On the 25th, the New York Times (NYT) published an obituary article of the late Kim Hak-soon, a human rights activist who accused the Japanese military of victims of comfort women.
It is part of the 'Overlooked' series.
This series was designed with the intention of illuminating the life of a late person through the obituary of a person who was not properly reported.
Citing an expert, the newspaper evaluated, "The activist Kim Hak-sun is one of the most courageous figures of the 20th century, and the study of the comfort women issue also began thanks to the activist Kim's 1991 interview."
However, the comfort women remarks continue to this day.
Recently, a post on Twitter by Professor Tetsuo Arima of the Department of Sociology at Waseda University has been controversial.
In all respects, the comfort women benefited from the Japanese military. But while some have pity on the comfort women, no one has pity on the Japanese soldiers. … … Totally reverse discrimination.
(October 3)
Aomiらporridge Ru面で慰安婦はNihon soldierよRi恵Matsu Re Te Itaた.でtofu慰安婦を可哀想ga Ru personはIta Te tofu Nihon soldierを可哀想ga Ru Hie ToriはIta Na Ita. ... …完全に逆差別。
Because they are not incarcerated, they are permitted to go out on holidays, so depending on the location, they will run away when they finally become unbearable. … … Sex slave fantasy.
(September 4 il)
監禁されているわけではないから,う休日外出を許可されているから,場所によっては,いよいよ我慢できないとなったら,逃げるでしょ. ... …性奴隷てファンタジー.
Professor Arima is famous in Japanese academic circles as a person who has practiced remarks about comfort women.
He even published a book titled 'All the comfort women made consensual agreements', defending Harvard University professor Mark Ramsier, who caused controversy over the distortion of the history of comfort women.
The Japanese university student group 'Moving Beyond Hate' posted an article demanding the dismissal of Professor Arima on change.org, the world's largest petition site.
Actually, there is nothing new about Professor Arima's writing.
It is a repeated claim of the far-right in Japan that the comfort women were not detained by force, and that life in the comfort stations was prosperous.
Our fact-finding team also fact-checked this part last year.
Until now, the academic community and the media have presented a plethora of data proving the forced recruitment of comfort women and poor working conditions, but the remarks do not stop there.
At this point, the fact-checking doesn't seem to be the problem.
Today, beyond the fact-checking of Professor Arima's remarks, we are going to look at the essence of the problem from a different perspective.
Excerpt discussion on 'Interrogation Report No. 49'
A video discovered in 2017 by the Seoul National University and the research team of Professor Jin-Sung Jeong of the Center for Human Rights at Seoul National University
Korea doesn't trust Japanese data, and Japan doesn't trust Korean data.
In this case, data from other countries are often used.
The most representative data is the 'Report on Interrogation of Japanese Prisoners of War No. 49' prepared in 1944 by the US Wartime Intelligence Agency (OWI) psychological warfare team.
It is a record of interrogation of 20 Korean comfort women abandoned in Burma after Japan's defeat.
The process of leaving their hometown and the experiences they experienced in other countries are recorded in detail.
It became known outside in 2014.
Report No. 49 of Interrogation of Japanese Prisoners of War prepared by the U.S. Wartime Intelligence Agency (OWI) Psychological Warfare Team in 1944
In fact, the team looked at the full text.
The report wrote that they came because of the deception of Japanese agents who came to Chosun in May 1942.
The incentives used by the Japanese agents were large amounts of money, an opportunity to pay off family debt, an easy job, and a new land, a new life in Singapore. As a result of this 'trick', many girls enlisted in overseas conscription and received an advance payment of several hundred yen.
The inducement used by these agents was plenty of money, an opportunity to pay off the family debts, easy work, and the prospect of a new life in a new land, Singapore.
On the basis of these false representations many girls enlisted for overseas duty and were rewarded with an advance of a few hundred yen.
It was also written that the comfort women contract was tied to Japanese military regulations.
This is a sentence that clearly shows 'control' by public authorities.
The Japanese right wing has argued that it is an autonomous contract between private contractors.
When they signed the contract, they were bound by Japanese military regulations and were forced to work in the comfort stations for a period of six months to a year, depending on the debt they owed to the household.
The contract they signed bound them to Army regulations and to work for the "house master" for a period of from six months to a year depending on the family debt for which they were advanced.
He wrote that exploitation by pimps was commonplace.
When pimps signed contracts with girls, they received 50 to 60 percent of the girls' gross income, depending on how much they owe them. Many pimps have made life very difficult for the girls by charging high prices for food and other items.
The "house master" received fifty to sixty per cent of the girls' gross earnings depending on how much of a debt each girl had incurred when she signed her contract.
Many "masters" made life very difficult for the girls by charging them high prices for food and other articles.
Anti-Korean protests by Japanese rightists in Osaka in 2019
However, Japanese right wingers are starting to use this report as data to support their logic. Because of the following passages included in the report:
The place they lived in was on the more luxurious side compared to the rest of Burma. They prospered because food and ration restrictions were not severe and they had enough money to buy what they wanted.
