House of Sharing

This weekend was crazy. Woke up ridiculously early in order to get to Seoul in time, my friends and I were planning a trip to the House of Sharing and we were meeting at 10. It was one of the places I’d wanted to visit before I left Korea so I was looking forward to it. The House of Sharing, for those who don’t know, is a place that was built for surviving comfort women (from the Japanese war) to live together. It is also a political organization that has been working to gain official recognition from the Japanese government. that these worme were essentially forced sex slaves for the military during World War II. Comfort women were mostly Korean or other non-Japanese women who were forced or tricked into serving as Comfort Women. The army set up so-called "Comfort stations" where the men would pay for the women’s services, although the women rarely, if ever, saw any of that money.

We toured the small but amazing museum and were lucky enough to have one of the survivors give us a live testimony. It was the last time she was going to do it because her health was failing her and the emotional burden of repeating her story was taking its toll on her. Although she refrained from describing her actual experiences as a Comfort Woman, which is entirely understandable, she did describe the horrific beatings the military officers would inflict on her. She described how one man stabbed her but instead of stabbing in and out, would twist the knife while it was inside her arm in order to give maximum pain. The part that really got me though, was when she described running away from the camp, only to be caught and returned. Instead of begging for forgiveness and promising never to run away again, she refused and was almost beaten to death for it.

Sitting in that room, tearing up as I heard this brave halmoni (“grandmother” in Korean and how Koreans respectfully refer to the Comfort Women) talk about her experiences, I really truly could understand my parents and their generation still bearing such hatred for Japan. I don’t condone it but I can understand it. The way these women were treated was just so awful on so many levels, and of course gender and race played a huge part iin that treatment. As my friend put it, the rape of those women was like the rape Japan's colonialismn inflicted on Korea. It’s heartbreaking to know that sex trafficking similar to what happened at these Comfort stations still occurs all over the world.

And it’s sad that I, like many others, didn’t know much about the Comfort Women until very recently, probably college. I can’t recall any history classes talking about this issue, although in my opinion, it’s a huge part of the history. It profoundly affected, one could argue, both the Korean and Japanese psyche. It’s a history that undoubtedly still influences the twisted relationship Korea and Japan have with each other. I wish I could speak more eloquently about this issue, but I don’t know enough about it and I’m having trouble articulating my feelings. I can say that it was an intense experience, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look of grim determination and weariness in the halmoni’s eyes as she told us her story. She also ended on a thought-provoking note, urging us not to let this happen again. Although, in some ways it already is with sex trafficking, etc. That’s why the surviving women feel so strongly about making more people aware about the history because only then will we have a chance to ensure no one has to undergo the horrible things these women had to suffer. No one should have to live like that.