By Kim Bo-eun
The first film of Korean sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II was unveiled Wednesday.
While film of a Chinese sex slave was previously disclosed, there had only been photographic and documented records of Koreans.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government and a team led by Prof. Chung Chin-sung of Seoul National University released the 18-second black and white film showing seven sex slaves at Songshan, in China's Yunnan Province in 1944.
The team found the film at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration after a two year search for film records.
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The film shows a man presumed to be a Chinese military officer of the U.S.-China Allied Forces speaking with a sex slave. The other sex slaves appear anxious and afraid.
The film was shot in September 1944, when Japan was losing the war and the U.S.-China Allied Forces reclaimed Songsan.
The team was able to identify women in the film as Korean, as they matched the faces and attire of Korean sex slaves in photo records.
The team was unable to identify the names of the women, but said they were on the list of Korean sex slaves drawn up by the U.S.-China Allied Forces.
The search for film records was conducted with financial support from the Seoul government's project managing records of sex slaves for the Japanese military. The central government cut off funding for research of sex slaves after Korea and Japan reached a controversial deal on the issue in December 2015.
The film will serve as a valuable record as most of the disclosed records on sex slaves belong to the Japanese government and military.
"As unfortunate history must also be recorded and remembered so that it is not repeated, the Seoul government will focus all of its capacity and resources in documenting history and setting things right," said Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.
