The Words of Dae Mo Nim (Mrs. Hyo Nam Kim - Hoon Mo Nim) from 2013
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The Words of Dae Mo Nim (Mrs. Hyo Nam Kim - Hoon Mo Nim) from 2013 |
At
a weekly demonstration opposite the Japanese embassy in Seoul, as the
media photograph and film former comfort women, a reporter works
beside them.
To understand the delicate and explosive nature of an international issue that some of our 7,000 Japanese members living in Korea (roughly 6,700 women, 300 men) are contending with, some background information is necessary. This is especially so because issues of this type are often misrepresented in the popular press.
Because China deals in a particularly blunt manner with an aspect of issues that have crippled real cooperation between Korea and Japan, it is a good place to begin with background on these matters.
Part of China's efforts to erase all memory of the 1989 student Democracy Movement has been a massive campaign of "reeducation." Through museums, prolific, massive monuments and school instruction, the government is indoctrinating the Chinese people with the core theme "Never Forget the Century of Humiliation.' This century generally refers to the time from the outset of the First Opium War (1839-1842) to the end of World War II in 1945.
This was a time when China had decrepit governments. These were generally corrupt and inward looking. In their insularity, China's leaders were unprepared for aggressive intervention from European nations, including Germany and Russia, and failed to prepare adequate defenses against rapidly modernizing and increasingly militaristic Japan. In the days when
Communists were vying for power (pre-1949) they strongly condemned those Chinese governments, but nowadays they are emphasizing that during those years -- as a nation, as a unified race -- China experienced humiliation at the hands of foreign bullies. Toward its domestic population, China's government has taken a firmer "us against foreigners" stance since it ordered its army to kill demonstrators advocating a "foreign" concept, democracy in 1989. It is important to note that the bullying and the humiliation of China by foreign powers are historical facts but that the emphasis of those facts in relation to present circumstances is politics, applied either domestically or internationally.
At a comparable low point in Korea's history, when the nation's rulers were reclusive and similarly unprepared for military action by expansionist neighbors, Japan invaded, annexed and proceeded to occupy Korea. In Korea, too, the people experienced deep personally-felt national humiliation. Middle-aged Koreans recall that the anniversary of their annexation by Japan was known for decades in Korea as National Humiliation Day. In Korea's case, despite their monarchical government's impotence, near the time of annexation, private citizens armed themselves, organized and fought to repel the Japanese occupiers. Unfortunately, Japan's military power was overwhelming.
Being up against a foe that is much too powerful for one to defeat is an ingredient of humiliation. "In humiliation," according to Clark McCauley, an authority on ethnopolitical conflict, "anger has to be suppressed because of [the power] imbalance. The victim is not able to respond with anger or vengeance."
It requires great maturity for those that have inhaled humiliation not to exhale rage and a desire for vengeance. Some victims of humiliation seem to think that humiliating the perpetrator in the same way is the only way to rid themselves of their own sense of shame.
Political leaders the world over have taken advantage of this base emotion to influence their own citizens. This was the case in "the soccer war," between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969, sparked by World Cup qualifying matches; in Balkan conflicts related to Yugoslavia's disintegration, and in the Arab -- Israeli conflict, among others.
Korea
allows lone, silent demonstrators without a permit in front of the
National Assembly Building. Another person can hand out pamphlets and
speak, but must stay at least ten meters away from the solo
demonstrator.
Politicians in Korea and Japan use the lowest points of their shared history to attack and counterattack each other. When political figures from these countries want to curry favor with nationalists or to deflect public attention from domestic affairs, a Japanese leader might visit Yasukuni Shrine, while his Korean counterpart might visit Dokdo or attend a demonstration by former "comfort women."
Among the flash point issues that exist between Korea and Japan, none is quite as sensitive or intractable as "comfort women," which is a translation of the euphemism employed by the Japanese military for the sex workers serving Japanese soldiers during the years that Japan was at war, 1931-1945. "Comfort station," was their euphemism for the buildings where these women worked.
