By Yahnai Lennon
During Japan’s colonial rule between 1932 and 1945, Japanese soldiers would kidnap young girls from Korea, China and other occupied territories, transporting them from their homeland to Japan to become military sex slaves. Kim Bok Dong, one of the many comfort women, was kidnapped from her family to serve as a comfort woman at age 14. For 8 years she was raped every day. After the World War II, Japan tried to cover up the existence of comfort women by making them work as nurses in Singapore, and instead of labeling them as comfort women Japan can label them as nurses. But Japan’s plan fell as Kim Bok Dong spent the majority of her life informing others of her story and standing for not only comfort women but women in general. She became a strong activist for feminism, anti-imperialism and workers’ rights in South Korea. Along with other comfort women, Kim Bok Dong created a three-fold demand for the Japanese government. In the three-fold demand these women demanded a formal state level apology, reparations, and the correction of Japanese history such as including the truth about comfort women in Japanese textbooks. But sadly Kim Bok Dong passed away on January 28, 2019 before the demands were made. YouTuber Danny Kim, regarding Japan’s lack of acknowledgment of the three-fold demand says, “The best thing we can do is raise awareness about comfort women.” So to help spread awareness of comfort women, inform someone of the history of comfort women when discussing WWII.
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