Few survivors remain to speak today, yet their testimonies still echo each year during Korea’s International Memorial Day for Comfort Women. The Aug. 14 commemoration honors women forced into military sexual slavery during the Asia-Pacific War and sustains their place in public memory.
This year’s observances included the 1,713th Wednesday Demonstration near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, where survivor Lee Yong-soo thanked attendees. In Gwangju, the House of Sharing, a museum for former comfort women, held a ceremony unveiling bronze busts of Park Ok-sun, a survivor who spent her later years at the shelter sharing her story with visitors, and Lee Ok-seon, a prominent survivor known for speaking at Wednesday rallies and abroad.
The memorial date traces back to Aug. 14, 1991, when comfort woman survivor Kim Hak-sun gave the first public testimony about her experience. Her courage in publicizing the injustice catalyzed the weekly protests that began in 1992, spurred fresh documentation by journalists, and eventually led South Korea to designate August 14 as an official memorial day in 2018.
“Aug. 14 reminds me that the public record began with a single testimony and kept growing because people paid attention,” Alina Lee (11), History Honors club member, said. “As students, what we can do is read a primary source, check the details, and carry them forward accurately. This is how the story stays clear even as first-hand voices fade.”
The Japanese military oversaw a vast system of “comfort stations” during the early 1900s, forcing women and girls from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and beyond into sexual slavery. For decades after the war’s end, survivors lived with their trauma in silence, burdened not only by physical and psychological wounds but also by the stigma that forced many to keep their experiences hidden within families. This silence meant that much of the system’s scale and consistency remained unacknowledged outside private circles.
This shift began in the 1990s. When survivors began to testify publicly, their voices not only exposed the atrocities of the war crimes but also pushed the issue into the arena of international human rights. Their courage enabled the creation of a public record, laying the foundation for organized movements that demanded recognition, reparations, and historical accountability.
In Japan, successive governments have issued statements of remorse and supported some reconciliation initiatives. Nonetheless, the fundamental disagreements over legal responsibility, compensation, and how this history is presented in textbooks still remain a problem.
“Much of the ongoing conflict stems from disagreements over how to meaningfully acknowledge both victims and state responsibility,” Hyo-young Nam, Asian Studies teacher, said. “This gap helps explain why Korea maintains visible public rituals and an official memorial day, while debate in Japan remains politically divisive and unresolved.”
As the number of living survivors declines each year, a question has urgently arisen: how can we sustain support beyond individual lifetimes?
“The idea of reconciliation is indeed difficult,” Steve Nave, World History teacher, said. “Still, we should honor the people as much as possible and make sure that their stories are accurately told to everyone. Stable funding for testimony archives, transparent translation projects, and clear citation standards in textbooks and media are the practical steps that will keep the record usable.”
As the last survivors age, their bronze likenesses in Gwangju stand as permanent reminders that some stories demand to be heard beyond a single lifetime. The weekly protests may eventually come to an end, but these women’s testimonies remain an unfinished demand for justice.