The loudest groups in Japan speaking out on this issue, the right-wing extremists, imply that these women were all hired prostitutes. The most vociferous groups in Korea, left- wing activists generally allied with the Korean Council for
Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (in short, the Korean Council), say the women were all kidnapped and turned into sex slaves. In both countries, an apparent majority of bystanders unquestioningly accept the view of those speaking out with the most force. Thus, a great noise is being made about comfort women.
Dr. Chunghee Sarah Soh, a professor of anthropology at San Francisco State University, applied her social scientific skills to researching this issue from 1995 until 2006. The results of her studies were published as a book in 2008. A Korean who is fluent in Japanese and English, Soh studied documents in the national archives of the United States and Japan (which governed Korea from 1910-1945) conducted numerous interviews and read the comfort women's personal life stories. As she put it, "I attempt to make an objective analysis of a controversial issue, so this study will probably offend everyone who takes sides in the sexual and identity politics of the opposing camps. Nevertheless, my study findings oblige me to take a critical stance against the simplified characterizations of Japan's military comfort stations as either 'military brothels' or 'rape stations."
As evidence of her extremely disciplined adherence to facts and lack of blind advocacy, one figure that Soh likely offended is a retired female professor of sociology that Soh presented in an appendix as a caring mentor though in the book proper she unsparingly assessed her mentor's role in the Korean Council, an organization this woman cofounded. It is an organization that has both cared for and used the aged former sex workers. Under the pretext of seeking justice and redress (monetary compensation) for these women, it has been instrumental in disseminating widely an inaccurate portrayal of the complex situation mainly (or so it seems) as a means of retaliation against Japan, to vent rage and return humiliation.
The sexual use of destitute women during wartime came on the basis of the patriarchal use and abuse of women that has existed in Korea and Japan to some degree before the war and deep into history. It is not that the "paradigmatic story" (Soh's term) of virgin women kidnapped from loving homes and forced to toil in sexual slavery never happened; but these were a minority among a great variety of experiences. The women's own personal accounts often describe conditions of catastrophic poverty, with sometimes abusive fathers and unsympathetic mothers. Some fathers sold their daughters, as still happens today in impoverished parts of the world.
During the 1920s-1940s, a phenomenon developed in China, Japan and Korea around the concept of the "New Woman." Into these Confucian cultures came a feminine vision that was the fundamental opposite of a girls' own long-suffering mothers, who might be seen daily in traditional clothing, long hair flowing down their backs as they squatted by the village creek washing the family clothing. A New Woman had her hair cut short and wore western clothing, colorful dresses and modem shoes. Most of all, she was educated, employed and independent. A New Woman exuded confidence. Many of us with daughters have seen a similar sense of personal agency blossom in them. This vision, however, beckoned with such allure in those days that poor, young Korean women left home sometimes without their parents' permission. Just as in modem times, some were duped into accepting employment far away only to be cruelly taken advantage of once they reached their destination. Others openly stated that they had worked in the "adult entertainment industry" before working under the Japanese Army. Oddly enough, some women found value in the work. They had patriotic feelings, or experienced moments of kindness from soldiers that were absent in their upbringing. Some even fell in love.
Three types of comfort stations existed. Some were civilian enterprises under contract to the Japanese military. Not uncommonly, the people involved in recruiting the women (sometimes deceptively) and running these establishments were Korean men or women. Others were set up and run by the Japanese Imperial Army itself. These first two would have been far from war zones. The last were makeshift brothels thrown together on or near battlefields.
These were unauthorized hovels set up by the frontline soldiers themselves. These, Soh found, were generally the places where the horrific experiences of kidnapping and repeated rape occurred.
Soh also sought to demonstrate that government sanctioned misuse of women was not limited to the Japanese Imperial Army. The women that Korea's Joseon Dynasty kings supplied to their warriors were described in much the same way as were the comfort women working under the Japanese military, who were referred to as "gifts from the emperor." The Korean Army used "special comfort women" during the Korean War. In impoverished times, some South Korean government officials candidly praised the contribution of sex workers to the national economy. A "comfort system" was also developed for (and utilized by) the U. S. Army during America's 1945-1952 occupation of Japan. Even today, the sex industry is a key economic component of the communities of merchants and service providers that surround U. S. military installations in Korea.
