Song 1
Assignment 5b: Research Essay
Amy (Arum) Song
English 353
Sonia Atwal
12th December 2021.
Unraveling the Convoluted History of South Korean "Comfort Women"
The comfort women controversy, which has gained prominence in South Korea over the
past three decades, has historical roots in the 1930s and the 1940s. Following the Japanese
invasion of China in 1937, "around 200,000 women, most of whom were Koreans, were drafted
or dragged against their will" to serve as sex slaves in Japanese military brothels, better known as
"comfort stations" (Shim 252). These women were euphemistically referred to as “comfort
women” by the Japanese government and military. Historians have come up with radically
different claims about the nature of the comfort women system during the Second World War. A
few of them, including Japanese right-wing nationalists, hold that the system was "a military
version of licensed prostitution" (Soh 229). On the other hand, the Korean Council and several
other human rights groups regard the system as a blatant violation of fundamental human rights.
While South Korea has demanded that Japan should "legal responsibility for the crimes of sexual
slavery," the Japanese government "has not paid heed to the call for it to accept legal liability for
the comfort women" (Ward and Lay 258). Since conflicting interpretations of a historical event
have given rise to the controversy, it can be brought to a successful closure by performing an
unbiased historical analysis of the Japanese wartime comfort women system. A comprehensive
historical inquiry will reveal that Korean comfort women were forcibly or deceitfully recruited
by the Japanese military to work as sex slaves, subjected to blatant human rights violations
, Song 2
within the comfort stations, and finally, silenced by the patriarchal society in South Korea upon
their return. Well-developed introduction, Arum. You provide an excellent context to the
“controversy”
Although the term “comfort women” has positive connotations of safety and caregiving,
the comfort women who served in the Japanese comfort stations were recruited solely for the
sexual gratification of Japanese soldiers. The term “comfort women” is the “direct translation of
the Japanese euphemism, ianfu, which was used by the Japanese military" to refer to the women
who they had forced into sexual slavery (Hilsdon et al. 39). The earliest comfort stations were set
up to reduce the incidences of sexual misconduct and rape committed by Japanese soldiers.
According to the recollections of senior officers in the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, the
Japanese army set up the first comfort station in Shanghai in 1932 as a response to "an incident
in Shanghai in which Japanese soldier raped a woman" (Hongxi 29). Besides, unrestrained
sexual activity had already increased the prevalence of venereal diseases among Japanese
soldiers. The comfort women system provided the Japanese authorities with an alternative that
could solve the problem of sexually transmitted diseases without restraining the Japanese
soldiers. The comfort women were kept under strict supervision by the Japanese army and "were
given 3–4 clinical exams every day" to check for signs of venereal disease (Hongxi 37). Since
such incidents of rape and widespread venereal disease could tarnish the reputation of the
Japanese Imperial Army, the comfort stations were set up as institutionally sanctioned centers for
the satiation of Japanese soldiers' sexual urges.
The recruitment of Korean women as sex slaves for the Japanese comfort stations was
carried out under the supervision of the Japanese army, with the aid and abetment of the
Japanese government. Although right-wing Japanese nationalists continue to dispute the
Assignment 5b: Research Essay
Amy (Arum) Song
English 353
Sonia Atwal
12th December 2021.
Unraveling the Convoluted History of South Korean "Comfort Women"
The comfort women controversy, which has gained prominence in South Korea over the
past three decades, has historical roots in the 1930s and the 1940s. Following the Japanese
invasion of China in 1937, "around 200,000 women, most of whom were Koreans, were drafted
or dragged against their will" to serve as sex slaves in Japanese military brothels, better known as
"comfort stations" (Shim 252). These women were euphemistically referred to as “comfort
women” by the Japanese government and military. Historians have come up with radically
different claims about the nature of the comfort women system during the Second World War. A
few of them, including Japanese right-wing nationalists, hold that the system was "a military
version of licensed prostitution" (Soh 229). On the other hand, the Korean Council and several
other human rights groups regard the system as a blatant violation of fundamental human rights.
While South Korea has demanded that Japan should "legal responsibility for the crimes of sexual
slavery," the Japanese government "has not paid heed to the call for it to accept legal liability for
the comfort women" (Ward and Lay 258). Since conflicting interpretations of a historical event
have given rise to the controversy, it can be brought to a successful closure by performing an
unbiased historical analysis of the Japanese wartime comfort women system. A comprehensive
historical inquiry will reveal that Korean comfort women were forcibly or deceitfully recruited
by the Japanese military to work as sex slaves, subjected to blatant human rights violations
, Song 2
within the comfort stations, and finally, silenced by the patriarchal society in South Korea upon
their return. Well-developed introduction, Arum. You provide an excellent context to the
“controversy”
Although the term “comfort women” has positive connotations of safety and caregiving,
the comfort women who served in the Japanese comfort stations were recruited solely for the
sexual gratification of Japanese soldiers. The term “comfort women” is the “direct translation of
the Japanese euphemism, ianfu, which was used by the Japanese military" to refer to the women
who they had forced into sexual slavery (Hilsdon et al. 39). The earliest comfort stations were set
up to reduce the incidences of sexual misconduct and rape committed by Japanese soldiers.
According to the recollections of senior officers in the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, the
Japanese army set up the first comfort station in Shanghai in 1932 as a response to "an incident
in Shanghai in which Japanese soldier raped a woman" (Hongxi 29). Besides, unrestrained
sexual activity had already increased the prevalence of venereal diseases among Japanese
soldiers. The comfort women system provided the Japanese authorities with an alternative that
could solve the problem of sexually transmitted diseases without restraining the Japanese
soldiers. The comfort women were kept under strict supervision by the Japanese army and "were
given 3–4 clinical exams every day" to check for signs of venereal disease (Hongxi 37). Since
such incidents of rape and widespread venereal disease could tarnish the reputation of the
Japanese Imperial Army, the comfort stations were set up as institutionally sanctioned centers for
the satiation of Japanese soldiers' sexual urges.
The recruitment of Korean women as sex slaves for the Japanese comfort stations was
carried out under the supervision of the Japanese army, with the aid and abetment of the
Japanese government. Although right-wing Japanese nationalists continue to dispute the
