944, when she was 16 (in Korean age) and in the

first year of high school, she was sent to Japan with the first group of the

Women's Volunteer Corps to an aeroplane plant in Hujiko. Life there

was too hard, so one night she ran away. She was captured by a soldier

who took her to an army unit where she became a comfort woman.

The Women's Volunteer Labour Corps

I was born in February 1929 in Sujong ward, Chinju, South Kyongsang
province. My father died when I was young, and my mother remarried,
so I was brought up mosdy by her parents. My grandparents were com-
fortably off. Pongnae Elementary School was not far from where I lived,

but I was sent to Yoshino Elementary School, now known as the

Chungang Elementary School. I am one of those who graduated in the
thirty-first year of the school's existence. After six years of education, I

stayed at home and did nothing. My mother didn't think this was good,
and sent me to a new secondary school. The school was founded the
same year I began to attend, and it had only a single class of about 60
pupils.

In June 1944, when I was still in the first year of classes, I joined the
first Women's Volunteer Labour Corps and was packed off to Japan. My
teacher was Japanese, and he came to me and told me to join the Corps,
saying would be able to continue my study and earn money at the same
I

time. My mother was strongly against it, and wept and pleaded with me
not to go, but I had made up my mind. Two girls from my class, the head
girl and I, went. The head girl was the brightest of all of us, and came

from a wealthy family. Fifty girls from Chinju were gathered to join the

177
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Corps. Fifty more boarded our train at Masan, and there were 50 more
waiting when we arrived at the port of Pusan, making 150 in total.
Before we left, we all trooped to the county office. A farewell ceremony
was held in the yard which the county head attended. My friend read the
Corps' statement of allegiance. We ceremony when we
didn't have any
left Chinju. We left by ferry the following morning. As we boarded the

ship we began to weep. Two army ships and a number of planes formed
our escort. Our ship had three decks, and we were stationed in the very
bowels.
We arrived at Shimonoseki, boarded a train and were taken to an
aeroplane plant in Fujiko City,Toyama prefecture. We were greeted by
a middle-aged couple as we arrived. They showed us round the plant,

and demonstrated how to work a lathe. The place was huge: it looked
larger than the whole town of Chinju at that time. And there were many,
many workers there. It was surrounded by walls, and guards were
posted on the gates. We reached the plant by walking from our dormito-
ry. We were given brownish uniforms and caps. The jackets had

Women's Volunteer Corps sewn on them. We wore clothes we had

brought with us in the dormitory, but we had to wear uniforms in the
plant. We also had to don caps whenever we worked. One girl who did
not wear her cap caught her hair in the machine, and she was dragged in
and killed.

Our dormitory was near the main gate. The supervisor was a man, but
we had a few female supervisors who helped instruct us. Before we start-
ed work, they took us on an outing to the coast near the border of
Shinminato and Fusiki where many Koreans lived. We went to a village
to get water, and were welcomed by Koreans, who asked if we had come
from the homeland. We were delighted to meet them and there were
hugs all round. The food in the plant was too bland for us, with no sea-
soning, so we asked the Koreans for salt. We also noted where the village

was in case we ever got the chance to return.

We worked twelve-hour shifts, switching from days to nights every
week. Our job was to cut components on the lathes. We had to do this

with great care. Sometimes the material was so hard that the bit burned, and
we would have to wait around for the machine to be repaired. All of us
from Chinju used lathes, while the girls from Cholla cut steel. Once, I
found some of the steel so attractive that I took it back with me to the dor-
mitory. But a supervisor took it from me, saying I could be arrested as a spy.

I remember hearing that our wages would be saved, but we never saw any
savings books. The work was hard and we couldn't tolerate the hunger. We
were given cooked rice, soya bean soup and pickled radish, but in tiny
quantities. We would sometimes count each grain of rice so that we could

178
 Kang Tokkyong

savour it, or we sometimes gobbled the whole lot in just three spoonfuls.

Some girls saved some of the rice to eat later. For lunch we would get three

small slices of soya bean cake, tabu, which we often ate before lunch because

of our ever-present hunger. When we were on night shifts we got breakfast

after work then nothing until the evening. We were so hungry we some-
times stole food meant for different rooms. We little thought that the girls
in other rooms might starve because of us. I was so hungry I sent my grand-
parents a postcard asking for food. They sent salt and beans, which tem-
porarily appeased the hunger. I regretted the fact that in childhood I had
often worried my grandmother by refusing to eat properly.
There were three older Japanese women who worked in the plant.

They commuted from their homes and brought packed lunches.

Sometimes I sent a postcard asking my grandmother to send washing
soap, and exchanged this with the Japanese women for rice or salt.

Because of hunger and overwork, one of the girls from Cholla went
crazy and was sent back home. Later, another girl pretended to be mad,
rolling about on the road, but the supervisors realized she was only pre-
tending and didn't let her go. We spent the winter in the plant. The

snow was piled so thickly on the roof that it hid the structure. They
made a canopy along the road from the plant to our dormitory.
Whenever we worked on night shifts the Japanese workers had supper at
the appropriate time, but we ate only soya bean cake rations meant for
our tea. We would cry ourselves to sleep, crouched around the stove.
The dormitory rooms were the size of twelve tatami mats, and a dozen
or so girls slept in each. We each had three sets of bedding including mats
and quilts. The dormitory was so huge we never saw all of it nor knew

who slept where. There were no Japanese women, and we Koreans were
grouped according to our home towns, Chinju, Masan, Cholla province,
and so on.
Amongst those of us from Chinju, my friend was named captain and I

her deputy. I don't remember who gave us these nicknames. I don't

remember that we did anything special, except that we wrote the words
to a song, which I can remember. The words were in Japanese and
still

accompanied a military song we had learned earlier in our school:

Ah, across mountains and seas,

We, the Women's Volunteer Corps, have come thousands of miles.

The Korean peninsula, seen far away on the horizon,

Our mothers' faces shine from there.

As the snow fell, we Chinju girls would walk around singing.

Once, the girls in our room staged a strike. We agreed to stay in bed
and to refuse to get up one morning. When the supervisor came to wake

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True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

us, we remained with our eyes closed, pretending to be sleeping. The set
hour when we were meant to start work passed and we didn't go. But
we received no food and were heavily reprimanded. About two months
after we arrived, we had become so hungry that we tried to run away

early one morning. My friend and I ran to a Korean in Shinminato,

whom we had met before. However, the supervisors somehow found
out where we were and came for us. We were taken back and slapped on
the face many times. We were scolded severely, and told we should set a
good example not try to run away. Fifty more girls came from Chinju
later. Among them, Kang Yongsuk was one year younger than me. I

scolded her and told her she should never have volunteered, saying how
hard life was. We looked for an opportunity to run away, and after a

while my friend and I seized our chance again.

