By Kim Bo-eun
Twenty-six Korean sex slaves were used by Japanese soldiers on Chuuk Island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul National University (SNU) Human Rights Center on Monday.
Records obtained by the city government and the SNU center’s research team from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration are the first on sex slaves on Chuuk Island. Up until now there had only been testimony offered by one victim.
Chuuk Island, also known as Truk, is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia. It was a key base for the Japanese navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Records include battle documents drawn up by the U.S. military, a passenger list of the vessel which took the sex slaves back to Korea, photos of when they returned to Korea and a New York Times (NYT) article on their return.
From the records, the research team identified the late sex slave Lee Bok-soon, who testified she had been taken to Chuuk Island. She is the only one among 239 government-recognized victims to claim to have served as a sex slave there.
The team also identified another late victim Ha Bok-hyang, who passed away before she could be registered on the government’s list of sex slaves.
The late Ha was forced into sexual servitude in Manila, the Philippines. She kept silent for decades until she finally spoke out about her past in February 2001. However, she passed away days after she spoke out, which prevented her from being registered with the government as a victim.
“Like Ha, it is presumed that there are many victims who have not spoken out, and therefore there could be many more,” the team said, stating it would analyze records to discover them.
Records show the Korean sex slaves boarded the escort vessel Ikino, January 17, 1946, at Dublon, an island in the Chuuk Lagoon, and returned to Korea via Japan.
The NYT article titled “Japanese on Truk are not prisoners” published March 2, 1946, mentions the return of Korean and Japanese from the island to their home countries.
“Koreans were sent home by the Truk commander, Marine Brig. Gen. Robert Blake of Berkeley, Calif., and with them went 27 Korean comfort girls. The girls, said General Blake, wanted to stay and work for the Americans. They feared the Koreans would throw them overboard for having served Japanese but General Blake packed them off and has not heard whether any were thrown overboard,” the article said.
The research team said the article stated there were 27 sex slaves because it appears one of three children was counted as a sex slave.
The Ikino’s passenger list shows 249 Koreans had boarded, among which there were 26 women and three children _ whose names, jobs and addresses are recorded.
The occupation of the women was recorded as “laborer” but a comparison with other documents confirms this indicated they were sex slaves.
Many of the names that appear to be Japanese were those of Korean sex slaves. During Japan's occupation of Korea, many Koreans were forced to change their names to Japanese ones. Their addresses show that they came from Korea.