August 14, 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of Japanese military sexual slavery victim-survivor Kim Hak-soon’s first public testimony. Kim Hak-soon’s courageous public testimony revealed the truth that had been silenced and inspired victim-survivors around the world to come forward, contributing to redress for victim-survivors. This testimony also raised wartime sexual violence to the international community as a universal issue of women's rights and opened the stage for civil movements to address it. As a result, the international community has renewed human rights standards and rewritten the history of global human rights from a woman’s perspective.
Even though 30 years had passed since Kim Hak-soon’s courageous public testimony, Japan continues to evade legal responsibility, to organize systemic campaigns to remove the Statues of Peace, and to deny the historical truth. The ultra-right and history revisionists are expanding their activities as well. In this situation, we need to seek new directions on the ways in which we remember, extend, and inherit victim-survivors’ testimonies.
The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan hold an international conference on Friday, August 13th in commemoration of August 14 International Memorial Day for Japanese Military “Comfort Women.” This conference aims to spread the truth on the Japanese military sexual slavery issue and to discuss the implications of victim-survivors’ activism in multi-dimensional perspectives. Long-time experts and researchers of new generation in this field will engage in serious discussions beyond the various barriers of generation, country, nation, and language. We kindly ask for your attention and participation.
○ Date: Friday, August 13, 2021, 10:00~19:00 KST
○ Location: Youth Culture Place JU Dongkyodong (International participants can join via Zoom)
○ Language: Simultaneous interpretations available in Korean, English, and Japanese
○ Organizers: The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan
○ Co-hosts: The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, The Research Network on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery, The Korean Association of Women’s Studies, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea Kim Sanghee, Chair of the Gender Equality and Family Committee of the National Assembly Jung Chounsook, Members of the National Assembly Woo Wonshik, Kim Minki, Hong Ihkpyo, Lee Jaejung, Kim Woni, Min Hyungbae, Han Junho, and Jang Hyeyoung
Opening Remarks Moderator: CHOI Kwang-kee (Board member, The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan)
10:15~10:30
Message of Solidarity (Video) LEE Ok-seon (Human Rights Ativist & Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-Survivor) LEE Yong-soo (Human Rights Ativist & Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-Survivor) Theo van Boven (Professor, Maastricht University, Netherlands & Former UN’s Special Rapporteur) Gay McDougall (Professor, Fordham University, USA & Former UN’s Special Rapporteur) Ustinia Dolgopol (Professor, Flinders University, Australia & Former Prosecutor, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery) Patricia Viseur Sellers (Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK & Former Prosecutor, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery) Indai Sajor (Adviser, The Norwegian Refugee Council, Norway & Former Co-chair, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery) WATANABE Mina(Director, WAM, Japan)
Kim Hak-soon’s Testimony and Memorial Day (Video)
10:30~12:00
<Session 1> The Implications of the 30th anniversary of Kim Hak-soon’s Public Testimony Moderator: LEE Na-Young (Chair of board, The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance & Professor, Chung-ang University) Keynote Speech. CHUNG Chin-sung (Member, United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination & Former Co-chair, The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan) “The Present of Historicity: Testimony Paves the Way for Human Rights and Peace!” 1) YANG Ching-ja (Co-chair, Japan Nationwide Action for the Resolution of the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” Issue, Japan) “Kim Hak-soon’s Testimony and History of Movement in Japan” 2) UEMURA Takashi (Publisher and President of Weekly Friday, Japan & Former Asahi Shimbun Reporter) “What Kim Hak-soon Wanted to Tell: The Report from the Journalist Who First Reported”
12:00~13:30
Lunch
13:30~15:10
<Session 2>The Waves and Echoes of Kim Hak-soon’s Testimony Moderator: BAE, Eun-kyung (Associate Professor, Seoul National University) 1) YANG Hyunah (Professor, Seoul National University) “A Panoramic View on the Significance of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-Survivors‘ Testimony” 2) Alexis Dudden (Professor, University of Connecticut, USA) “Kim Hak-soon Told the Truth: What That Means Then and Now” 3) Elizabeth W. Son (Professor, Northwestern University, USA) “Living Justice: The Power of Survivors’ Voices” 4) Kathryn Bathgate (Master Student, University of Münster, Germany) “The Role of Autobiographies in Activism: How Former Comfort Women Used Testimonies to Fight for Their Rights”
15:10~15:20
Break
15:20~17:00
<Session 3>Backlash of Historical Denialism Moderator: KIM Deug-joong (Director, Office of Research on Historical Materials, National Institute of Korean History) 1) KIM Pu-ja (Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan) “Japan’s Historical Revisionism and Denial of Survivor Testimony” 2) Tomomi Yamaguchi (Associate Professor, Montana State University, USA) “The ‘History Wars’ by the Japanese Right-wing and the Ramseyer Issue” 3) KANG Sung-hyun (Professor, SungKongHoe University) “‘Ramseyer Incident’ and Right-Wing Historical Denialism: Focusing on Ideology, Method, Organization, and Activity” 4) RA Yu-shin (Lecturer, GPB College & Member, the Korea Verband, Germany) “Analysis of Difficulties in Statue of Peace Establishment in Germany and Proposal for Future Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ Movement”
17:00~17:15
Break
17:15~18:00
<Session 4>Future Directions and Agenda for the Resolution of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Issue Moderator: KIM Soo-jin (Senior Curator, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History) 1) BAEK Jae-ye (PhD Student, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA) “Testimony of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-survivors in the Processes of Legal Mobilization” 2) LEE Jae-im (PhD Student, Seoul National University) “When the Women Victims and their Harm Entered the Realm of International Politics”
18:00~19:00
Discussion and Q&A Moderator: KIM Soo-jin (Senior Curator, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History)
영상
□ Purpose
August 14, 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of Japanese military sexual slavery victim-survivor Kim Hak-soon’s first public testimony. Kim Hak-soon’s courageous public testimony revealed the truth that had been silenced and inspired victim-survivors around the world to come forward, contributing to redress for victim-survivors. This testimony also raised wartime sexual violence to the international community as a universal issue of women's rights and opened the stage for civil movements to address it. As a result, the international community has renewed human rights standards and rewritten the history of global human rights from a woman’s perspective.