A Comfort Woman
It was night. We sneaked under the barbed wire, and ran in the opposite
direction from the one we had taken during our previous escape attempt.
We wandered around not far from the plant but were seized by a rnilitary
policeman. We had promised to stay together whatever befell us and held
hands tighdy, but I found myself alone when I was thrown into a truck.
I was left alone with the policeman and a driver.
My captor had three stars on his red lapel. I didn't know his name or

rank at first, but later found out his name was Corporal Kobayasi Tadeo.
He sat with the driver through the journey, but half-way through
stopped the vehicle and told me to get off. It was very dark; nothing was
visible. He raped me. I had no experience of sex, so I was too scared
even to try resisting. If such a thing happened now, I would kill myself
by biting my tongue off. But at that time I was scared and helpless.

We got back on the truck and rode further until we arrived at an army
unit. Two guards stood outside, and behind the buildings was a tent. My

captor took me there and told me to stay put. There were already five or
so women there, who looked at me in a daze and said nothing. Soon, day
dawned. The tent was partitioned into five or six cubicles. Mine was the
size of one and a half tatami, but had no actual mat. I slept on a simple

military bed. Most of the women were older than me, and at first I was
scared and not sufflciendy composed to talk with them, so I didn't real-
ize what we were there for.

Some three days later, Kobayasi came and had sex with me again.
Then, other soldiers began to come. I served about ten a day. No one
came during the day, although they would on Saturday afternoons.
visit

No one stayed overnight except for Kobayasi. He came often. We

women generally slept in one place. Our number was less than the

180
 KANG T6KKYONG

number of soldiers, so we couldn't have any days off. I remained scared,

and my abdomen hurt a lot, so I didn't get a chance to think about any-
thing else. The soldiers from other units would sometimes take us out. I
was called Harue, and if a soldier called one of our names, that particular

woman had to follow him, carrying a blanket. We had to serve countless

soldierson the wild mountainside. My abdomen, my womb, throbbed
with pain.I had to serve so many men. Afterwards, I would be unable to

walk back to the tent, and the soldier would have to drag me off the
mountainside. I can't describe in words the misery I endured.
Kobayasi brought me clothes, and I also had the clothes I had been
wearing when I ran away from the plant. Our food came from the army,
and I remember balls of cooked rice. We ate on a low table on the
ground. Kobayasi sometimes secretly brought me extra balls of rice and
dried biscuits. I was scared at first, but later I stopped being afraid of him.
I didn't get any medical examination. After some time, the army unit
moved. The soldiers boarded a long, khaki vehicle which looked like a
posh taxi and three trucks. We women got on one of the trucks with

other soldiers. We moved in the dark.

It probably took less than a day to arrive at the next site. As we drove
along, I could see a river on one side and mountains on the other. The
new site was near water, perhaps a lake or a broad river, and was sur-
rounded by fields and trees. A lot of snow had fallen. The army com-
pound was huge with flat-roofed low buildings built haphazardly. Unlike
where we had been before, there were quite a number of private resi-
dences. We were taken to a house which also had a flat roof. The
entrance led to a corridor off which there were many rooms. Each had a
window Each had tatami mats. There were about
facing the back yard.
20 of us housed there, in quite crowded conditions. Those who had been
there when we arrived often went out, on some days leaving just five or
six of us. The unit was large, but not many soldiers came. We served

maybe five or six a day. Some stayed overnight. There was no exchange
of money or tickets.

To the left of the entrance was a large room, and to the right was a row
of small rooms. We would usually sit in the large room while the soldiers
queued up outside the door then walked in. Each soldier would call out
for the woman he wanted, and go with her into one of the small rooms.
Each room was big enough for two people to lie in, leaving just a small
space. Each had a mattress, blanket and hot water tin. We were told to
place the tin under our feet or to cuddle it when it was cold, but I don't
remember a very cold winter when I was there. I had regained my bear-
ings somewhat since the move, and now began to ask questions of one of
the women, Poksun, or of Kobayasi. Poksun and I lived in the same

181
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

building. She said she had been there the longest of all of us, and she cer-
tainly looked over 30. I asked her how farwe were from Toyama and
where exactly we were. She replied that she didn't know Toyama and
told me the name of the place where we were, although I can't remem-
ber it now. She also said that the civilian bastards who controlled the sta-
tion kept all the money involved although they were meant to give it to
us. She said 'Poor you, you were seized by a soldier, yet you don't get
paid'.

I tried to befriend Kobayasi, believing that I might be able to run away

if I coaxed him sufficiently. I smiled at him for the first time, and asked if
it was far to Toyama. At first, he refused to tell me anything, saying our
___location was a military secret. But later he told me this was a place pre-

pared for the Emperor to escape to. He said the Emperor would be com-
ing.On some occasions he refused to say anything, claiming the answer
to my question was a military secret, but at the same time he promised to
let me go home soon. Once he asked if I had worked at the plant. I think
he knew my past. I didn't speak to any soldiers except Kobayasi. I fell ill

and, in my misery, wrote a song with a borrowed pencil.

Ah, crossing from one mountain to another,

I came to the Women's Volunteer Corps a thousand miles away from

home;
But I was captured by a sergeant

And my body torn asunder.

I set these words to a military tune I had learnt at the plant. One day, I

sang it to Kobayasi, but he quickly stopped me. From then on, he didn't
visit me as frequently as before. I don't think I spoke to anybody except
for Kobayasiand Poksun. Whenever I bumped into any of the other
women, we would exchange glances and nod. I remember hearing their
names, Meiko, Akiko, and so on, when soldiers called for them. I lived
in my own world.
I remember several men who wore khaki but no rank badges and who
visited the comfort station often. They brought our meals, but we
women didn't eat together. The rice was always short, although we also

had soya bean soup and pickled would give

radish. Once in a while they
us fried plants culled from the mountains. Once, Kobayasi, in a some-
what drunken stupor, brought me sushi. Poksun sometimes went out in
the evening, to where I don't know, and came back having had a good
supper. When asked by the others where she had been, she would simply
say 'the house over there'. Sometimes she brought some garden vegeta-
bles back. Kobayasi continued to bring me clothes. I didn't wear a

Japanese kimono, but rather blouses and skirts. I was always ill and

182
 Kang Tokkyong

wanted to stay in bed, so I hardly ventured outside. I found it difficult to

walk straight because of the pains in my abdomen. Poksun sometimes

told me that many soldiers would soon come from the south, and I
became scared of Saturdays, when most of the men came, more than
death. I stopped thinking about anything except running away.

