Song Hye Kyo explained the pain of Japanese Military’s Sexual Slavery victims through “Grandma Is Back”
Actress Song Hye Kyo narrated the March 1st Independence Movement Day special documentary “Grandma Is Back”.
MBC’s Independence Movement Day special documentary “Grandma Is Back”, which aired on March 1st, shed light on the victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery (known as “Comfort Women”).
The main character of “Grandma Is Back”, which was conveyed through Song Hye Kyo’s voice, is Lee Yong Soo, one of the victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery. She was taken to Taiwan when she was 14 years old. The 96-year-old grandmother visited a recording studio and suggested making a song about the comfort women issue.
“Grandma Is Back” showed historical data on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery and foreigners’ views on it. Anna, a German student who visited the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum in Mapo, Seoul, explained, “I studied history while studying in Japan, and I was surprised at how Japan handled history. I felt sorry for the women who had to go through that, so I became interested in this issue.”
Foreigners who visited the museum expressed their shock, saying “My daughter is 10 years old, and the youngest woman who was taken as a slave was 11 years old. It’s so painful. It was like a very war slave system”.
Lee Na Young, Chairman of the Justice for the ‘Comfort Women’, explained, “The Japanese military sexual slavery issue has many levels. It’s an issue caused by the imperialist colonial power and a problem of militarism and war. In this issue, many factors, including gender, class, race, nationality, etc. are intertwined and the weakest are severely damaged”. Song Hye Kyo added, “No one can understand the misery that young women at that time had to go through. This is why we can’t turn a blind eye to it”.
Grandmother Lee Yong Soo recalled the past and said, “I was at the comfort facilities for three years. I think I was 17 back then”, adding “My mom always called my name and people said, ‘Mom, Soo will come back’. The day I returned home was the anniversary of my death and my mom called me a ghost”
Song Hye Kyo explained, “Most of the documents written by the Japanese military in the process of mobilizing Japanese military sexual slaves were thoroughly destroyed after the war. However, secret documents that could not be destroyed were found. Historian Yoshimi Yoshiyaki found a document in 1992 indicating that the Japanese government was legally responsible for mobilizing Japanese military sexual slavery and publicized the document to the world.”
However, students at Japanese schools are not properly educated about their government’s past mistakes. Former Prime Minister Hatoyama was against the Japanese government’s actions and asked for forgiveness. He said, “I think we should teach modern history, including the crimes Japan committed in the past, in schools. I think there are things that we do not inform young people of through our current education system. I think many people don’t know the truth or cannot face the truth.”
Song Hye Kyo said, “The testimony of Japanese military sexual slavery survivors, which began with grandmother Kim Hak Soon, broke a long silence and a taboo. A report submitted by the UN Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur in 1998 mentions the violence of the Japanese military brothel system. The Japanese military’s operation of the brothel is defined as a war crime against humanitarianism, and we urge the Japanese government to take legal responsibility.”
UN Special Rapporteur McDougall said, “I think it is each of us responsibility to ensure that the incident and the events that happened to those women are not forgotten. Those things are clearly a stain on humanity.” In response, Song Hye Kyo narrated, “Crimes of sexual violence in wartime are still being committed all over the world. Ukraine is no exception. According to the 1998 Rome Rules of the International Criminal Court, rape in wartime is a clear war crime.”
Among them, at the end of last year, another comfort woman victim passed away. Born in Daegu, Lee Ok-sun was taken to a brothel in Manchuria, China, at the age of 16, after being deceived by the idea of giving her a job at a factory. A total of 240 comfort women victims have been registered with the government. Among them, only 10 grandmothers are now alive.
Lastly, Song Hye Kyo said, “Almost a century has passed. The time when victims had to prove themselves as victims has exceeded 30 years. What should we do in the future to overcome the gap in time that cannot be filled by experience and imagination?”
Source: Daum
