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

Current Issue A “Comfort Woman” Who Has Yet to Return Home, a Memory That Has Yet to Be Mourned: The Name Bae Bong-gi

Is it still possible to remember Bae Bong-gi’s life and mourn her death beyond the adversarial structure between nations?

Kim Shin Hyun-gyung

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 Remembering Kim Hak-sun

Written by Lee Hee-ja, President of the Association for Requesting Compensation for the Pacific War Victims

Lee Hee-ja

Historical Memory Dear Hak-sun, how are you doing in heaven now?

Written by Nobukawa Mitsuko (信川美津子), Civic Activist

Nobukawa Mitsuko (信川美津子)

Culture [We Met, and Now We Are Healing Together] Interview with Ahn Hae-ryong and Ito Takashi

The photo exhibition , in which the victims of the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ (called ‘Comfort Women’) from South Korea and North Korea join together, was held from March 6 to 11 at Exhibition Hall 2 of the Insa Art Center.

Ahn Hae-ryong

Other Listening to Halmonis, Writing against Denial: A Personal and Scholarly Journey

Stories of “Comfort Women” are as insightful as they are heartbreaking. In this article, the author—an Argentine scholar—traces her journey from her first encounter with survivors and reflects on how it reshaped her personal and professional life, while also following the transnational itinerary of the “Comfort Women” movement across borders.

María del Pilar Álvarez

Historical Memory What a Former Japanese Soldier Who Served as the Recreation Section Chief Saw and Failed to Say

Aya Furuhashi sheds light on the unspoken truths that emerge from the gaps between the lines of the the memoir, Wuhan Military Logistics Base, written by Seikichi Yamada.

Aya Furuhashi (古橋綾)

Historical Memory The Story of Bae Bong-gi – “We luckily managed to survive amid that war.”

In her book which was translated into Korean in 2014, Kawata Fumiko vividly yet calmly unraveled the testimony of Bae Bong-gi, one of the Korean "Comfort Women" who was taken to Okinawa. Based on the testimonies and data collected from Okinawa residents, Japanese soldiers, as well as Bae Bong-gi, this article describes the detailed circumstances experienced by Bae Bong-gi and the “Comfort Women” surrounding the U.S. military’s air raids that took place on the Kerama Islands, Okinawa.

Kawata Fumiko (川田文子)

Historical Memory The story of Song Shin-do – “We have not the slightest idea of what a person thinks inside.”

This article is about the story of Song Shin-do remembered by Kawata Fumiko, who connected Song Shin-do to the ‘”Comfort Women” 110 Report Call Executive Committee’.

Kawata Fumiko (川田文子)

Activism Exploring the ‘Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on the Trial of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in 2000’ through the archives

The ‘Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on the Trial of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in 2000’ (hereinafter ‘Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal 2000’) was held at the Kudan Kaikan Hall in Tokyo, Japan for six days, starting with the opening ceremony on December 7, 2000, until December 12, 2000.

Editorial Team of Webzine <Kyeol>

Historical Memory Documenting Imperial Japanese Military’s Atrocities Against Women in China

While warfare continues inflicting damage and suffering in today’s world, and rape of women is still used as an instrument of armed conflicts, it is critical to bring the narratives of the “Comfort Women” into public memory.

Peipei Qiu

Culture The voices that rolled inside bodies – Emily Jungmin Yoon’s collection of poems A Cruelty Special to Our Species

Similar to what the researchers considered in the fourth collection of testimonies, the line placement and long pauses in Emily Jungmin Yoon’s poems would be the mimesis for the testifiers’ persistent pain, long silence, faltering, and hesitation that are manifested through poetic deviation.

Lee Hye-ryoung

Articles