Ewha Womans University Korean Women’s Institute holds an academic conference on “Women and Peace”
- Date2023.02.01
- 6033
Feminist questions raised by the research on “comfort women” in the post-testimony era
We're all responsible for responding to the reality of military comfort stations that has been repeatedly testified by “comfort women”
Ewha Womans University Korean Women’s Institute (Director Kim Eun-sil) held a conference titled "Women and Peace" under the theme of "feminist questions raised by the research on “comfort women” in the post-testimony era” at ECC B4 Isambong Hall at 1 p.m. on Jan 26 (Thu).
Regarding the Japanese military's "comfort women," Korean society, civil groups, and feminist activists have long raised questions, demanding the truth and apologies from Japan, but it has still not been resolved. Based on the results of the Japanese military's "comfort women" movement and research over the past 30 years, the conference was designed to review the feminist questions raised in the post-testimony era as testifiers are gradually passing away, and to explore new feminist issues that should be addressed in the issue of violence against women.
The conference opened with a keynote lecture by Kim Eun-sil, head of the Korean Women's Institute, on the theme of “feminist questions about Japanese military ‘comfort women.’” Director Kim pointed out how difficult it is to raise feminine questions even though the discussion of the Japanese military "comfort women" is about women, questioning the reality of the military comfort stations where the Japanese military "comfort women" have repeatedly testified. She stressed that not only are we all responsible for responding to the testimony of the Japanese military "comfort women,” but we also need a new transitional framework of awareness that challenges the axis of Asian civilization such as Korea and Japan based on the memories and testimonies of Japanese military "comfort women.” Director Kim said, "Not only should wartime sexual violence be included in the war research itself, but more discussions and research are needed so that the discussion of the Japanese military ‘comfort women’ can be established as a global historical issue.”
Following the keynote speech, in the first part of the conference, "Feminist Reflection on the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ Research" hosted by Professor Kim Sun-hye of the Department of Women’s Studies, the visiting Professor Jeong Hee-jin of the Graduate School of Policy Science gave a presentation titled "Political Poverty of the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ Research,” followed by the presentation by Park Jung-ae’, a researcher at the Northeast Asian History Foundation, "Comparison of the Japanese military 'Japanese Military Sexual Slavery' System and the Public Prostitute System: Beyond the Discussion on Forced Mobilization and Sexual Slavery," and Min Ga-young’s presentation, a professor at Seoul Women's University's College of Liberal Arts, "Between Human Rights and Victim Hegemony.” The discussion on these presentations was led by Lee Hun-mi, head of the academic planning team at the Japanese Military "Comfort Women" Research Institute.
In the second part, "New Agenda of the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ Research” hosted by Heo Yoon, a professor of Korean literature at Pukyong National University, Kim Joo-hee, a professor at Chami Risa College at Deokseong Women's University, started with "Price of Violence: Military Tickets, Tickets, Cryptocurrency, and Women's Transactions,” followed by the presentation by Kim Mi-sun, a research professor at the Korea Women's Research Institute, "The death of 'mother' in wartime from the perspective of female gender roles and labor: Focusing on the Nogeun-ri incident during the Korean War,” and presentation by Park Jung-mi, a sociology professor at Chungbuk National University, "Victory of Patriots Without a Nation: Activities, Research, and National Compensation Lawsuit related to the U.S. Military's ‘Comfort Women.’” Kim Hyun-kyung, a professor at Seoul Women's University's College of Liberal Arts, was in charge of the discussion on these three presentations, and all participants took part in the comprehensive discussion of the third part of the conference.
The conference was an opportunity to better reveal the location and context of the Japanese military’s “comfort women” discussions by discussing in-depth various issues related to war, women, and violence while focusing on the Japanese military’s “comfort women” discussions. Participants said, "It was meaningful to find a way forward for Japanese military’s “comfort women” research, which is the main agenda of women's studies,” adding, “Deeper and diverse discussions on Japanese military’s “comfort women” research are required in the future.” In addition, they all agreed that as these Japanese military’s “comfort women” studies have presented new agendas, the feminist intellectual community, which discusses and studies women, should open an active forum to deepen discussions on the Japanese military’s “comfort women.”