Return
One day, it fell strangely quiet. I walked with one of the women to the

unit. There were no guards in sight and inside all the soldiers were weep-
ing, crouched on the ground. We couldn't understand what had hap-
pened, so walked to the street, where we heard people shouting in jubi-
lation. There was a Korean on a truck, was
holding a flag, and the street

crowded with people from many places. They seemed to be men drafted
by the Japanese. I grabbed another Korean and asked what was going on,
where he was going, and pleading with him to take me with him. He
reeled back in surprise and asked what I was doing there. I didn't tell him
I had been a comfort woman. I just asked him to take me to Toyama,

since I thought Koreans lived only in the area around Shinminato. He

said he would take me to Osaka, and I rushed back to the station, quick-
ly packed and jumped on his truck. Two or three of the women took the
truck together, while the others went their own way. In Osaka, the dri-
ver gave me some balls of cooked rice and asked someone to take me to
Shinminato by truck or train.

I to Pang, the man who had given me food when

went first ran I

away. He asked me where I'd been and what I'd done, and told him. I

He let me stay until could leave for Korea. helped cook and launder
I I

for four or five months until, in the depths of winter, Pang, his family
and I travelled to Osaka. We boarded an unlicensed ship. His wife had
died, and he was living with his children. He was dating a Japanese
woman in the neighbourhood, and she also came with us. It was this

woman who noticed I was pregnant, even before I knew it. When I had
been seized by the military police, I had never had a period. I had
first

begun to bleed a little when I was in the second comfort station, and I
must have become pregnant almost immediately afterwards. I tried to
throw myself off the ship as we crossed the sea to Korea, but this woman
sensed what was going on and followed me everywhere, making it
impossible for my own life. Pang came from Cholla province,
me to take
and we went totown of Nam won when we got to Korea. Returnees
the
were put up in the Kuksu guest-house, which had been run by the
Japanese during the occupation. The repatriates stayed in one section
while the National Defence Corps were billeted in another. I gave birth
in January 1946, and Pang's woman helped with the birth. I stayed on for

183
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

a few more months. Although the woman loved Pang and had willingly
come to a foreign country to live with him, she found it difficult to set-

tle down and decided to return to Japan. On her way to Pusan to find a
ship bound for Japan, she took me to Chinju.

When got home, my mother told me couldn't live at home with

I I

my son. She was sorry for me, so asked a distant uncle to take me to
Pusan. He went with me to a large orphanage managed by the Catholics,
and left my child there. He found me work in P'yonghwa restaurant in
I

Ch'oryang. From there could visit the orphanage to see my son every
I

Sunday. But when I got there one day I noticed another child wearing
my son's clothes, and discovered that he had died of pneumonia. He was
only four years old. I never saw my dead child with my own eyes, so I

found his death difficult to accept. I have never married.

From then on I did all kinds of work, waiting in restaurants, selling
things, helping with housework, keeping a boarding house, and so on.
Maybe I am ill-fated, because something would go wrong or I would be
taken ill every time I was about to be able to save some money. I don't
even have a proper house that I can rent now. Ibecome ill very easily.
When I was young, I used to roll around my room with period pains. I
had to have injections to relieve the throbbing. And I bled copiously. I

went to herbal doctors and to a gynaecological surgery. I would even

have danced naked if I could have been relieved from so much suffering.

The doctors told me that the lining of my womb and my fallopian tubes
were infected. My periods, which had started properly only when I was
18, stopped before I reached 40. Since then, I have had no monthly pain,
but I have been hospitalized several times with bladder infections.
The reason I came forward to report to the Council was to pour out my
resentment. I have tried to write down my experiences several times, but
because I have had to move so often, I kept losing the notes. I am telling

my life story so that nobody else will ever have to go through the same
things as me. I think we must try to get what we jusdy deserve from Japan:
a proper apology and proper compensation. There are still some who say
that what we did is shameful, but they are indeed ignorant people.

184
CHAPTER 21

Shut Away Close to Home

Yun Turi

Yun Turi was bom in 1928 in Pusan. Herfather was a fairly prosperous
builder, but her brother became mentally deranged after marrying and left

home. After her father died, the family fortunes sank and they were soon
living in poverty. In 1942, Yun went to work in the Samhwa Factory

and then in a complex that made military uniforms. In the latter place a

Japanese manager harassed her, and she looked around for an alternative

job. As she passed the railway station an officer called to her from the

police station, and when she followed him inside she was forcibly taken to

the First Pusan Comfort Station.

I Was Born Into a Prosperous Family, But...

I was born in 1928, the fourth child in a family of three boys and four
girls. My eldest brother finished secondary school, but the rest of us only
managed to finish or only started elementary school. I was sent to
Ch'onyon Elementary School in Seoul, whereas my brothers and sister
all went to schools in Pusan. I was born in Pusan and lived there until I

was eight, but then I moved to my aunt's in Seoul from where I went to
school. The reason for the move was because a fortune-teller told my
family I would not live long because I had a short upper lip, and so to
avoid misfortune I should live apart from my parents.
My father was in the building business. He didn't drink and treated his
children very well. We owned a number of paddy fields and vegetable
fields, which, rather than farm ourselves, we let out to tenants. Our
house stood in front of the Chos5n Fabric Company and was huge; it
was about 200 p'yong, 720 square metres, in size. But after my eldest

brother married, trouble home. Only a month after the mar-

set in at

riage, he became mentally disturbed and would frequently leave home.

Then my father died, and the family fortunes began to sink rapidly.
In 1941, when I was 14 years old, I went home to find all our fields
gone and the house sold. My family, my sick father, mother, two sisters

185
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

and a brother, were living together in a single small room. The day after

I returned, my father collapsed at the breakfast table and died. My moth-

er suffered from kidney trouble, and my sister married in March the same
year, leaving me as the eldest child with the responsibility of keeping
things going. I found work in a factory to support my family. In February
1942 by the lunar calendar I started work in the Samhwa Rubber
Factory. My job was to stick soles on shoes, but the glue had a strong

pungent smell which made me feel dizzy and sick all the time. So I learnt
to sew in my breaks and was moved to the sewing department.
I worked

months then moved on, to Nishimura Garments, a

there for about five
company which made military uniforms, where I could earn more
money. The workload was heavy, and we had to work until 9.00 at night
since we work by the proper knock-off time,
couldn't finish our allotted
6.00 in the evening. would be almost 10.00 p.m. before I got home.
It

By the time I had tidied up for the night, the buses had stopped running,
so I had to walk home, a young girl alone at night. One Japanese manag-
er, with evil intent, seized me three times on my solitary walks home.

