• Comfort Women
  • Stories Making History

“You Guys Come and Pay Compensation and Apologize”

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  • Year
  • Age
  • Contents
  • 1923
  •  
  • Born in Yeongdong, Chungcheongbuk-do Province.
  • 1938
  • (at 16 years old)
  • Abducted in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul and spent years as a comfort woman for Japanese soldiers.
    near the Mudan River, in Manchuria
  • 1940
  • (18 years old).
  • Pregnant with a first child.
    Transferred to a comfort station in Singapore.
  • 1941
  • (19 years old).
  • Gave birth to a child.
    The child soon died.
  • 1942
  • (20 years old).
  • Gave birth to a second child.
    The second child died soon after birth.
  • 1943
  • (21 years old).
  • Gave birth to a third child.
    The third child died soon after birth.
  • 1944
  • (22 years old)
  • Gave birth to a fourth baby girl.
  • 1945
  • (23 years old)
  • After liberation, returned to her hometown in Yeongdong with her daughter.
  • 1946
  • (24 years old)
  • Started living in the house of a man named Yang in Pohang.
  • 1948
  • (26 years old)
  • Started working as a vendor in Gyeongsang Province, Daejeon, and Seoul.
  • Around 1960
  • (38 years old)
  • Adopted a cousin’s child as a daughter.
  • 1964
  • (42 years old)
  • Started working as a live-in maid in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul.
    The daughter from the comfort station adopted by an American couple.
  • 1965
  • (43 years old)
  • The daughter from the comfort station died.
  • In the early 1970s
  •  
  • Adopt an orphan as a middle school student.
  • 2001
  • (79 years old)
  • Registered as a former comfort woman.
  • 2004
  • (82 years old)
  • Living with the adopted daughter’s family in Incheon.
Yeongdong→Seoul→Manchuria→Singapore→Yeongdong
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“Sometimes I think about it while I’m lying down and then I get up suddenly from anger. I feel frustrated. [Beating her chest] I feel frustration here. I have to breathe a big sigh when it happens. And then I look at the ceiling and think about nothing. Then it gets better. After a while bad thinking comes out again. Then I walk out of the room to get some fresh air. Outside, I take a deep breath. If I can do it naturally, I feel much better. But I have to force it sometimes, which makes me feel worse. And I keep reminding myself about what happened.
“Just thinking about it drives me crazy. Really like a crazy person. I have to breathe deeply when that happens. But I have to force it. Sometimes I drink liquor to make me get a good sleep. But walking outside makes me stay awake all night.
“So I want to say to them…you guys come and pay compensation. We are old women now without getting married just because of you guys. We haven’t known happiness in our lives. So you guys come and pay compensation and apologize. That’s what I want to tell them.

Cotton Textile Factory

There was a hut on a mountain slope. That’s where he took me.

“[My family used to live in] Daebatma-ri in Yeongdong[note 112] about four kilometers from the county seat. And then [we] moved to theYeongdong county seat.
“School? I’ve never been to school because my father wouldn’t let me. He said girls don’t need education. All they need is training for housework. He even took my books away. I was a smart girl. I still regret not having been able to go to school. I blame my father for that.
“[My siblings] are eight, including six daughters and two sons. All six daughters—who were older than me—got married.
“[After moving to Yeongdong] I worked in a Japanese family’s home. I did babysitting and the like to make a living. I once stole money from that house to give to people who did, what was it called? Independence [movement]. I was going to steal money and give it to [the people involved in the Independence movement]. As I was a babysitter, I was wearing a baby blanket. That was where I hid the money. I walked out with the money hidden. So I went home. The next day the man looked for the money. He accused me of stealing it. So a little later, I took the money back and replaced it. Then he said, “I didn’t know the money was there all along!” I put it back in the corner. I was lucky not to have given it away. If I did, I would have been in big trouble. I quit the job after a month of babysitting. And then the chauffeur of the house said to me, “You are such a shrewd girl.” I should have learned to read and write.’
“Back then there were those people who moved around showing movies in one town to the next. If I went to see the movies, my father would have caught me and beat me. So I would sneak out. There was a young man who lived in an inn nearby. He took a liking to me. If my father knew, he would have beaten me. So I walked into someone else’s house as if it were mine. He won’t be able to follow me alone the next time. That’s how shrewd I was. But I wonder why I was abducted like that.
“So my family was not so affluent. An aunt of mine was living alone with her two sons [in Seoul]. Her house was big, so she made a living by letting the rooms out. She asked me to help her.
“So it was when I was 15 or 16 years old. I am not sure. There was a cotton textile factory in Yeongdeungpo in Seoul. Maybe it was run by Japanese people.
“I told [my parents] that I would go work for the cotton textile factory [and went to visit my aunt’s].
“Once I got off [at Yeongdeungpo Station] a man approached and asked where I was going. So I said I am going to work at a factory. Then he said come walk with me because I know some people who work in the factories. But he took me to a hut in the mountain slope. I asked, “Why are you taking me here? You said you would take me to a factory?” He answered, “Let’s go to the factory tomorrow morning. It’s too late now.” So that’s how it happened.
“I don’t even know if he was Japanese or Korean because he wore Korean traditional clothes. Later I found out he was a gunzoku, not military personnel. That’s what I think. From the look of it. From the way he talked, he was like a Japanese man. But from his looks, he was a Korean. I don’t know.

