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The Halmonis' Wednesdays 1 Universiteit van Amsterdam The Halmonis’ Wednesdays The Development of the Wednesday Demonstration, a Weekly Demonstration by Former “Comfort Women,” as an Expansive Tool of Transitional Justice Yangsun Kim 12260754 22,765 words A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN History – Holocaust and Genocide Studies University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Nanci Adler Second Reader: Dr. Eveline Bucchheim July 2019 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................. 3 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 4 PERSONAL MOTIVATION/ SIGNIFICANCE ................................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION TO THE WEDNESDAY DEMONSTRATION .......................................................................... 6 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 7 VICTIMS’ IDENTITIES: “COMFORT WOMEN?” OR SEXUAL SLAVES? ........................................................ 9 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 10 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 11 THE ROLE OF THE WEDNESDAY DEMONSTRATION ................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER I. BEFORE “BROKEN SILENCE” .................................................................................... 15 SEXUAL VIOLENCE AS AN INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OR AS AN INSTRUMENT OF MASS VIOLENCE? . 15 1. 1 ORIGINS OF THE JAPANESE MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY SYSTEM .................................................. 16 1. 2 INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE SEXUAL SLAVERY SYSTEM: .......................................................... 19 1. 3 50 YEARS OF SILENCE: THE PROCESS OF REBUILDING THEIR BROKEN LIVES ................................ 24 CHAPTER II. A ROAD TO “SOMEWHERE” ..................................................................................... 27 A ROAD TO “SOMEWHERE” ..................................................................................................................... 28 2. 1 THE 50 YEARS OF SILENCE ............................................................................................................... 29 2. 2 FORMATION OF “SOMEWHERE” ........................................................................................................ 33 2. 3 BAE’S “FORCED” MEMORY AND KIM’S “DESIRED” MEMORY ......................................................... 36 CHAPTER III. THE HALMONIS’ WEDNESDAYS ............................................................................ 41 3. 1 THE HALMONIS: FROM THE VICTIMS TO THE LIVING WITNESSES AND THE EMPOWERED AGENTS 43 3. 2 THE JAPANESE EMBASSY AS PERFORMANCE SPACE ........................................................................ 46 3. 3 THE VESTS: THE SHIFTS IN DESIGN OF THE VISUAL PRESENTATION ............................................... 48 CHAPTER IV. “THE PROMISE ENGRAVED ON THE EMPTY CHAIR” .................................... 56 4. 1THE ERECTION OF THE PEACE MONUMENT ....................................................................................... 59 4. 2 PERFORMANCES OF CARE AND PERFORMANCES OF GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSION OF REMEMBRANCE ................................................................................................................................................................. 65 CHAPTER V. AN ‘ORDINARY HOUSE’ AS A ‘PLACE OF MEMORY’ ........................................ 70 5. 1 AN “ORDINARY” HOUSE AS A “PLACE OF MEMORY”....................................................................... 71 5. 2 RE-PRODUCING MEMORIES OF THE HALMONIS ............................................................................... 78 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 83 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................ 88 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 89 3 Abstract The thesis explores the development of the Wednesday Demonstration, a weekly demonstration held by Halmonis (former “comfort women”) and activists in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday since 1992. It examines how the Japanese military institutionalized the sexual slavery systems where tens of thousands of girls and women, mainly from Korea, were forced to become “comfort women” before and during World War II, and how survivors in South Korea broke the 50 years of silence in 1991. Then, the thesis explains how this weekly gathering has created a platform for victims, perpetrators, and other ordinary people to remember the past, to redefine it through interactions, and to become “embodied reckonings.” By explaining what the Wednesday Demonstration has transformed into, and by introducing how it has re-defined identities of the victims, this study offers a victim-centric approach to the issue of the Japanese military sexual slavery. 4 Introduction Personal Motivation/ Significance I have always wondered why numbers that can accurately and quickly inform people about what is happening in the world cannot capture the diversity of each individual’s personal stories. Thus, I explored diverse narratives and stories behind statistics that describe mass violence against humanity during my undergraduate studies at Denison University, and carried this interest forward by pursuing a Master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Since my undergraduate studies at Denison University, I have become deeply interested in a unique case of “comfort women,” in which women who were forced to become Japanese military sexual slaves before and during World War II established a collective trauma based on testimonies of individual survivors. This led me to ask the following question: “Can former ‘comfort women’ speak for themselves in the aftermath of Japanese massive violation of human rights?” So, during my senior research, I analyzed how former “comfort women” expressed their collective trauma and how their narratives about the remembrance have been integrated into the dominant public narrative in South Korea. After four months of intensive empirical and theoretical research, I volunteered for two years at the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum, an affiliated organization of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for the Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, in order to continue my pursuit of transitional justice by helping the survivors of the Japanese military sexual slavery fight for justice. Then, since taking several courses, particularly “transitional justice” course at the University of Amsterdam, I have questioned the limitation of legal approach to transitional justice for the issue of the Japanese military sexual slavery and considered the development of its grassroots initiative. Thus, in the thesis, I aim to examine the development of an action referred to as the Wednesday Demonstration, a weekly demonstration by former “comfort women,” the Korean Council, and other activists, calling for a Japanese public apology, in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul since 1992. Through studying the role of the grassroots movement as a mechanism for transitional justice, this study will allow us to explore a victim-centric approach to transitional justice. 5 Figure I. The Picture of Hwang Geum-ju, former “comfort woman” at the 651st Wednesday Demonstration By [responding] like this, what are you [Japan] going to leave in history? What are you going to do when we [victims of the Japanese military sexual slavery] die? It would be still unsatisfactory even if you apologize to death. However, by responding like this, how could we live when we still feel anger, unfairness, and sadness? I will come here [to the Wednesday Demonstration] on every Wednesday until I die. Even though it is difficult, I will come until [the issue of the Japanese military sexual slavery] will be resolved. Hwang Geum-ju, former “Comfort woman”1 1 Original sentences in: 이렇게 해 가지고 역사에 뭘 남길 거야? 우리들 다 죽고 나면 그 땐 어떻게 할 거냐구? 죽도록 사죄해도 시원찮은 판에 이러고 있으니 우리가 억울하고 서러워서 어떻게 살아. 내가 죽기 전에는 매일 매일 나올 거야. 힘들어도 해결될 때 까지….. Hwang Geum-ju,황금주 (1927 - 2013) On April 6, 2005 (651st Wednesday Demonstration) Hankyoreh, 한겨례 신문사 Sunshil Kim, Suyoil 12 si 수요일 12 시 [Wednesday, 12 PM], (Seoul: War and Women’s Human Rights Museum. 2017), 16-17. 6 Introduction to the Wednesday Demonstration Every Wednesday, uniformed high school students, university students, foreign tourists, Japanese activists, and journalists gather in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.2 As noon approaches, a van, named “the hope van,” stops on the other side of the embassy, and gray- haired Halmonis (a term meaning “grandmothers” in Korean) get out of the van.3 Meanwhile, a group of Korean riot police appears, and a police line is made on the road in front of the embassy to prepare for
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