When I turned the corner he would grab me and drag me to a hillside.

However, each time Korean technicians and team leaders, who worked
at the same factory and happened to be in the vicinity, came to my res-

cue. I worked there until August 1943.

The manager kept up his harassment until I felt I couldn't continue
working there. I decided to leave and went to a glove-making factory in
Ch'oryang to see if they had a vacancy. I was on my way home at about
5.00 or 6.00 p.m., and was passing the Nambu police station in front of
Pusan railway station, when a policeman on guard duty called me over.
He asked me to go inside, and I dutifully followed him in, thinking
nothing could happen because I hadn't done anything wrong. It was
some time in early September 1943. There were three or four girls of my
age already inside, and the policeman asked me to sit down. When I

asked why, he said he would find me work in a nice place and told me to
wait quiedy. The Japanese occupied Korea, so we obeyed them. At
about 11.00 p.m., a military truck arrived, and two soldiers loaded us on
board. I asked where they were taking us, and the only reply was that
they were going to give us good jobs. It was night and we didn't know
where we were.
We travelled for a litde while then got off at some unknown place.
There were five women waiting. With the five of us, ten in total slept in
a room which resembled a warehouse. The following night we boarded
a motor vessel which looked as if it belonged to the police. There were
now about 50 girls, all of whom looked to be under 20, and three sol-

diers. The boat went to Japan, but I don't know what part. We kept

186
 Yun Turn

crying as we held each other on the boat. We got off, were marched for

a while and then led into a room which again looked like a warehouse.
There were many young women already there. We stayed overnight.
The following morning, we sang a song, recited the Oath of Imperial
Subjects and were divided into groups. The 50 girls from Pusan were
divided into two groups often and two of 15, and I was in one of the
smaller groups with Sunja, who had left with me from Pusan. Sunja was
17, a year older thanme, and already had the Japanese name Kanemura
Zunko. Her home was in Kugwan in Pusan, and she said she had also
worked in a factory and been seized on her way home. My group was
the second to reboard the very same boat that had taken us to Japan. We
were still accompanied by the three soldiers. The boat travelled for some
hours and returned to Yongdo, an island just off Pusan. We were told to
wait quietly as they were going to find us good jobs. We told them we
already had jobs and pleaded with them to let us go home. Eventually,
we all ended up in the First Comfort Station in Yongdo, Pusan. It was
September 1943.

The Comfort Station

On we stayed overnight downstairs. The follow-
the day of our arrival,
ing day, a Korean told me to follow him. He was an agent for the
Japanese, who cooked for the women and watched over them. He said a
Japanese soldier had asked for me and told me to go upstairs. found a I

soldier who looked like an officer sitting, waiting. I was afraid to go into
the room and asked why he had asked for me. He shouted, saying I
shouldn't ask for reasons. I tried hard to resist him, but in the end he
managed to rape me. My vagina hurt so much that I refused to serve sol-
diers for afew days and earned myself a number of beatings. As things
progressed, some officers stayed overnight, and we had to serve soldiers
all day long except during our meal breaks. There were 45 comfort
women in the station, and all were Korean. Those from Ky5ngsang
province around Pusan made up the majority, although some came from
Ch'ungch'5ng, Cholla and Kangwon provinces in the centre, south-west
and east of Korea. The girls mostly came from farming families.
For our meals, we were generally given rice mixed with barley or the
dregs of sesame seeds, with Korean kimch'i, pickled cabbage, and
Japanese-style pickled radish for side dishes. We occasionally got bean
sprouts, but typically it was just rice and two side dishes. On Japanese
we received scraps of pork. I wore the black skirt which
public holidays,
I had worn when I was caught and tilings given to me at the station. I

was given baggy trousers and a cotton jacket with an open front, much
like a modern tracksuit top. We were never short of clothes since they

187
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

were supplied each season. For underwear we were given pants with
elastic at the waist and the legs. Our daily necessities - soap for washing

clothes, face soap, gauze, cotton wool and tooth powder - were supplied
by the station. We women pooled these things in one place and shared
them. We washed our own clothes during the quiet periods when no
soldiers were visiting.

While I was a comfort woman, I received no money, nor any tickets.

Sometimes, Yosimura, who liked me, gave me money to buy food. hid I

it. If we had money, we were allowed out to the shops on the street
I felt too ashamed to go out. The others
beside the comfort station, but
were too exhausted, and nobody hardly dared go to the street to buy
anything to eat. The comfort station building had been requisitioned
from a Korean who had formerly run it as a guest-house. There was a
red-light district nearby called Hibarimatsi, about 500 metres to the left

of Yongdo Bridge, the bridge which connected the island to Pusan prop-
er. If you passed that area and walked on, you would eventually reach the
comfort station. The building was separate from the military barracks. It

was a two-storey building with eleven rooms downstairs and twelve

upstairs. Each was 2.5 tatami mats in size. There was one room with
underfloor heating on each floor, in which medicine was kept. A person
who did odd jobs for us lived in each. My room was upstairs and had
nothing but bedding in it. There was another single-storey building,
with about 20 rooms, next door. This had been the residence of a

Korean family, and the rooms were larger, but partitioned to give many
smaller cubicles. There you could hear exacdy what was going on in
adjacent rooms.
The proprietor was Takayama, a Japanese man, but the army managed
the station's affairs. A Japanese civilian employee, Yasimada, sat in the
hall and allocated rooms when they entered. A Korean man
soldiers to
cooked and watched over us. There were three or four other soldiers
who took turns to guard us.

