Videos

Animated Videos

  • Herstory [10:54] – Narrated by Chung Seo-woon, a Korean woman who was forced to work at a Japanese military comfort station. The video gives insight on how some women were brought to the “comfort stations” and their treatment by Japanese soldiers. [Content warning: Graphic depiction of sexual assault]
    • Herstory (Student Version) – Version with graphic scene removed.  https://youtu.be/7NuteEAKfEc
    • Transcript of Chung Seo-woon’s narration
I had a comfortable life. I was born into a wealthy family. My father was so against what the Japanese government was doing in Korea.  

One day, the Japanese police came to our house and hassled my father for refusing to contribute our brassware. “Over my dead body! When I’m dead, you can. I will not!” he told them.  

My father took all the brassware and buried them in the rice field with the servants. Tens of rows. At night. They dug rows and rows and buried them in the field. But, someone went and told the police about it. And that’s how my father got taken away.

I went to the prison to see my father one day with the town foreman. My father yelled and scolded me. He told me, “This is no place for you to visit! Do not come back here! If you come back again, I will not see you. You must not come back here.” He was very upset.  

A few days later, the town foreman came to our house and told me “If you go to work at the Thousand-Person-Stitches factory in Japan, for just two to two and a half years, in exchange, your father will be released from prison the same day you leave for Japan.” I believed him. I even volunteered to go.

I was taken to Semarang Indonesia through Jakarta. I ended up in Semarang with 13 other girls. I realized then that I was not in Japan but in another country farther away.  

That night, a Japanese officer came in first. He was very drunk. So scared, I was shaking in fear. Was just 15, I was. I was the youngest of the 13 girls there. I was raped. That’s how it began.  

I resisted, kicking and pushing. Then, the soldiers injected me with opium. So, I became addicted.

I can’t even count how many soldiers came in, especially on the weekends, lining up, still in their uniform. There’s just so much to tell.  

Two of the girls died. The soldiers buried those girls like they buried dogs. No funerals.  

They were giving out Malaria pills. I managed to gather 40 of them. Two, three pills at a time from a medical officer because he was Korean. I swallowed all 40 pills at once. But, even dying, I couldn’t even kill myself. I woke up 3 days later. People told me that I was bleeding everywhere through my mouth and ears.  

Once a week, we were taken outside for a medical check-up. There was a field hospital on the compound but there was a regular and bigger hospital outside. There I would see the local Indonesians. I liked that very much. They looked different, darker skinned, but still I was so glad to see them. Man after man. Seeing others just made me so happy, made me want to cry.

We did not know Japan had surrendered. 3 of the 13 girls were dead by then 10 were left to be taken to the bomb shelter. They only took a few girls. The shelter wasn’t big enough. I learned later that they were taken there to be slaughtered. Out of the ten, four or maybe three that were taken to the bomb shelter first were killed.  

There was a local Indonesian who comes to pick up the officers laundry. a soldier, Korean, who was drafted by the Japanese military wrote a letter to the allied forces. He rushed the laundry man to deliver the letter to the allied forces. That’s how the allied forces found where we were. If they had come any later we would have all been killed in that bomb shelter.

I became an orphan. My father had passed away. My mother had passed away. All the servants were gone. I went home and there I quit opium. It took me about 4~5 months. All by myself, there. Alone at home.

I kept telling myself that I just have to stay alive they may have killed my body, but not my spirit. That is how I survived.
  • For Her [13:55] – Narrated by Kondo Hajime, a former Japanese soldier. Kondo recounts the wartime atrocities that he witnessed while serving in the Imperial army.

Documentary Clips

  • In the Name of the Emperor [8:47] – An abridged version of a 1998 documentary about the Nanjing Massacre. Includes interviews with a “comfort woman” survivor and a former Japanese soldiers, as well as commentary from scholars and journalists.
  • Comfort Women Wanted [9:38] – An abridged version of a video by Chang-Jin Lee, consisting of interview highlights with a Japanese soldier, and “comfort women” survivors from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Netherlands.

Full-length Films

News and Media Clips

  • Lee Yong-soo Reacts to 2015 Agreement [2:16] – In 2015, the governments of South Korea and Japan made a joint agreement that included a settlement for the comfort women issue. This agreement was widely unpopular in South Korea and was rejected by surviving “comfort women” who believed their government was making decisions without consulting them. In this video, survivor Lee Yong-soo questions a Korean government official regarding the agreement.
  • Asian American Life: “Comfort Women” Victims Speak Out Against 2015 Agreement [8:40] – A report by CUNY’s Asian American Life explaining the 2015 agreement between South Korea and Japan, and why survivors and the transnational movement that supports them did not accept the terms of the agreement.
  • Glendale Memorial Unveiling [2:24] – A CNN news clip covering the unveiling of the “Peace Monument” in Glendale, California and explaining why monuments are meaningful for survivors and their supporters.
  • San Francisco Memorial Unveiling [2:37] – A KPIX report regarding the unveiling of a memorial for “comfort women” in San Francisco.
  • Osaka Mayor Cuts Sister City Ties Over Memorial [3:22] –  A KPIX news segment detailing Osaka mayor Hirofumi Yoshimoto’s threat of Osaka’s sister city relationship with San Francisco over the placement of a “comfort women” memorial on public land.