Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
One woman’s fight to remember WWII tragedies in Asia
Jenny Chan, third from left, co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education (PAE), poses with speakers of "History Remembered: Understanding Atrocities in the Pacific" conference at the Presidio Officer's Club in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday. Courtesy of PAE
By Park Jin-hai
Jenny Chan’s Pacific Atrocities Education preserves untold history of Asia's Holocaust
SAN FRANCISCO — Jenny Chan, co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education (PAE), grew up in America caught between clashing versions of history — her school textbooks skipped over the cruelties of World War II in Hong Kong, while her grandmother's stories painted a harrowing picture of life in Hong Kong under Japanese occupation.
“I thought she was just probably making this up because I never learned about this,” Chan recalled, referencing tales of her family’s descent into poverty, the threat of sexual slavery and the struggle just to survive, at a conference titled "History Remembered: Understanding Atrocities in the Pacific," organized by her nonprofit organization aiming to uncover the untold stories of World War II, at San Francisco’s Presidio Officers' Club, Thursday.
But she soon learned her grandmother’s memories reflected a broader, often-silenced chapter of Asian history — one in which 35 million lives were lost but rarely acknowledged in mainstream Western accounts.
Driven to uncover and share these truths, Chan co-founded PAE in 2014 and has focused on recovering and preserving the stories of World War II in the Asia-Pacific region erased or overlooked by official histories in the Western narrative, scanning over a million delicate war crimes documents from the National Archives, many of which were long held by the U.S. while Asian victims' accounts went untold.
Jenny Chan, co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education (PAE), gives an opening speech during the "History Remembered: Understanding Atrocities in the Pacific"conference at the Presidio Officer's Club in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday. Courtesy of PAE
Together with her team, she gathered survivors’ stories and digitized evidence on wide-ranging topics — from the system of Japanese military’s wartime sexual slavery and the cruelty of the Unit 731, Japan’s notorious biological and chemical warfare unit, to the Nanjing Massacre and the forced enslavement of civilians.
“I really feel like we're racing against time here because some of the paper is so fragile that when you open the box at the National Archive, it's all crumbling,” she said.
Chan insists PAE’s mission isn’t about accusation, but about truth.
“By scanning these pages and putting it into our archive, we show the world what they have done instead of accusing,” she explained.
The group’s efforts go beyond documentation. PAE donated digitized Unit 731 records to a museum in China, exposing horrific human experimentation, including vivisection, which shocked Chan.
She highlighted how the younger generations in Hong Kong, not to mention in the U.S., know of these wartime atrocities.
"People don't talk openly about it in Hong Kong and some people don't even know that Japan occupied Hong Kong. Now the younger generation just don't know," she said.
Jenny Chan, co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education (PAE), holds a Japanese book published in the late 1800s that contains a map intended to help the Japanese Imperial Army more effectively encroach upon Manchuria, at a park in San Francisco, Calif., Friday. Korea Times photo by Park Jin-hai
For Chan, this lack of awareness must be addressed. She sees the organization’s work as just the beginning.
“When people discuss World War II, 90 percent of the focus is on Hitler. I want the Asia-Pacific theater’s stories to become more mainstream,” she said.
That mission was at the heart of this year's conference, dedicated to the Mukden Incident, the 1931 event that set off Japan’s invasion of Manchuria.
With some 300 participants including historians, authors, survivors and students coming together, the inaugural event illuminated PAE's 10-year research efforts and called for the urgency of sharing these untold stories.
Sessions included vital roles of Filipina guerrillas in resisting Japanese occupation, Kwantung Army’s actions in Manchuria, Japanese fascism, U.S. policy shift during the postwar occupation of Japan and the role of propaganda in advancing Japan’s imperial agenda.
In the storytelling sessions, a survivor of the Japan’s occupation of China during World War II told her story and a Japanese couple confessed their parents' roles in Manchuria during Japan's invasion.
When Kazuko Watanabe, left, a Japanese woman whose father had supplied Japanese troops and aided the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific, breaks into tears, an elderly Chinese audience member comes forward to comfort her, during the "History Remembered: Understanding Atrocities in the Pacific"conference at the Presidio Officer's Club in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday. Courtesy of PAE
Jean Bee Chan, an 88-year-old China-born retired mathematics professor at Sonoma State University, who survived Japan’s occupation of China during World War II, shared her childhood story — facing bombings, starvation and loss within her family — before immigrating to the U.S. and dedicating herself to education and activism.
Yoshiji Watanabe, whose father committed war crimes as a Manchukuo military officer, and his wife, Kazuko Watanabe, whose father had supplied Japanese troops and aided the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific, performed on stage based on their true story, expressing guilt and offering apologies for their parents’ crimes. This Japanese couple’s story created a moving moment, and in the final scene, when Kazuko broke into tears, an elderly Chinese audience member came forward to comfort her.
American high school students who won the National History Day competition in New Mexico with their documentary on Unit 731 also presented their work, which drew an enthusiastic response from the audience.
Chan said she was deeply encouraged that PAE’s work inspired the 16-year-old students to study Unit 731 and create a documentary that went on to win a state competition in the U.S.
The students noted "99 percent" of what they learn in school about World War II is about Hitler, while the majority of the fighting and loss of life occurred in Asia is rarely taught.
“I’m grateful we were able to hold this event and, through 10 years of research, help shed light on the tragedies that happened in Asia during World War II,” Chan said.