I served, on average, 30 to 40 men

daily. They were mosdy sailors and

soldiers posted to Pusan. When a ship

came into harbour, many sailors vis-
ited us. At weekends, many more would come than on weekdays. When
I had to serve many men, I would go out of my mind. The men would

enter my room one after another, and it was impossible to count them.
After I had served a soldier, I went downstairs to wash myself with water
mixed with creosol. Then I returned to serve the next man. To lessen the
number I served even by one, I insisted on washing each time and tried to
prolong the time I took cleaning up after each. The soldiers were sup-
posed to use condoms, but many tried to avoid them. Many of them were
nasty. It was quite common to be asked to suck their penis. Some wanted

188
 Yun Turn

to have sex while standing up. There were all sorts, and words fail me if I

try to describe much of what they did. Some brought an erotic book with
them, the 48 Rules, published in Japan, and demanded I should follow its

instructions and pose for them. I would swear at them in Korean. Even
today I still can't drink milk because it reminds me of sperm.
Some were kind. Yosimura came to see me often, and he took
soldiers

pity on my plight and did not try to sleep with me. He was a soldier. He
took my photograph and said he wanted to marry me once the war
ended. He said that he would take me to Japan after his country won the
war. I tearfully pleaded with him to help me leave the place, but he
replied that he lacked any real power. He couldn't do anything because I

was there on the orders of his superiors. He sometimes gave me sweets or

money. After Japan lost the war, he went back to Japan alone. There was
another man who often visited me. He said he had Korean parents, but
that he had been born in Japan and was now a sailor in the Imperial

Forces. His ship came to Pusan once a month, and he visited me each
time. Once I went to the harbour with him to see his ship. He, together
with several other officers, got permission to take us out and bring us
back. That was the only time I left the station. Others went out occa-
sionally with soldiers for short liaisons but, in principle, we were not
allowed out.
I never got pregnant at the station, but two others did. One died while
having an abortion. The other grew quite large with the baby, and tried
to commit suicide by hanging herself from But she was dis-
a banister.

covered by a soldier and taken away. I don't know where she ended up.
Nobody had any children at the station. When we had our monthly
periods we were given gauze in lieu of sanitary towels, which we used
whenever we weren't serving the soldiers. But we were made to serve
soldiers even while menstruating, so we had no time to keep the towels

in place. I can't describe in words how dirty and miserable the whole
thing was. When we had to continue having sex while menstruating, we
rolled the gauze up and inserted it deep into our wombs. Once I couldn't
get it out again, and became very worried. In the end I had to go to hos-
pital to have it removed.

The hospital was right next to the comfort station. It had a male doc-
tor and a nurse who gave us check-ups for venereal disease once a
month. The doctor looked into our insides, inserting his fingers. Anyone
infected with gonorrhoea was given the 'No. 606' injection. This hurt
your arm so much that you felt it would drop off your body. I was infect-
ed once. I went to the hospital for injections and took a lot of medicine.
Even after I left the station, the infection would flare up whenever I

became weak.

189
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

Many officers stayed the night. When they stayed over, in what was
euphemistically described as 'sleeping the long night', I would leave the
bedroom and stand out in the hall even in the cold winter to reduce the
hours I had to spend with them a little. Once a week, when there were
no officers staying overnight, I was able to sleep comfortably. Those who
stayed left at five the next morning. Then we could sleep better, but we
had to be up at 7.30 a.m. We had to gather in the yard, sing the Japanese
anthem, and recite the Oath of Imperial Subjects. Only then did we get
breakfast between 8.00 and 9.00 o'clock. We had a break for an hour and
then the soldiers began to number would arrive at
arrive. The largest

between 3.00 and 4.00 p.m. We were allowed 30 minutes for meals, dur-
ing which time we weren't forced to serve soldiers. Of the women in the
station, I still remember Yun Yongja, who had the Japanese name

Yamamoto Eiko, Umeko and Sunja.

A fortnight after my arrival, I tried to escape. Sunja said she knew the
area around Yongdo, so we tried to run away together. I was the one
who suggested it. To get past the two we pretended to be nice to
guards,
them and offered them cigarettes. We asked if we could go out to get
some fresh air, but they wouldn't allow it, so we offered them drinks,
after which they sat down in the hall and began to doze. We sneaked out,
pretending we were off to the toilet, and then ran. But the road outside
the station was longer than we had thought, and we were caught before
we had got more than a few steps. After that I was hit hard three times on
my fell on my belly with blood pouring from my
hip with a gun, and I

mouth. The wound on my hip left a big bruise and became infected, giv-
ing me an accompanying high fever. was unable to lie on my back, but I

even in that state I had to keep on serving soldiers. The wound festered
and became rotten. Only then did the soldiers take me to the hospital to
have the rotten part cut out. I was allowed to take a break for three days.
Then, even though it was still impossible for me to He on my back, the
soldiers started to visit me again. This was the hardest time of my con-
finement. It was too painful to serve soldiers when I couldn't even lie on
my back. All the women harboured thoughts of running away, but after

they saw me beaten and suffering, they gave up. Nobody attempted to
flee anymore.
There was no single happy moment during my life as a comfort
woman. When the soldiers didn't visit us and we were left on our own,
we talked of our homes and wept. When the Japanese soldiers did visit,

they often lined us up and took photographs. I would sing my two

favourite songs, Arirang and To My Mother. When missed my mother, I I

sang the latter song and cried. We had to sing anything in Korean in
secret, since if we were caught we would be severely reprimanded. I

190
 Yun Turn

never wrote to my family nor received a letter from them. No corre-

spondence and no were allowed. But I once heard news. I was
visits

looking out of the window when I saw a pedlar from my neighbour-

hood. I asked him about my mother, and he told me she was selling
herbs. I wept a lot when heard this.
I

I now know that, when I didn't return home that fateful day, my
mother and sister had gone round trying to find me. My sister even came
to the comfort station in case I had been taken there. Since the building

had once been a guest-house it was on the street and we could see
passers-byfrom the windows. They came by again on a day when no sol-
diers were visiting, and I saw them while I was looking out of the win-
dow. I rushed down to greet them. My mother saw me and tried to take
me back, but the soldiers pushed them both away, and we were parted
without being able to say a single word to each other. After that my
mother was so upset she became ill. There was a signboard and guards, so
they must have realized I had become a comfort woman. There was also
a second comfort station in Pusan, in Taesin ward. I hear that there were

about 40 to 50 women in that place.

Back Home, But...

We hadn't heard that Korea had been liberated, but it was very noisy
outside. We were finally able to get out to see what was happening and
learned the news. The proprietor, Takayama, and the Japanese soldiers

who had been posted in Pusan left for their country by boat. We all went
our own way. I intended to go home but found myself penniless. Before
I was taken, I had been the main bread-winner in my family, and I felt I

couldn't go back without any money. Since I had heard that my mother
was selling herbs to make a pitiful living, I thought I should get some
money before I returned to her. So I started to work as a waitress in a

restaurant right in front of the comfort station for a month, then moved
to another restaurant for a year. Only then did I return home.
My mother was out selling vegetables at a market, and my younger sis-
ter greeted me with tears in her eyes. At 6.00 in the evening my mother,
haggard and with a faded dark complexion, came home. To see her like
that broke my heart. She wept. I wept. She wept, saying that she had
thought she would never see me again. The following morning, she was
ready to go out to sell her vegetables, but I stopped her. With the money
I had, we first bought rice.

