Strange euphemism
Song Shin Do, a so-called “comfort woman” (”comfort” woman? “indentured sex slave” seems a more accurate term) who was forced to service Japanese soldiers in Korea during WWII when she was just 16, will speak to reporters and the public at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan on July 27. Her speech, and a subsequent question and answer session, will begin at 12 noon and will be in Japanese with English interpretation, according to the FCCJ.
Song is the only Korean woman living in Japan today to have publicly come forward and spoken about her tragic experience as an indentured sex slave in Korea during the war.
She sued the Japanese government for an apology and compensation and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. But in 2003, the court threw her case out because the 20-year statute of limitations for her claim had expired.
Come on Danny. Don’t you know she was a volunteer prositute?!? There was no such thing as forced sex labor during WWII. All those girls wanted it!
July 23rd, 2005 at 6:08 amI see absolutely nothing in Bloom’s post that supposes the said comfort woman to be a “volunteer”. Quit being a schmoe, Joe.
July 23rd, 2005 at 6:35 amRay… Joe was being sarcastic (thus the eye-rolling smilie). He was repeating the official Japanese explanation for “comfort women” (or at least what used to be the official explanation; I’m not sure if it still is).
And while “indentured sex slave” is more accurate than comfort women, to be indentured is to be contracted for a certain period of time. I think we should just call them what they were–sex slaves, plain and simple.
July 23rd, 2005 at 10:36 amThat’s assuming she was in fact a comfort woman. Refer to our earlier post on this issue:
http://japundit.com/archives/2005/04/19/dissension-in-the-ranks/
I have no idea what the truth is, I don’t have any idea about Ji, and no one is saying that sex slaves didn’t exist, but this aspect also should not be ignored.
July 23rd, 2005 at 11:00 amI once met an old Japanese chap, quite by chance, we were chatting in the park near the Ueno Zoo one day a few years ago, he was in the war, and I asked him about the comfort women thing, the ianfu thing, and he told me how, when he was just a 21 year old soldier in China, yes yes yes, there really were these military sex slaves, and he used them himself, he had tears in his eyes, and he said, nobody knew if they were going to die the next day in a battle, and they were young and lonely and scared in China, far from home, and there was a war on, and yes, he was comforted many times, he told me, by the comfort girls, just as young as he was, younger some were, and he said he felt ashamed in telling me all this, but it was true, and at the same time, he wanted me to know that in that situation, of being at war, and not knowing if tomorrow was your day to die, of course, you hungered for some sex. The girls gave it to him. He survived. In his 80s now. Nice old chap, spoke English very well, we still correspond by mail. Mr Monden, lives in Tokyo suburbs, married, several kids and grandkids. True story.
July 23rd, 2005 at 11:57 amAmponton- what aspect do you speak of? Self-hate?
Ji also claimed in his article posted on the Web site, “Koreans would have remained no different to beasts if it had not been for the precious lessons from advanced countries such as Japan and the U.S..”
“Many of the women who claim to be former sex slaves staying at the House of Sharing in Kwangju, Kyonggi Province, returned to Korea from China. They look too young and healthy to be credible as real sex slaves to the Japanese military,”
“I’ve even heard they get paid 30,000 won ($30) for attending a weekly protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul every Wednesday.”
http://english.ohmynews.com/TALK_BACK/bbs_view.asp?ba_code=63&bb_code=250515
Yikes. I don’t think he’s at all a reputable source- despite your suggestion, I think it should be ignored. Doubtless the Koreans take the issue a little far but I think your apparently gut reaction: “That’s assuming she was in fact a comfort woman” is a little tactless. If you’d bothered looking into the case you would have seen that in her cases, the judges had essentially acknowledged in the ruling, based on the vast amount of evidence, that she was a victim of sexual slavery but had to throw the case out.
http://iccwomen.addr.com/tokyo/summaryjudg.htm
As cliched as it might sound, please recognize she too is a person and may have suffered…. despite your prejudices towards women who claim to have been systematically raped.
July 23rd, 2005 at 10:37 pm“I think your apparently gut reaction…”
Read my comment and you will understand my reaction: “I have no idea what the truth is.”
I have no idea about Ji’s credibility, but it is entirely possible that the Korean government is adding conscripted workers to the comfort women total for its own purposes.
If *some* women in Korea at the time did not prostitute themselves for a conquering army, that would perhaps be the first time in history it did not happen in that situation.
On the one hand, you doubt Ji’s credibility, yet on the other you cite Ohmynews and the so-called Women’s International War Crimes Commission.
If you want to swallow those two particular sources whole, bon appetit!
July 24th, 2005 at 10:03 amI would not at all be suprised if some Koreans were manipulating the figures as you and Ji Man-won suggest, but I merely took offense at your off-the-cuff remarks that “she may not even be a comfort woman.” I’m not sure what would lead you to think so, even taking Ji’s views into consideration. Seeing as how you have a problem with ohmynews, according to the BBC, “the judge acknowledged that she had suffered at the hands of the military but he said the statute of limitations on the government’s legal responsibility had expired.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1048340.stm
I also cited the Ohmynews article because the Chosun Ilbo story that you posted is not telling the entire story… I am not, as you say “swallowing those two particular sources whole,” but simply trying to ensure others don’t do this exact thing with Ji’s views. I believe it’s a bit disingenous not to let your readership know about his biases.
July 24th, 2005 at 6:27 pmBitches, they liked and still want compensation.
July 25th, 2005 at 1:56 pmcomfort women did existed.
July 26th, 2005 at 10:12 pmand they were getting paid.
nothing different then prostitutes.
koreans now have world wide prostitution rings.
i don’t see why you guys doubt anything. one girl or a thousand, it’s all the same isn’t it? if they can do it to one, why can’t they do it to more. that ji man-won guy is an ass. no matter what, that lady suffered. i’m sure there are more ladies too. imagine if they were your grandmothers. how would you react? would you let that brown-noser talk about her like that?
August 8th, 2005 at 7:10 pm