A Comfort Woman Remembers

In Hildi Kang's Under the Black Umbrella Voices from Colonial Korea 1910 - 1945, former Korean comfort women Kim Pongsuk from Kyonggi province recalled the day she was summoned to serve "a higher cause."

"The Japanese told us that we would serve the Emperor and the great cause of the Japanese empire by becoming nurses and taking care of the Imperial Japanese soldiers. They told us that the pay would be very good and we would be well taken care of. Some girls were really very excited about doing this."

But the brutal reality set in when the girls were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers.

"The men lined up outside the barrack doors where the women were, and took their turn. The girl just lay there inside. Each man had a given amount of time, about seven minutes. If he wasn't out in time, the next man went right in and yanked him out. Each door had a long line of men waiting their turns."