Between 1932 and 1945, the Imperial Japanese military enslaved an estimated 200,000 women across Asia — forcing them into sexual servitude. Most were Korean. Most never came home. The word "comfort" is the biggest euphemism in history.
For decades after the war, the survivors of Japan's military "comfort station" system were silenced — by shame, by trauma, and by governments more interested in diplomatic normality than historical truth. In Japan, the story was simply not taught. In Korea, the women who returned were often shunned.
It was not until 1991 — 46 years after the war's end — that the first survivor, Kim Hak-soon, stood before a microphone and said what had happened to her. Her courage broke a silence that had held for nearly half a century.
Today, survivors are in their 90s. The youngest is gone; there are fewer than ten registered survivors still living in South Korea. The time to hear their testimony — and to demand justice — is almost over.