Later, I worked and earned sufficient money to bring up my brothers

and sister. My mother was ill, she suffered because of what I had been
through, and she died when I was 27. On her death bed she told me that,

because I was born at the wrong time, I had to live like this, without

191
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

getting married. She said she was sorry to leave all the responsibilities to
me. And finally she murmured that she could not close her eyes and die
without seeing me married. I have never thought of marriage, though,
and have always lived on my own. Since I was physically ruined, all I
thought of was earning money. At one time I got quite a good living
from selling American dollars and goods on the black market, by dealing
in opium, by buying and selling through somewhat illegal channels, or
by running a guest-house and the like. But I have always been swindled
and I am now penniless again.
I lived in Seoul, then in 1980 came down to Ulsan, my father's home

town. Though Pusan is where I was born, I don't go there because it

reminds me of my life as a live on my own
comfort woman. At present I

in a rented room, paying 30,000 won ($36) a month and 3,000,000 won
($3600) deposit as key money. am registered as a First Grade Poor
I

Resident and receive 10 kg of rice, one toe measuring cup of barley and
30,000 w5n every month from the local office. I also have medical insur-
ance granted under the provisions of First Class Home Care, so medical
treatment is free. My health is very bad. I suffer from high blood pres-
sure, liver trouble, a duodenal ulcer, arthritis, a water tumour on my
right side, hypochondria, a nervous heart and so on.
I want to be born as a woman once again. want to be able to study
I

more while living with my parents in a good and just society. I want to
marry well and I want to have children. When I was young, people told
me would be the first daughter-in-law in a wealthy family because of
I

my healthy, hardy complexion. But what am now? am still unmarried. I I

When wake up at night, start to ask why am sleeping alone. Why am

I I I

I living alone? Who made me feel this way? Why was Korea controlled

by another country? I can't sleep. Because I live alone without any chil-

dren, when I see families passing with their children, I feel miserable. I

ask why, if others can have children, my lot is so hard?

Japan ruined my life. How can Japan now dare to evade the issue?
They ruined my They took away my chance to get married. Could
life.

a verbal apology from them ever be good enough? I will never forget
what I have had to go through so long as I live. No, I will not be able to
forget what happened even after I die.

192
APPENDIX

Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

and Issues in Law
Etsuro Totsuka

Litigation in Japan
In December 1991, three South Korean comfort women, victims of sex-
ual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Forces, went to the Tokyo District
Court to sue the Japanese government for 20 million yen as reparation.
In April 1993, Filipino victims did the same. This provided a forum to
reveal the truth about their ordeal, which had been concealed by Japan
since theSecond World War. The mass media have now reported their
campaign, which has resulted in extensive publicity.
Despite this pressure, the prospect of these women winning their case
is remote, at least in the Japanese government's view, because of the
many loop-holes in Japanese law. Before the post-war Constitution there
was no explicit provision in law for the victims to be able to claim dam-
ages caused by any wrongdoing of the State. In addition, the Civil Code
has a 20-year statutory limitation for victims to sue the perpetrators of
torture.
The position of the Japanese government has been that the right to
claim of individual victims was not infringed, despite the provision in
various treaties inwhich the governments of the victims' country of ori-
gin relinquished all rights of the individual. However, the government is
arguing that no individual has a legitimate position to stand under inter-
national law before the courts. Furthermore, few observers are confident
that Japanese judges would be fair in their interpretation of the law as it

affects victims from foreign countries.

It is interesting, however, to note that Article 98(2) of the
Constitution allows a court to apply international law directly, regardless
of any domestic legislation. Although there was no explicit provision in
the pre-war Meiji Imperial Constitution, the authoritative interpretation
was the same even before the war. The victims argued in court that the

193
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

conduct of the Imperial Forces against them constituted crimes against

humanity.
In December 1992, an international public hearing of the victims of
sexual slavery from various countries and an international seminar
attended by five international law experts were organized in Tokyo by
the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the Organizing Committee
of the International Public Hearing. Since then, various issues of interna-
tional law have been seriously debated in the courts.

Disputes at the United Nations

Fierce debates between many non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
and Japan have been continuing at the United Nations since February

1992, when I first raised this issue at the UN Commission on Human

Rights. By August 1994,
1

about 100 interventions had been made against

Japan by about 15 NGOs and several governments in support of the vic-
tims.

These NGOs include the International Fellowship of Reconciliation

(IFOR), the World Council of Churches (WCC), the International
Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Liberation (LIB), the International
Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), the Third World Movement
Against Exploitation of Women (TWMAEW), the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and International
Educational Development (IED).
Originally, the major demand made of the Japanese government by
the NGOs was monetary reparation for the surviving victims. As Japan
had been rejecting this demand, in February 1994 the Korean victims
filed an official complaint for the punishment of the perpetrators of war
crimes committed against them. This was instantly rejected by the Tokyo
Japan has neither investigated nor punished
District Prosecutor's Office.
any perpetrator of war crimes committed against the largely Korean vic-
tims of sexual slavery. This compares with the punishments, including
which the 1 948 Dutch military tribunal served on nine
the death penalty,
Japanese army personnel who were responsible for the sexual slavery of
35 Dutch women during the war period.
This information was received by the UN Commission on Human
Pdghts in February 1994, the UN Working Group on Contemporary
2

Forms of Slavery in May 1994 and the UN Sub-Commission on3

Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in August

1994.
On 19 August 1994 the UN Sub-Commission adopted a resolution
4
(1994/5) which decided to recommend that the Special Rapporteurs on
the questions of the impunity of perpetrators of violations of human

194
 Issues in Law

rights take into consideration information on the sexual exploitation of

women and other forms of forced labour during wartime.
The Sub-Commission also entrusted an expert, Ms Linda Chavez,
who was a member of the Sub-Commission, to conduct preliminary
research on wartime slavery, including sexual slavery and systematic
rape.
5
As a result, for the first time official investigations by a UN body
have started into war crimes committed by Japan during the Second
World War. These investigations were previously considered to have
been concluded in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the
Far East (IMTFE).

