The 'Comfort Women': A History to Remember위안부: 기억해야 할 역사

'Comfort women' is the euphemism for the women and girls — from Korea and other occupied countries — who were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military before and during World War II. It is one of the most painful chapters of Korea's colonial experience, and survivors lived with silence and stigma for decades before beginning to speak publicly in the early 1990s.

Since January 1992, survivors and supporters have gathered at noon every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to call for a full apology and redress. Known as the Wednesday Demonstration, it is regarded as the world's longest-running protest on a single theme. On December 14, 2011 — the 1,000th demonstration — a bronze Statue of Peace was unveiled facing the embassy: a barefoot girl in hanbok, sitting quietly, with an empty chair beside her. Copies now stand in cities around the world.

In Seoul's Mapo district, the War and Women's Human Rights Museum, opened in 2012, tells the survivors' stories in their own words and connects them to wartime sexual violence issues worldwide.

For Koreans, this is living memory, not settled history — the few remaining survivors are called 'halmoni' (grandmothers) with great affection. Visitors are welcome at both the statue and the museum; what's asked of you is simply quiet respect.