I investigated how the subject of comfort women shapes and is shaped by the relationship between Japan and Korea. The differing perspectives on the historical issue of comfort women epitomizes tensions between the two countries, and that a statue of a comfort woman placed next to the Japanese embassy in Korea recently made international news shows that this question is still very relevant. It’s also important to investigate this issue in purely historical terms because it’s intrinsically valuable to understand and recognize historical atrocities.
I think that using former comfort women for political objectives often steals or trivializes their voices, and that the issue of comfort women right now isn’t so much about the atrocities themselves as it is about both countries scars left from foreign occupation. To remember and acknowledge their experiences, it’s much more important to listen directly to the testimonies of of the victims. Victim testimonials are important because even if they aren’t factually correct, if they are uninfluenced by external forces they represent the human truth of what occurred in an atrocity, and when we consider horrible crimes perpetrated by governments we should remember what happens to the people.
Click on the sections at the top of the page to navigate my research. I outline the truth of what happened in The Facts, how the issue has shaped the Japanese perspective in The Japanese Perspective, how the issue has shaped the Korean perspective in The Korean Perspective, and how the current conflict has shaped views on the issue in Distorting Atrocities. There are two supplemental pages, Testimonies and Pictures, and an Annotated Bibliography listing my important sources and how I used them.
I think that using former comfort women for political objectives often steals or trivializes their voices, and that the issue of comfort women right now isn’t so much about the atrocities themselves as it is about both countries scars left from foreign occupation. To remember and acknowledge their experiences, it’s much more important to listen directly to the testimonies of of the victims. Victim testimonials are important because even if they aren’t factually correct, if they are uninfluenced by external forces they represent the human truth of what occurred in an atrocity, and when we consider horrible crimes perpetrated by governments we should remember what happens to the people.
Click on the sections at the top of the page to navigate my research. I outline the truth of what happened in The Facts, how the issue has shaped the Japanese perspective in The Japanese Perspective, how the issue has shaped the Korean perspective in The Korean Perspective, and how the current conflict has shaped views on the issue in Distorting Atrocities. There are two supplemental pages, Testimonies and Pictures, and an Annotated Bibliography listing my important sources and how I used them.