¡°When I resisted the rape by Japanese soldiers, my legs were severely damaged. Though my legs were bleeding, I didn¡¯t feel the pain and begged them to let me live. But the Japanese soldiers tortured me with electric shocks. I can still remember calling out for my mother in fear." In a classroom of Harvard University¡¯s John F. Kennedy School of Government on Saturday, 100 listeners of various nationalities held their breath as an elderly Korean woman testified about her experiences during World War II, often unable to control her emotions. Lee Yong-su was a ¡°comfort woman¡± for two years after being kidnapped at age 16. Sixty years on, she cannot forget the relentless violence, rape and torture she suffered after being kidnapped in 1944.
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Lee Yong-su, one of the surviving 'comfort women' pressed into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, testifies at Harvard University¡¯s John F. Kennedy School of Government on Sunday.
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The student audience was visibly affected, with some wiping tears from their eyes. "Though the Japanese who made me a sexual slave may call me a comfort woman, my name is Lee Yong-su, which was given to me by my parents,¡± Lee said. ¡°The Japanese may hope that a living witness as myself will die, but this will not be solved until there is an official apology and legal compensation from Japan.¡± The students gave her a standing ovation.
Afterwards, students criticized Japan¡¯s attitude. "I didn¡¯t know that the situation was this miserable,¡± one student said. ¡°Lee's courage in seeking the truth while revealing her painful past puts Japan to shame." Another student said, "The self-examination of Germany and Japan, who were both defeated in World War II, is so different. Japan¡¯s denial of forced mobilization despite evident proof and testimonies of people like Lee, is wrong for an advanced country." Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon said the issue should be solved in a human rights and moral context.
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Lee Yong-su, one of the surviving 'comfort women', holds a picket demanding apologies from Japan for pressing her and thousands of others into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, near the Capitol in Washington D.C. on Friday.
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There were 10 Korean American teenagers at the hearing, who were shocked by the photos and information displayed in front of the classroom. Devorah Lee, a high school student who came with her parents, said it was unfair for the Japanese to treat the women who had done nothing wrong so brutally, and wrong and absurd for the Japanese government to deny it had a hand in the forced mobilization.
Last Thursday, Lee Yon-su protested in front of the White House in Washington against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's U.S. visit. She will demonstrate in Boston on Sunday alongside human rights activists to urge the U.S. House of Representative to pass a resolution calling on Tokyo to apologize.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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