Legal Issues on Impunity

1. The on the question of impunity 6 was submitted by the Special
report
Rapporteurs, Mr Guisse and Mr Joinet, to the Sub-Commission in
August 1993. In it, the issue of comfort women was not mentioned at all.
2. In August 1993, at the Sub-Commission, Japan formally acknow-

ledged the enslavement of the comfort women by the Japanese Imperial

Forces.
3. Legal analysis
(a) Customary international law
(i) Crimes against humanity
These Japanese admissions mentioned above fall within the meaning
of 'enslavement', 'deportation', 'inhumane acts' and 'persecution on
political or racial grounds' which are the elements of crimes against
humanity. I a number of the NGOs in
have no hesitation in joining
condemning Japan at the UN for the Japanese Imperial Forces' treat-
ment of the comfort women as crimes against humanity.
(ii) Slavery and the slave trade
I also believe that the conduct mentioned above violates the prohibi-
tion of slavery and the slave trade, which have long been crimes under
international customary law.
(hi) Duties ofJapan
Under the two categories of crimes against humanity and slavery and
the slave trade, the conduct of the Japanese Imperial Forces was, and
still is, punishable under international law because international law

has no time Hmitation. As a matter of natural justice, Japan is required

to take the necessary measures to punish those who were responsible
for the crimes.
(b) Multilateral treaties

(i) The ILO Convention (No. 29) Concerning Forced Labour

The Convention was adopted by the International Labour

Organization in 1930, and was ratified by Japan in 1932. The first

195
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

sentence of Article 2 totally prohibits any forced labour of women.

The Japanese government acknowledged that coercion was, in gener-

al, employed in recruitment and/or treatment of the comfort women.

Article 24 stipulates that 'the illegal exaction of forced or compul-
sory labour shall be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an
obligation on any Member ratifying this Convention to ensure that
the penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly
enforced'.
(ii) The International Convention on the Prohibition of the White
Slave Trade
The Convention was adopted in 1910 by an International Conference
held in Paris, and was acceded to by Japan in 1925. This convention is not
applicable to colonies and territories, unless notice to apply it is registered

by a Member State (Article 2). However, it is applicable to the cases of the

comfort women from Korea for the following reasons: Japanese historians
have recently discovered that the planning of the comfort women system
was conceived and supervised by the Supreme Headquarters of the
Japanese Imperial Forces and the centre of the Japanese Government,
which were based inside Japan, in Tokyo. Orders, authorizations and per-
missions relating to the comfort women were directed by these organiza-
tionsfrom mainland Japan. In many cases, the comfort women were
deported by Japanese ships, which are considered to be Japanese territory.
In many or all cases, the recruitment, enslavement, deportation, treatment
and supervision of the comfort women was carried out by personnel of
the Japanese Imperial Forces. These personnel were acting under the
jurisdiction of the Japanese Empire.
Article 1 of the Convention is explicit that those who solicited,

enticed or abducted juvenile women with the purpose of prostitution

should be punished, even if consent from the woman was obtained.
And Article 2 is explicit that those who solicited, enticed or abducted
an adult woman using deception or any means of violence, coercion,
abuse of authority or any other coercive measures should be punished.
Article 3 obliges the state parties to take necessary measures in order
to ensure punishment of the perpetrators of the crimes defined by
Articles 1 and 2, as well as relevant legislation.

Many comfort women were juveniles when they were taken. Japan
has acknowledged that almost all the comfort women were taken by
deception or by other coercive means. Therefore, one must conclude
that these obligations for punishment are still binding, even on the
current Japanese government,
(c) Legal issues
(i) Time limitation

196
 Issues in Law

The offences against the comfort women would have been punishable
under domestic law at the time of the Japanese Empire. The problem
is that Japan may argue that it is not possible for the Japanese authori-
ties to prosecute any perpetrator by applying the penal law of the time
because of the maximum 15-year time limitation under the Criminal
Procedure Act. However, there is no time limitation as regards Japan's
obligations under international law.
(ii) The possibility of retrospective legislation

Article 15(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights, to which Japan is a Party, allows 'the trial and punishment of

any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was
committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law
recognised by the community of nations'.
(d) De facto impunity
(i) Impunity
Despite its obligations under international law, Japan has failed to pun-
ish a single perpetrator of the crimes committed against the comfort
women. This failure should be condemned as one of the worst exam-
ples of de facto impunity in history,

(ii) Discrimination against Asian women

The punishment by the IMTFE and other war crime tribunals of the
Allied Forces was accepted by Japan in Article 11 of the San Francisco
Peace Treaty of 1951. Punishment for crimes against Dutch citizens
was carried out by the Dutch Military Tribunal, as mentioned above.
By contrast, Japan has never acknowledged that the very same acts

committed against the very same kind of victims constituted crimes,

when they concerned Asian, mainly Korean, victims. This can only be
described as shameless contempt for and discrimination against Asian
women.
Following a long and fierce debate between Japan and many other
governments, the June 1994 Second Asia-Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Women adopted the Jakarta Declaration for the
Advancement of Women in Asia and the Pacific, and a Plan of Action.
It included this sentence: 'Governments are asked to strongly con-
demn the systematic rape of women in situations of armed conflict and
war and to support calls for the perpetrators of such crimes to be pun-
7
ished.'

(e) Compensation on the grounds of non-punishment

The proposed UN principles on the right to reparations
(i)

The final report 8 submitted in August 1993 by Professor Theo van

Boven, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to reparation for the
victims of gross violations of human rights, is based on traditional

197
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

international law as regards state responsibility. In it, Article 2 of

the Proposed General Principles implies that a state is bound by the
obligation for compensation if the state breaches the obligation for
punishment,
(ii) Expert opinion
Professor Ian Brounlie also supports this view by citing the Janes case
from the 1920s. 9
(iii) Counter-arguments against the Japanese government's defence
Japan refused to admit any legal obligation for compensation of the
comfort women in South Korea, saying 'the claims issues between
Japan and the Republic of Korea have been resolved by an agreement,
signed on 27 June 1965, on the setdement of the problems concerning
property and claims, and on the economic co-operation between
Japan and the Republic of Korea'. The obligations, however, for fact-

finding and punishment were not resolved by Article 2 of this

Agreement, as the terms of the Agreement limit the scope to 'the

issues as regards properties, rights and profit of both countries and their
nationals (including legal persons) as well as the rights of claims
between both countries and their nationals'. Japan cannot argue that
the obligation for compensation on the ground of non-punishment
was resolved by this Agreement as the obligation for punishment,
which has no time limitation, was never blocked by the Agreement,
and has been breached since 1965.

The Need for an Expeditious Dispute Settlement

Many experienced lawyers in Japan predict that it will take the victims
between ten and 20 years to exhaust the civil law procedure and to reach
a judgement of the Supreme Court. Considering that the youngest

surviving comfort woman is 63, the Japanese government is to be invit-

ed to accept the demand for an expeditious arbitration. The Permanent
Court of Arbitration (PCA), which can offer services for cases where one
10
party is not a state, could be used in this case.

