hankyoreh

staff photographer)

By Lee Kyung-mi, staff writer

The War and Women’s Human Rights Museum opened on May 5. The museum records the turbulent history of women drafted into sexual slavery by the Japanese military and is the result of nine years of efforts by civil society.

Built in a renovated home on the foothills of Mt. Seongmi in the Seongsan neighborhood of Seoul’s Mapo district, the museum has two stories and a basement level, for a total area of 308 square meters. The stone walls of the staircase leading up from the basement are engraved with final words from former “comfort women” who have since passed away.

“Our children must live in a peaceful world,” reads one engraving. Another says, “The life I’ve lived is like a dream, but even dreams come as terrible nightmares.”

On exhibit throughout the museum are photographs, videos, and documents commemorating the history of the women’s victimization.

Discussions toward the museum’s construction began in 2003. The cornerstone was the comfort women survivors’ hope that their descendants could see and learn from South Korea’s history so that they would never have to endure similar suffering. In 2004, the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan launched a committee for the museum‘s construction and began fundraising. Nuns donated part of their stipend given to them by the sisterhood. Young students gave their allowance, while female workers donated a portion of their paycheck. A schoolteacher in Japan submitted half of her severance pay package.

Ethnic Koreans in the US, Japan, Australia, and Germany made contributions as well. Some 200,000 people gave over the years, creating a fund of two billion won (about US$1.8 million).

The selection of the site was a tricky process. In 2006, Seoul city government granted permission to build the museum on the site of a commercial building on the grounds of Seodaemun Independence Park. This triggered objections from the Korea Liberation Association and the Association for Surviving Family Members of Martyrs for the Country, who said it was undignified to have a museum for the former comfort women in a setting created to honor martyrs for the country. Though the organizers felt it crucial to build the museum quickly, city put off the remaining administrative procedures and the project fell behind. In the meantime, many former comfort women passed away. The organizers chose the foothills of Mt. Seongmi after looking at many other possible locations.

Council president Yoon Mee-hyang said the museum opened on May 5, Children’s Day holiday, to “give the gift of a place of peace to children from the comfort women survivors.”

“We look forward to seeing this museum play a pivotal part in as yet unresolved issue of Japanese military comfort women,” Yoon added.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]