Sex slave testimony will be made in English

By Kang Hyun-kyung

A group of activists will publish in English the testimonies of 10 elderly Korean women forced by the Japanese military into sexual slavery during World War II.

Four professional translators, and a native speaker English copy editor, have joined the translation project since last December, the activists said.

The four met at a rally calling for the Japanese government to issue a sincere apology for the wartime sex slavery held every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

To date, the team has completed translation of six testimonies, including that of Kim Bok-dong, 86, and compiled profiles of biographical information of 30 victims. Kim was forced to provide sexual services in China, Indonesia and Malaysia when she was 14.

Since 1991, a total of 234 testimonies from victims have been collected and recorded.

"We don’t have many documents in English although we’ve accumulated a relatively large quantity of data in Japanese," said an official of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. "We need material in English to reveal the truth at a time when Japan continues to cover up its wartime atrocities and distorts history."

The official said once done, they plan to post the translated material onto the websites of the Council, a Seoul-based non-profit advocacy group.

Translators said they are paying close attention to use accurate words that convey the tone and context of the victims in order to recount in detail what the former sex slaves went through.

They are also working on a glossary related to wartime sex slavery and expressions that were actually used during the war.

Translators said that material in English will raise international awareness of the issue.

The activists are also in consultation with Western publishers interested in publishing the translation project.

This is the first time that an English edition of the testimonies of the wartime sex slaves will be published.

Announcement of the publication in English came while Japan is drawing fire from its neighbors, including South Korea, for inappropriate remarks made about wartime sexual slavery made by government officials.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto angered Koreans and other Asians last month by saying Japan’s forcing of many Asian women into sexual slavery was considered as “necessary” during World War Two.