In May 1994, the UN Working

Group on Contemporary Forms of
Slavery drew the attention of both parties to the possibility of making an
agreement to settle the case before the PCA. Although ten South 11

Korean victims and the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for
Military Sexual Slavery by Japan accepted the UN recommendation in
July 1994, Japan has not yet responded.

The Power of the UN

The Japanese government argued that the UN did not have the capacity
to deal with issues which occurred before its creation. I believe,

198
 Issues in Law

however, that this issue has already been settled through various practices
ofUN bodies themselves. These practices, which were instituted by
12

UN bodies and concern slavery and slavery-like practices, such as the

sexual exploitation of women and other forms of forced labour during
13
wartime, offer a positive interpretation. The June 1993 Vienna World
Conference on Human Rights debated whether only 'current violations'
of human rights of women, such as sexual slavery in situations of armed
conflict, required a particularly effective response. Following the debate
between Japan and several other countries, the World Conference
amended the text by concensus to read 'all violations'. 14
The UN
has some precedents for its actions, which include the reso-
lutions of the Commission on the Status of Women and the ECOSOC
regarding claims made in the early 1950s for reparations by surviving
individual victims of the Nazi concentration camps injured by human
13
experiments.

The Japanese Government's Announcement in August 1994

An announcement was made by the Prime Minister, Mr Murayama, on
31 August 1994. In it, Japan refused to admit its legal responsibility

towards the victims and refused to pay monetary reparation to the vic-
tims despite the misleading impression given by some elements of the
media. Instead, it proposed that Japanese civilians, who were not respon-
sible, set up a foundation by donating money for the victims. Japan clas-
sified this money as 'gifts of atonement' to the victims. Besides this, a

ten-year, $1 billion programme was announced by Mr Murayama. This,

however, is a kind of aid programme, which will never be paid in mon-
etary terms to individual victims.
In a press release issued on 2 September 1994, the International
Commission of Jurists, one of the most internationally influential of the
NGOs, criticized these proposals.
16
The ICJ said: 'it is imperative that
Japan take immediate steps to provide full rehabilitation and restitution.
It is clear that Japan has a moral and legal obligation towards the victims.'

Notes 2. UN Doc. E/CN.4/1994/NGO/19.

1. I represented International Educational 3 - UN Doc - E/CN.4/Sub.2/ 1994/33,

Development up to February 1993. P aras 89-97.
However, at the UN, since May 1993, I
4 UN Doc E /CN.4/Sub.2/ 1994/52,
have been representing the International
page yj
Fellowship of Reconciliation in relation to
the issues of comfort women and Korean 5 - UN Doc - E/CN.4/Sub.2/ 1994/56,
forced labourers. page 124.

199
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women

6. UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1 993/6. 13. Recommendations of the 17th session

of the Working Group on Contemporary
7. Jakarta Declaration for the
Forms of Slavery (WGCFS) in its report
Advancement of Women in Asia and the
(E/CN.4/Sub.2/ 1992/34, page 19);
Pacific and the Plan of Action, VI.
Resolution of the 44th session of the Sub-
GOALS, STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
Commission (Resolution 1992/2 of 14
AND ACTION TO BE TAKEN, E. August 1993 on contemporary forms of
Protecting and promoting women's rights,
slavery, para. 18); Recommendations of the
3. Women under war and other conflict
situations, Action to be taken, (vi).
18th session of the WGCFS in its report
(E/CN.4/Sub.2/ 1993/30, page 40);
8. UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/8. Resolution of the 45th session of the Sub-
Commission (Resolution 1993/24 of 25
9. Ian Brounlie, Principles of Public
August on slavery and slavery-like practices
International Law, 4th edition, 464-5.
during wartime), and Recommendations of
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.
the 19th session of the WGCFS in its

10. A
booklet, Permanent Court of report (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/33).
Arbitration Optional Rules for Arbitration
14. The Vienna Declaration and
Disputes Between Two Parties of which only
Programme of Action, II. B. para 40. See
one is a State, isfrom the
available
the last sentence.
International Bureau of the Permanent
Court of Arbitration, The Peace Palace, 15. Plight of Survivors of Concentration
The Hague. An ad hoc agreement is possi- Camps, UN Doc. E/1956, 16 March
ble for any kind of existing disputes, 1951.
despite Article 1 (1) of the Rules, which is
16. Many newspaper articles, including the
for 'the parties to a contract' (see Article 1
Mainichi Shimbun on the morning of 6
(3) and model arbitration clauses for exist-
September 1994 (front page) and thefapan
ing disputes, page 24 of the booklet).
Times of the same day. The final report of
11. UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1 994/33, the ICJ, which was published in November
paras 101-13. 1994, was sent to the governments con-
cerned prior to its press release of 2
12. UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/
September 1994 for comments.
NGO/30.

200
D
810 True stories of the
.C698 Korean comfort women
T78
1995
55.0751 H8

DATE DUE

True stories of the

Korean comfort women

BORROWER'S NAM!

~^w\jjj^ .

World Affairs Council of No. Calif.

Library

982-2541 or 982-0430
312 Sutter St., Suite 200

San Francisco, CA 94108

OEM CO
True Stories of the Korean
Comfort Women
Between 100,000 and 200,000 women were forced into sexual
slavery by the Japanese military between the early 1930s and 1945. Yet
successive post-war Japanese governments have refused to acknow-
ledge what took place and no reparations have been made to the mainly
Korean victims. The international community, in awe of Japan's
economic influence and keen to maintain the balance of power in
Asia, has consistently failed to put pressure on the Japanese authorities
for atonement.

Recent developments in human rights and women's rights in Korea

have led the surviving comfort women to overcome traditional taboos
of chastity, defilement and shame and speak out for the first time. Their
testimonies portray the coercion, violence, abduction, rape and false
imprisonment they suffered at the hands of the Japanese military. Some
women were as young as twelve years old when their ordeal began.

The Korean comfort women are now suing the Japanese government
for20 million yen in reparation. Their powerful stories and their fight
for recognition and justice are attracting attention and support
throughout the world.

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual
Slavery by Japan was formed in 1990 to campaign for recognition and
reparation for the surviving comfort women. Keith Howard is lecturer
in Korean Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies,
Universitv of London.

ISBN 0-304-33264-X

G L O B A I

CASSELL ISSUES 9
,

780304 332649
,l l

>