A
Korean signs a petition that expresses support for harmonious Korean
-- Japanese relations.
Against this background, on May 30, Kook Jin nim in asked a favor of Mrs. Yasue Erikawa, who oversees all foreign members living in Korea, and works particularly closely with Japanese members blessed to Koreans. "Kook Jin nim had been giving Strong Korea speeches and recommending that a security alliance be made between Japan and Korea," Mrs. Erikawa explained, "but some Korean congressmen were against having an alliance because they said we have not yet solved the comfort women issue. He asked me to organize a movement with the Japanese missionaries to apologize for the comfort women's suffering. So the motivation came from Kook Jin nim."
Mrs. Erikawa has years of experiences taking on social issues often because of Father's direct instruction to her. In the early 1970s, he told her to raise awareness about the plight of six thousand Japanese women who had followed Korean husbands to North Korea. These women's emotional letters home were published as the book, "If I Had Wings Like a Bird, I Would Fly Across the Sea". She still has an office in Japan dealing with this issue.
"When True Father suggested a mission for me," she said, "I would start immediately, so the day after speaking to Kook Jin nim, I began to set up our organization. I first decided on the organization's name." (In English the name is Advocates of Korean -- Japanese Amity and Reconciliation of Historical Issues.) "However," she continued, "I didn't understand this issue at first so I did a lot of studying. When I thought about where to hold demonstrations, since the apology was to be to the Korean people, the National Assembly [Korea's parliament] represents the people, so the National Assembly Building is best."
As it happens, demonstrations aren't allowed in front of the National Assembly but are held about a half-block away on the street that leads directly to the National Assembly gate; thus, demonstrators on the side of this street do not face the Korea's parliament building. Still, many National Assembly members are driven past the spot on their way to their offices and wealthy and influential people live in the vicinity.
On June 29, the women made their first appearance. A press release had gone out and many news crews came, more than anyone expected. KBS, the Korean Broadcasting System, put the women on their 9 Pm news program. Women in kimono or in their group's T-shirts sang a Korean and then a Japanese song, both about loving one's hometown. They then chanted, "We apologize. We apologize. We apologize. Let's make a good relationship" and bowed in unison. Mrs. Erikawa gave a speech, expanding on what they had chanted, after which reporters interviewed her. They had come to publicly apologize on behalf of their nation, but their aim was a security alliance as a step toward reconciliation. A reporter asked Mrs. Erikawa on camera, "What do you think of a military alliance between Korea and Japan?" To which she replied, "I think that's a great idea."
Kimonos
are a rare site in Korea, but on August 14, more than a thousand
Japanese women, some in kimono, assembled in thirteen locations to
apologize for past injustices done to the Korean people.
Despite the media response, the first few days were rough. One difficulty was with their organization's name. It had a word in it that meant "unite" but when pronounced in a slightly different way, sounded like a term that Koreans associate with their erstwhile Japanese colonizers. One old woman that had been a history teacher dogged their first few days, shouting at them. Others, too, openly asked if they were advocating Japanese dominance. Policemen kept these people at bay, but it was awkward until they changed that word in their Korean name. To top it off, the National Assembly rejected the military alliance on the day of their first demonstration. The relationship between the countries is so fraught that top Japanese and Korean officials had been negotiating in utter secrecy.
In fact, Japan's constitution, written by American government officials during their occupation of Japan, prevents Japan from entering into military alliances. As an initial step, however, through the secret negotiations, a tentative agreement had been reached to exchange sensitive security information about North Korea and China. This would have enhanced security in region and would have helped improve cooperation between the providential Adam and Eve nations. Unfortunately, the secrecy backfired. If the negotiations had not been secret, the government could have carefully explained to the public how important military cooperation with Japan is. In the end, President Myung-bak Lee's own party members (in an election year) expected voters to become angry about this "friendly" gesture toward Japan. Thus, even Lee's own party members voted no.