They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places. They lived well because their food and material was not heavily rationed and they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles.
The girls were granted the privilege of refusing guests. This was often done when the person was too drunk.
The girls were allowed the prerogative of refusing a customer. This was often done if the person were too drunk.
In late 1943, the Army issued an order that some girls who had paid off their debts could go home. Therefore, some girls were able to return to Korea.
In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thus allowed to return to Korea.
It is said that the comfort women victims were able to return to their homes when they paid off their debts and were financially prosperous.
This is in line with Professor Arima's argument.
Some conservative media in Korea also reported that "the public opinion is being swayed because it is known that an important part of the report (that the comfort women had a prosperous life) was omitted."
A video discovered in 2017 by the Seoul National University and the research team of Professor Jin-Sung Jeong of the Center for Human Rights at Seoul National University
Then, this time, claims that denied the credibility of the report came out in Korea.
Some media outlets have started to downplay the report as "prejudiced" and "unbelievable."
A media outlet traced the person being questioned at the time, and concluded that it was a 'false report'.
It raised suspicions that a Japanese pimp couple controlled the comfort women and actively intervened in the interrogation process.
'Excerpt discussion' continued with content beneficial to each other with a single material.
How should we view this?
Comfort Women Victims and Victims
We have been obsessed with the 'victimity' of comfort women victims.
In other words, the comfort women victims had to be 'extremely' miserable.
If there was any material that refutes that misery even a little - as in the case of Interrogation Report No. 49 - we took the easy way of denying the material itself.
In his 1972 book, The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, American progressive historian George Lawick received attention for offering a different perspective on the black slave community.
Unlike the progressive historians of the time, who tried to find out how miserable the daily lives of black slaves were, Lawwick focused on how slaves formed families and enjoyed culture even in the harsh environment of slavery.
It must have been an attempt to give 'routineness' to black slaves who were 'considered only miserable' in progressive academic circles, and to liberate them from 'victimism' that victims should always be miserable.
(Rawwick never used the term ‘victimity’.)
A family of slaves who worked in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA. The main character in the photo lives in a family of five generations, and it is a photograph that is often cited in studies of slave families in the United States. Source: U.S. Library of Congress
In other words, when white supremacists list several examples saying that 'the life of black slaves wasn't always miserable,' Lawwick said, 'No, it's normal where people live, and even if it brings people who lived well in Africa and makes them slaves, Is there any justification for doing so?” and provided a logic to counter it. Because slaves are people too, it is history that they struggled to overcome their misery in the face of misery, and it was also history that the owners gave certain benefits to black slaves for their own benefit and securing a stable labor force. At that time, black slaves were a valuable 'property' in their own right.
The issue of comfort women victims seems to be similar. The comfort women victims must also have worked hard not to let go of their lives. You must have found a reason to be happy somehow to overcome your misery. Because this is human nature. Furthermore, the Japanese military would have used the comfort women's continued health care or basic benefits as a bait for the efficiency of labor in the comfort stations. Even so, it goes without saying that the barbarism of the Japanese army at the time cannot be defended.
Even if there is evidence that the life of the comfort women was not always miserable, it cannot be an argument to justify the inhumanity of the comfort station system and the suffering of the comfort women victims. In other words, the trajectory of the life of a comfort woman victim does not have to be as tragic as we think, and no one can force it. What is clear is that the comfort women victims are also human 'individuals' who can be faithful to their instincts.
A video discovered in 2017 by the Seoul National University and the research team of Professor Jin-Sung Jeong of the Center for Human Rights at Seoul National University
Our obsession with being a victim is eventually returning to us as a boomerang. The way in which a de facto 'discussion' over a document shifts the center of gravity to the authenticity of the document is beneficial to those seeking to conceal the truth as a result. Because those who try to hide the truth always want the truth to be embroiled in controversy over its authenticity. This is because even the fact that the truth rises on the board of controversy can tarnish the purity of the truth.
This is why the more we cling to 'victimity', the wider the scope of the attacks of the far-leftists. So the comfort women remarks are repeated over and over again.
In the end, although the contents of the interrogation report No. 49 differ from our expectations regarding working conditions, it is judged to be meaningful data in that it contains statements related to the compulsion of recruitment and melts the testimony that the military intervened. do. Even the interrogation party describes the comfort women victims as "not different from prostitutes" and clearly writes down the coercive nature of women while exposing a distorted view of women and a dominant view of history.
It is fortunate that the recent Interrogation Report No. 49 is again drawing attention. <Korean Modern History 1945-1950 Read as a Secret American Document> published in August, reinterprets its meaning through the story of the victim who appeared in the report. When introducing the interrogation report, the Seoul Archives also introduced the interrogation report, saying, "Starting with the process of mobilization of Korean comfort women, it contains very detailed information, It is being evaluated as a very important material.”
(Interns: Minseon Kwon, Haeyeon Song)