Webzine-KYEOL │ Research Institute on Japanese Military Sexsual Slavery (RIMSS)

Culture How a Diaspora Director Talks About the “Comfort Women” Issue Through a Documentary

The documentary film , directed by Cecilia Kang, a second-generation Argentine of Korean descent, follows the journey of the protagonist, Melanie Chong, as she confronts and grows increasingly aware of the issue of the Japanese military “Comfort women.”

Cecilia Kang

Current Issue “Stop Using Women’s Bodies as Battlefields!”

Iryna Dovhan, head of SEMA Ukraine, condemns the severe violence and suffering endured by countless women during the Ukraine-Russia war, which has persisted for over a decade.

Iryna Dovhan

Historical Memory The Meaning of “Using Comfort Stations” for Japanese Soldiers

The role and function of “comfort stations” as revealed in numerous memoirs written by Japanese soldiers

Aya Furuhashi (古橋綾)

Activism The Meaning of the Berlin Statue of Peace for Us: A Global Case of Success in the Postcolonial Feminist Movement

The Berlin Statue of Peace, established in 2020, marked an important milestone in the “Comfort Women” memorial movement as the first public memorial of its kind in Europe.

Jung-Hwa Han

“Changing the Culture That Makes Violence Possible”: Asian Women’s Shelter on Advocacy, Trafficking, Public Awareness, and Global Gender Justice – Interview with Orchid Pusey (2)

Activism “Changing the Culture That Makes Violence Possible”: Interview with Orchid Pusey of Asian Women's Shelter (2)

Asian Women’s Shelter’s executive director shares how the organization began and how it works to serve “not either/or, but all” communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Orchid Pusey

Other Asking the Readers for their Opinions on the Webzine in 2019?

Webzine Readers Talk

Editorial Team of Webzine <Kyeol>

#리뷰

Historical Memory Remembering Bae Bong-gi

she said, with tears streaming down her cheeks, when a Japanese journalist suggested they go back and visit her old home together. Away for so long from her hometown in South Chungcheong Province – a place which she could now only dream about.

Park-Kim Wooki (朴金優綺)

Culture Tell us the stories of the “comfort women” issue through music

How can we remember the issue of Japanese military “comfort women”? Talking about an issue involves the processes of embracing it as one's own, facing it, and contemplating on it. In December 2019, a compilation album [Tell the Story - The Third Compilation of Songs] commemorating the Japanese military “comfort women” victims was released with the participation of about 30 musicians.

Earkey Project (The <Tell the Story> Project)

Culture Don’t dwell on anger; treat it as if it’s your current problem – Interview with Paek Sun-haeng, an activist from the Museum of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan

Written by Paek Sun-haeng, Team Manager, The Museum of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, an affiliate organization of the Daegu Citizen Forum for Halmuni

Paek Sun-haeng

Historical Memory The rooms of the surviving “Comfort Women” - Lee Ok-sun’s room

The traces and history of the surviving “Comfort Women” fill all corners of the but are most visible inside the rooms of the surviving “Comfort Women”.

Kim Dae-wol

Historical Memory How did Japan set up the “comfort stations” in Hainan Island (海南島) and mobilize “comfort women”?

The right-wingers in Japan deny any direct involvement of the Japanese government, citing that the documents proving that the Japanese Army or Japanese government had directly ordered the establishment of the “comfort stations” have never been found. They also claim that neither the Japanese army nor the Japanese government were involved in mobilizing “comfort women”, and that private businesses simply recruited “comfort women” by illegal means. Having accepted these claims, the Abe administration is contradicting what the previous Japanese government had admitted.

Choi Jong-gil

Historical Memory A Story of Constant Struggle: The “Comfort Women” Issue in North Korea

Historian Harrison C. Kim traces how discourse on “Comfort Women” in North Korea has evolved—at times in dialogue with the outside world—while developing distinct advocacy practices and perspectives.

Cheehyung Harrison Kim

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