Even though 30 years had passed since Kim Hak-soon’s courageous public testimony, Japan continues to evade legal responsibility, to organize systemic campaigns to remove the Statues of Peace, and to deny the historical truth. The ultra-right and history revisionists are expanding their activities as well. In this situation, we need to seek new directions on the ways in which we remember, extend, and inherit victim-survivors’ testimonies.
The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan hold an international conference on Friday, August 13th in commemoration of August 14 International Memorial Day for Japanese Military “Comfort Women.” This conference aims to spread the truth on the Japanese military sexual slavery issue and to discuss the implications of victim-survivors’ activism in multi-dimensional perspectives. Long-time experts and researchers of new generation in this field will engage in serious discussions beyond the various barriers of generation, country, nation, and language. We kindly ask for your attention and participation.
○ Date: Friday, August 13, 2021, 10:00~19:00 KST
○ Location: Youth Culture Place JU Dongkyodong (International participants can join via Zoom)
○ Language: Simultaneous interpretations available in Korean, English, and Japanese
○ Organizers: The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan
○ Co-hosts: The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, The Research Network on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery, The Korean Association of Women’s Studies, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea Kim Sanghee, Chair of the Gender Equality and Family Committee of the National Assembly Jung Chounsook, Members of the National Assembly Woo Wonshik, Kim Minki, Hong Ihkpyo, Lee Jaejung, Kim Woni, Min Hyungbae, Han Junho, and Jang Hyeyoung
○ Register: https://bit.ly/30conference
○ Inquiries: museum@womenandwar.net
□ Program
Moderator: CHOI Kwang-kee (Board member, The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan)
LEE Ok-seon (Human Rights Ativist & Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-Survivor)
LEE Yong-soo (Human Rights Ativist & Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-Survivor)
Theo van Boven (Professor, Maastricht University, Netherlands & Former UN’s Special Rapporteur)
Gay McDougall (Professor, Fordham University, USA & Former UN’s Special Rapporteur)
Ustinia Dolgopol (Professor, Flinders University, Australia & Former Prosecutor, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery)
Patricia Viseur Sellers (Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK & Former Prosecutor, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery)
Indai Sajor (Adviser, The Norwegian Refugee Council, Norway & Former Co-chair, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery)
WATANABE Mina(Director, WAM, Japan)
Kim Hak-soon’s Testimony and Memorial Day (Video)
Moderator: LEE Na-Young (Chair of board, The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance & Professor, Chung-ang University)
Keynote Speech. CHUNG Chin-sung (Member, United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination & Former Co-chair, The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan)
“The Present of Historicity: Testimony Paves the Way for Human Rights and Peace!”
1) YANG Ching-ja (Co-chair, Japan Nationwide Action for the Resolution of the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” Issue, Japan)
“Kim Hak-soon’s Testimony and History of Movement in Japan”
2) UEMURA Takashi (Publisher and President of Weekly Friday, Japan & Former Asahi Shimbun Reporter)
“What Kim Hak-soon Wanted to Tell: The Report from the Journalist Who First Reported”
Moderator: BAE, Eun-kyung (Associate Professor, Seoul National University)
1) YANG Hyunah (Professor, Seoul National University)
“A Panoramic View on the Significance of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-Survivors‘ Testimony”
2) Alexis Dudden (Professor, University of Connecticut, USA)
“Kim Hak-soon Told the Truth: What That Means Then and Now”
3) Elizabeth W. Son (Professor, Northwestern University, USA)
“Living Justice: The Power of Survivors’ Voices”
4) Kathryn Bathgate (Master Student, University of Münster, Germany)
“The Role of Autobiographies in Activism: How Former Comfort Women Used Testimonies to Fight for Their Rights”
Moderator: KIM Deug-joong (Director, Office of Research on Historical Materials, National Institute of Korean History)
1) KIM Pu-ja (Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan)
“Japan’s Historical Revisionism and Denial of Survivor Testimony”
2) Tomomi Yamaguchi (Associate Professor, Montana State University, USA)
“The ‘History Wars’ by the Japanese Right-wing and the Ramseyer Issue”
3) KANG Sung-hyun (Professor, SungKongHoe University)
“‘Ramseyer Incident’ and Right-Wing Historical Denialism: Focusing on Ideology, Method, Organization, and Activity”
4) RA Yu-shin (Lecturer, GPB College & Member, the Korea Verband, Germany)
“Analysis of Difficulties in Statue of Peace Establishment in Germany and Proposal for Future Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ Movement”
Moderator: KIM Soo-jin (Senior Curator, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History)
1) BAEK Jae-ye (PhD Student, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA)
“Testimony of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victim-survivors in the Processes of Legal Mobilization”
2) LEE Jae-im (PhD Student, Seoul National University)
“When the Women Victims and their Harm Entered the Realm of International Politics”
Moderator: KIM Soo-jin (Senior Curator, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History)
Closing