These hardy Japanese women did not give up. In the ensuing days, relations between Korea and Japan deteriorated, but in Korea, these Japanese demonstrators were being ever more warmly received. People came up to sign a petition that states they desire to have better relations between the two countries. Some people would walk past and come back a few minutes later, sign the paper and say, I saw you on television last night. Some said, Your government should apologize, not you! While others said, Your government has already apologized, so this issue is finished. Some National Assembly members also signed the petition and gave words of encouragement, such as, You are doing good work. This is important.
Advocates of Korean -- Japanese Amity and Reconciliation of Historical Issues consider June 29 their foundation. The growth stage would play itself out in front of the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Korea. "It felt like a war zone."
"While carrying out the demonstrations, we studied in more detail about these comfort women, and the Korean Council behind them," Mrs. Erikawa said. "The group has a very Leftist theory. It is very close to North Korea and interacts with China. On the surface they are saying they are trying to help the ex- comfort women, but behind that, they are trying to create difficulty between Korea and Japan. While demonstrating in front of the National Assembly, I thought we should not just do it there, we should also do it in front of the Japanese embassy."
Every Wednesday throughout the year, regardless of the weather conditions, a few of the aged ex-comfort women demonstrate outside the Japanese embassy. Some former comfort women live independently and have no interest in protesting. Others may have blended back into society after the war, never revealing their past.
As if sensing that Japanese embassy officials were looking forward to the day when the last protesting comfort woman has died, in December 2011, marking their 1,000th Wednesday, a bronze statue of a young girl in Korean garb sitting on a bench was installed across the street from the Japanese embassy. The girl in the statue is said to represent all the comfort women's innocent youth.
On May 5, 2012, the Korean Council opened a War and Women's Rights Museum in Seoul. On June 17, Nobiyuki Suzuki, a right-wing Japanese fanatic, drove a ninety-centimeter stake into the ground near the entrance to the museum. In Japanese and Korean, on the stake (in black letters against a glossy white background) is the message, "Takeshima is Japanese territory." A red dot against the white represents the Japanese flag. The following day, he slipped past unwary policemen and secured an identical stake with wire to the statue of the youthful comfort woman.
Suzuki returned to Japan without being apprehended. Barred forever from entering Korea, he began selling stakes to others so that they could plant them in Korea in his place.
On July 9, an aging antiques dealer named Kim used a white delivery truck with a professionally painted Korean flag on the side and the message "Dokdo is our territory" to ram the gate of the Japanese embassy.
Amidst such turmoil and furor, on July 12, police buses with metal screening outside all the windows were parked around the embassy. Policemen, some in riot gear carrying large Plexiglas shields, moved about the area. Many news crews were on hand. To this scene arrived Mrs. Erikawa and her troop of Japanese women.
"Japan and Korea should make the closest relationship, but the situation was more like war," she said. "The situation was difficult. Including solo demonstrations, we had done 127. Korean patriots, who love Korea, say we are doing a very good job. Many people encourage us. That day at the embassy, I became somehow spiritual. Tears... tears, so many tears... I felt God's heart.
We plan to send Prime Minister Noda a letter and one to Ambassador Muto asking him to send it to the prime minister. We couldn't present it directly to the embassy; so we will send it later by mail. We have been apologizing to the Korean people; on the other hand we asked the Japanese, What should we do?
Another milestone activity took place in Seoul's Press Center, where Mr. Hashimoto spoke about his ten-year tradition of visiting the Korean ex-comfort women.
On August 14, the day before Korea celebrates Liberation Day, Japan's defeat in World War II, in thirteen locations across Korea, a total of 1,200 women apologized for the suffering that Koreans endured. In some locations, a hundred women were chanting their apology and bowing together. In Seoul, women demonstrated in front of City Hall, and then marched to a park with ties to Korea's 1919 Independence Movement and demonstrated again.
This was quite sensational and attracted much attention. Dramatic photographs of the women bowing were widely distributed in traditional media and posted on the internet. They consider this their completion stage, which takes them to the world level.
Though their ultimate aim is not yet in reach, these women will not surrender. To date, they've held more than 160 demonstrations including the ones done solo. By year's end, they will have reached or exceeded 180. The fight goes on.