AFTERMATH
AFTERMATH
AFTERMATH
The Allies had set down the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. The essence of these policies was simple and straightforward:
The demilitarization of Japan, so that it would not again become a danger to peace; democratization, meaning that, while no particular form of government would be forced upon the Japanese.
It takes a parliamentary-based political system and the was Emperor changed to symbolic status. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur served as Japan’s de facto leader and played a central role in implementing reforms. He had shut down comfort stations and other places of prostitution in 1946.
It was truly hard to pinpoint exact numbers or documentations for the causalities done by the Japanese. This is due to the fact they had the Three Alls Policy. The Three Alls Policy where Japan scorched earth strategy adopted during their time in China even before World War II, the three “alls” being
Japan's destruction of the evidence throughout the war was not fruitless. The lack of evidence caused a mess in collecting concrete data to establish the numbers of actual causalities and the numbers of “comfort women” who were recruited, to how many actually died by the end of the war. With the Three Alls Policy, and various testimonies from “comfort women” it became clear, that the Japanese would kill anyone alive. Just to get rid of any evidence.
There’s an issue with historians and scholars from different countries stating different numbers in regards to how many “comfort women” were recruited. The numbers ranged as low as 20,000 stated by Japanese historians, to as high as 400,000 by Chinese scholars.
In 1993, the UN’s Global Tribunal on Violations of Women’s Human Rights estimated that at the end of World War II, 90 percent of the “comfort women” had died.
These numbers are based on "a 1975 [sic.] statement by Seijuro Arafune, Liberal Democratic Party member of the Japanese Diet, that 145,000 Korean sex slaves died during the Second World War.”
During the war, Koreans were told that they were now Japanese. This was to persuade them to place money in deposit accounts. They deposited 110 billion yen, and the money was all lost at the end of the war. Now they are demanding that the money be returned. They say, "Give us back Korea's wealth, the wealth Japanese bureaucrats held on to during 36 years of rule." They say Koreans were drafted by Japan during the war and taken from Korea to work, and those who worked well were used as soldiers, and 576,000 of those soldiers are now dead. There are claims that 142,000 Korean comfort women are dead, killed by the Japanese military's sexual abuses. Now they are demanding pensions for a total of 900,000 victims. At first, 5 billion dollars was claimed as compensation, but the sum has been whittled down and now they say they are willing to settle for 300 million dollars.
During the Korea-Japan Treaty negotiations (up to 1965), representatives of the Republic of Korea stated that 1,032,684 Koreans had been recruited to serve as laborers, soldiers, and personnel attached to the Japanese military, and that 102,603 of these had been injured or had died. At the time, no mention was made of comfort women.
During the war girls were paid by these soldiers. However most of their money was either saved up or they were persuaded to put them into the bank.
As a result, most of the comfort women ended up penniless at the end of the war.
The Pacific War ended on 15 August 1945, but those comfort women who survived could not return home easily. It is known that many women gave up the idea of returning to their home out of a feeling of shame and remained in a foreign land, staying there for the rest of their days. Among those Korean women taken to China who remained there after the war some returned to South Korea only in 1990s.
Many suffered from physical disabilities and venereal disease, and were unable to bear children. Others could not marry. And those who did eventually marry often had to conceal their past, unable to tell others of the pain they felt in their hearts. This would have been one of the heaviest burdens to bear. The women have lived for more than half a century after the war, suffering practically as much as they did during the several years they spent in military comfort stations.
In 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco also known as the Treaty of Peace with Japan, ensured that Japan would recognize the independence of Korea and renounced all rights to Taiwan mandated by the United Nations.
Japan intended to directly compensate individuals, but the Korean government insisted on receiving the sum itself and “spent most of the money on economic development.
A final agreement was reached in the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, this diplomatic agreement established diplomatic relations between the two East Asian neighbor. Japan agreed to provide an $800 million aid and low-interest loan package over 10 years. Japan intended to directly compensate individuals, but the Korean government insisted on receiving the sum itself and “spent most of the money on economic development, focusing on infrastructure and the promotion of heavy industry.”
In 1995, the Japanese government set up the public-private Asian Women’s Fund (AWF) to distribute additional compensation to South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands and Indonesia. 61 Korean, 13 Taiwanese, 211 Filipino, and 79 Dutch former “comfort women” were provided with a signed apology from the then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, stating “As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as ‘comfort women.’” Many former Korean comfort women rejected the compensation on principle – although the Asian Women’s Fund was set up by the Japanese government, its money came from the government but from private donations, hence the compensation was not “official”. Eventually, 61 former Korean “comfort women” accepted 5 million yen (approx. $42,000) per person from the AWF along, with the signed, apology, while 142 others received funds from the government of Korea. The fund was dissolved on March 31, 2007.
No activities in China or North Korea were funded. The Chinese and Japanese governments were unable to reach any agreement, and Japan had no regular diplomatic relations with North Korea.
There were various reasons on why these women refused to share their stories of horror for decades. Many refused to do so out of fear. The fear of being stigmatized by their family, peers and the entire world. They also felt ashamed and humiliated that this had happened to them, or were concerned that this might affect their family reputation if they decide to return. Others feared the consequences if they have spoken up about the brutalities.
It wasn’t until August 1991 that South Korea’s Kim Hak-soon came forward and testified about her experiences as a sexual slave for the Japanese military. She had her testimony televised. Ms. Kim was the only one complainant to use her own name in a lawsuit demanding compensation for Pacific War victims. The lawsuit was lodge in December 1991. She died in 1997, but the court case is still going. She was the first women in her country to tell her story. With her courage to coming forward has allowed others to come forward about their stories.
Maria Rosa Luna Henson, or “Lola Rosa”, the first Filipina to publicly speak about her story in 1992. She decided to write about her war-time experience in the book, Comfort Women: A Slave of Destiny. The only two people knew about Lola Rosa’s story before she decided to speak up were her late mother and her dead husband. With Lola Rosa’s story, fifty Filipinas would soon follow her example and reveal themselves and their personal stories to not only the world but to their families too. She died in August 1997.
The Japanese government denied legal responsibility and refused to pay the victims. However, due to the growing pressure of continued protests and appeals by the survivors and their supporters, Japan finally sets up the Asian Women’s Fund (AWF) in 1995.
Lee Yong-soo was another “comfort woman” from South Korea. She came forward to testify about her experience in June 1992. She registered with the Korean government as a “comfort women”, being the twenty-ninth woman to testify. Coming forward gave her life a true purpose: “I thought I was worthless. I didn’t think about it, and nobody asked me. Until the women came out, I did not exist.” She is now an activist, where she attended various conferences, and Congressional sessions to talk about her experiences during World War II. She continues to participate in weekly demonstrations held on Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy. As of 2019, she is still alive.
