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

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

“Comfort Girls”: The Forgotten Tragedy of Child Exploitation

The “Comfort Women” system was not only a violation of women’s rights, but also a grave infringement of children’s rights. In this article, Professor Ñusta Carranza Ko examines how imperial Japanese authorities systematically violated the rights of underage girls, in direct contravention of international conventions of the time, reframing the issue as a case of child rights violations.

Ñusta Carranza Ko

Images of “Comfort Women” Survivors at the Time of Their Rescue by Allied Force, as Seen in a Chinese Magazine

A report on the “Comfort Women” survivors rescued by the Allied Forces, as featured in the Chinese magazine “Da Zhan Hua Ji,” published just beforethe end of World War Ⅱ.

Liu Guangjian (刘广建)

[사진 3] 청팍옌 박사 가족이 소유했던 자란 주롱 케칠의 상가 건물은 일부가 과거 위안소로 사용되었다는 이유로 처음으로 보존 대상으로 선정됐다. (사진 제공:케빈 블랙번)

Characteristics of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery in Singapore

Until 2022, when the book The Comfort Women of Singapore in History and Memory was published, it was widely thought in Singapore that there were no Singaporean "Comfort Women" who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese military.

Kevin Blackburn

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

Confidential Documents of Thailand’s Supreme Command - the Japanese Military “Comfort Stations” existed in Thailand

Patporn Phoothong

얀 루프-오헤른 Jan Ruff-O' Herne, 『나는 일본군 성노예였다: 네덜란드 여성이 증언하는 일본군 ‘위안소’』 (삼천리, 2018)

I was a sex slave for the Japanese Army: The Japanese Army's 'comfort stations' testified by a Dutch woman

Written by Choi Jae-in (The translator of 『Fifty Years of Silence』 by Jan Ruff O'Herne)

Choi Jae-in

Thoughts on the issue of sexual violence of the Japanese military in China <Part 1> - Issues raised by the ‘comfort woman’ victims of the Japanese military in China

Issues raised by the ‘comfort woman’ victims of the Japanese military in China Many people recall the image of an innocent girl who was forcibly taken away by the Japanese military and brutally assaulted. China, at that time a battlefield, was one of the places where such damaging incidents frequently occurred. The Japanese military continuously used brutal violence against Chinese women during the war. They openly took away women to commit sexual abuse across the battlegrounds, occupied areas, as well as urban and rural areas.

Lee Sun-yi

Thoughts on the issue of the sexual violence of the Japanese military in China <Part 3> - ‘Comfort women’ of the Japanese military in China: Who can ask for forgiveness and reconciliation?

Written by Lee Sun-yi, a research professor at KyungHee University Institute of Humanities

Lee Sun-yi

Historical Memory