Kim Bok-dong still fighting for sex slave victims

Kim Bok-dong, 90, who was drafted by Japan’s Imperial Army during World War II, talks about the disappointment that she feels at the deal that the government reached with Japan last year over the former sex slaves. / Courtesy of Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery

By Kim Ji-soo

For more than 20 years, Kim Bok-dong, 90, has been attending the Wednesday rallies to demand a formal apology from Japan and legal reparations for the Korean women forced into sex slavery during World War II. In an interview on Friday, she shared her disappointment with the agreement that the government reached with Japan last year.

“Our stance is clear that Abe should apologize in front of journalists and make legal reparations,” she said.

“At this point in my life, I am really worried that the government will disappoint us, not listen to us and go ahead with their usual activities,” she said.

“I say if the government cannot get a proper apology from Japan, they should stay out,” she said. Kim, whose sight and hearing are failing, currently lives in a home run by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery in Yeonnam-dong, western Seoul.

The council and the women have long been working to inform the world about the plight of former sex slaves, holding rallies every Wednesday. Few days before the 71st Liberation Day that fell on Aug. 15, the council and supporters commemorated the day the late former sex slave Kim Hak-soon first testified publicly on Aug. 14, 1991.

Kim rallies supporters at the 1,243rd Wednesday rally on Aug. 10 across the street from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. / Yonhap

Last week, Korea and Japan held director-level talks on how the pledged 1 billion yen fund for foundation for former sex slaves will be used. Then the countries’ foreign ministers, Korea’s Yun Byung-se and Japan’s Fumio Kishida, talked over the phone on Aug. 12, in which Japan vowed to “swiftly” transfer the funds to assist the Korean women. But Japanese media later reported that the fund will be put toward medical and nursing costs and is not compensatory in nature. Meanwhile Seoul on Tuesday said that Japan’s financial contribution is part of last year’s agreement that backs up Tokyo’s apology and responsibility for its sexual enslavement of Korean women by Imperial Japan.

“We will not accept humanitarian assistance money, even if it were 10 billion won or 100 billion won; we want legal reparations,” Kim said, referring to Tokyo’s stance that the money does not represent reparations.

On Dec. 28, 2015, the two countries agreed to end their dispute over Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. According to the agreement, the Japanese government pledged to provide 1 billion yen for the foundation. Japan has apologized previously, including in 1993, and set up a private fund, which the women rejected because it was not official. According to the agreement, the public Reconciliation and Healing Foundation was founded late last month in Seoul.

However, the council and the remaining survivors do not endorse the agreement for the insufficient apology that was vague about whether Tokyo clearly addressed its legal responsibilities and lacking prior consultation with them. In a press conference following the agreement last year, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan “fully recognizes its responsibility” for its state-perpetrated sex crimes and also said Abe offered a “heartfelt” apology for the “comfort women,” a euphemism for those who were coerced into sexual servitude during the war.

“The issues regarding ‘comfort women’ involving the Japanese military left a scar on the honor and dignity of the victimized women,” Kishida had said during the press conference in Seoul.

Also during the negotiations for the agreement, Japan requested that the girl statue across the street from its embassy in Seoul be moved, and Korea said that it would discuss the issue with the women. However, the women have said the statue cannot be moved, as it was built from private donations.

“It will not be liberation for us, unless we have an official apology,” Kim said. “Had I known it would take this long, I might have kept (my experience) in my heart.”

She was only 14 when she was dragged to Taiwan, Guangdong, Malaysia, Sumatra and Singapore to serve Japanese soldiers at a military brothel, she recalled. Many times, she has given testimony of how she was dragged around for five years.

“Sometimes I dream about the difficult times,” Kim said.

“On Saturdays, it was from noon to 5 p.m. ... On Sundays, it was from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” she said. She repeatedly recalled these horrific weekends during the interview.

She spoke about her experience in between sighs, in a voice that is clear but filled with sadness, as if she were crying with her words.

Born in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province in March 1926, Kim recalled that had her father been alive at that time, she might not have been helplessly taken away. Her father passed away early when Kim was eight years old. Kim was the fourth of six daughters. While her three older sisters were married off to escape the chaotic times, she stayed with her mother and two younger sisters, until Japanese authorities came to take her away one day, saying she was needed to work in a factory. The officials threatened her family that if she didn’t go, they would suffer.

She thought to herself that she would not die in a factory.

But she returned home, barely alive. Her mother initially did not believe her words, and later died filled with sorrow.

After the Korean War (1950-1953), Kim opened a restaurant in Busan, where her older sisters lived. And while her restaurant business was going well, her personal life was not, as she could not have children. It was in 1992 that she saw a TV show asking former sex slaves to come forward. She did.

Since then, she has traveled to the United States, Japan and other countries to testify. Asked if talking helped ease her pain in any way, she said, “When I talk about it, I would at times feel some relief in my heart.”

Asked how she feels about being a survivor, she said, “I want to work for those who have passed away as well.”

Asked what kept her going, she said, “When my restaurant did well, I lived for that, and now I live with the support and empathy that the people have shown me as I carry out the movement,” Kim said between deep sighs.

She said she also hopes someday to help more young students who may not be able to study for economic or other reasons, like she couldn’t when she had to leave elementary school to look after her two younger sisters.