Page 14 - myeong_shin_ebook_2

Society

Comfort Women -

Let's Not Just Know the Name

The term 'comfort women'
refers to women who had been
subjected to sexual slavery by
the Japanese military in order to
satiate1) the sexual desire of the
Japanese military during World
War Ⅱ. These comfort women
were forcibly dragged to the
Japanese army camps. Many of
these comfort women suffered
a great deal of physical and
psychological damage, including
457 South Koreans and North Koreans. This is not the total number of Korean victims, but only a
small confirmed part of the total number of victims. The total number of comfort women serving
the Japanese army varies from a minimum of 30,000 to a maximum of 400,000 depending on the
research conducted.

At that time, the victims were said to have been tortured using knives and burned with
cigarette butts. They were raped by dozens of men every day and some of their bodies suffered
from artificial abortions2) after pregnancies. In addition, many of them are said to have died from
malnutrition due to poor health and extremely low food supplies.

Women serving as comfort women have been the subject of great misunderstanding and
prejudice in Korea, being called "dirty women who enjoyed time with the Japanese soldiers." Later,
the truth was revealed including their physical and mental damage. Because of the great suffering
from the aftermath3) of such a life, the comfort women are still demanding compensation from
the Japanese government.

_______________________________________
1) satiate: 실컷 충족시키다
2) abortion : 낙태
3) aftermath : 여파(후유증)

14 MYEONG-SHIN GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL