By Julie Kim, Korea Kent Foreign School, Grade 10
May 31, 2011
In a world where society is entirely more concerned with the future than the past, history seems like the least important issue in our lives. However, it isn’t to the “halmonis” in the House of Sharing. A group of students from Gwangju High School, Korea Kent Foreign School’s Spanish class, visited the eight surviving women who were forced to participate in sexual slavery as comfort women during the time of Japanese colonization.
These “halmonis” have been making a strenuous effort in raising awareness of their past and preventing the younger generation from remaining ignorant of such significant events in history. “We must record these things that were forced upon us,” said Hak Soon Kim, the first woman to speak about her experience as a survivor of sexual slavery.
After a brief introduction of the House of Sharing, the students and teachers were taken to the museum. Upon learning that many of the girls who were victims of Japan’s systematic rape were told that they would be given job opportunities and even receive education, the students were able to understand what kind of circumstances Korean women were put under.
“Korea was going through a lot back then, and women were probably the last on people’s list. Considering their situation, I think it was understandable that they accepted these offers,” said Sarah Lee, a sophomore from KKFS.
The students were also taken to the Room of Experience, a recreation of the comfort women’s room, and learned about their daily life at the comfort stations. They were taught of their daily beatings, starvation, torture, forced abortions, inhumane treatment, and even the fact that all of them were forced to serve 10-30 men per day.
“It’s terrible that at one point in history, women had to endure such a large degree of violence and humiliation. Many of the girls were about the same age as all of us, but I can’t imagine going through the same experiences,” said Seung Joo Lee, a 17-year-old Korean student.
After lunch, the students discussed what they felt throughout the tour. Many agreed that the atrocities that Japan committed against Korean women should be officially admitted and disclosed. Min Joo Song, another 17-year-old Korean student, said, “Even Korean textbooks don’t dive deep into the topic about comfort women. It’s a sensitive issue for everyone, and people are busy covering up each other’s mistakes so that they wouldn’t offend anyone. But this is something that both Koreans and Japanese should be aware of. It’s not so that we could condemn the Japanese for their wrongdoings, but so that everyone could make sure that this doesn’t happen again to anyone in anywhere around the world.”
Sun Ah Lee, the students’ tour guide, agreed and added that they could help the “halmonis” by attending the weekly Wednesday protest at the Japanese embassy or donating money to the cause. She said, “The Wednesday protests started in 1992, and the “halmonis” have been continuing it until today. They’ve been asking the Japanese government to make an official apology and educate their students of Japan’s military sexual slavery, but none of these things have been granted.” She also added, “Many of the halmonis don’t have a lot of time left, so any help or support you give would be greatly appreciated by them.”
At the end of the day, the students went to the house where all the “halmonis” stayed and had a short conversation with one of them. “It was a long trip from Seoul, but it was definitely worth it. The “halmonis” were wonderful and what I learned today was more than historical events in the past. I’m looking forward to coming back again,” said Kathryn Baik, a junior from KKFS.