Running away

”Will You Come with Me If I Run Away?”

“The next morning, he brought me a rice ball. While eating it, he said let’s go. So I took the train. Back then there was a train between Korea and Manchuria. I got off at a place called the Mudan River in Manchuria.
“There was a small house in the middle of nowhere in the Manchurian plain. There were so many small rooms in the house. It was quite apart from the town.
“The room was small enough for one person to stretch out. In this room a girl would have sex with soldiers. There was a flimsy military supply blanket. The surroundings were frigid cold and I don’t know how I survived in that cold.
“The soldier customers were not many. They would come once in a while.
“I never saw any Koreans. Most Japanese customers were kashikan(non-commissioned officers) or gunzoku. Kashikan were those with three stars on their shoulders.
“Several days later I thought this is not a place to stay longer. There was a girl who was older than me. She asked me, “Will you come with me if I run away?” I said, “Yes, I will follow you if you do!” So we snuck out. But how could we know they were watching us. They shot in the air. So we were scared to death and couldn’t run that much. We were caught and brought back home. She was beaten badly. I was not so talkative and kept quiet. They beat her up saying, “You are the one who talked her into this.” They poured water in the nostrils. So it was the age-old practice of pouring water mixed with red pepper powder into the nostrils. The way they did it was so cruel.
“If I wasn’t caught then, it would have been better. I still have a problem hearing with this ear because I got slapped so hard.

To Singapore

I Didn’t Even Know I Was Pregnant. I Was Just Taken to Singapore.

“They said we are going to Busan. So I thought I would be able to see my older sister.[note 113] I just figured I would run away to my sister’s house. That’s how stupid I was. So I followed them. We stayed in a place like an inn or something. After that they told me to board a ship. They said we will go to a good place once you board it. But it took one month to reach the destination. You know the thing that moves around underwater?[note 114] It took full one month to get to Singapore to avoid submarine attacks. So we weren’t fed properly for one month. How bad would we look after all that? We were almost starved to death. The baby was inside my womb. It was horrible.
“I was taken to Singapore without knowing I got pregnant.
“Someone told me pasque flower roots are effective for abortion. So I took it, but it almost killed me. That’s how toxic that was, the pasque flower roots. Some others told me to rub my stomach [rubbing her stomach with her hand] with an iron. But it didn’t work, either.
“After a few months, I gave birth to a baby. I didn’t even have time to go to the hospital. The baby was coming out upside down. I thought I would die there then. My friends told me the baby is coming out upside down and push harder. So I pushed harder and I survived.
“I survived from near death. But [the baby] died. It was a good thing for me.
“Maybe it was God helping me to live a better life. How could I raise the child?
“[The baby was] dead and I couldn’t even recuperate. There is no seaweed to boil to make seaweed soup. I just had rice in cold water. That way all my teeth were gone. About a month after the delivery, they told me to start taking customers.

Fucking Japs

The fucking bastards, why are they coming so often?

“There was a big, weird-looking house a few kilometers away from downtown Singapore.
“There were about 20 women in the house on the first and second floors.
“And then we were transferred to a smaller house. From this house, we could crawl in and out. Farther away from the downtown. Maybe it was the frontline. There was this place where you go in at night. Air-raid shelter. We were digging the shelter, but airplanes were flying over us making a terrible noise. So we went inside. The water was this high [pointing to her waist] with bugs coming out here and there.
“[The place we were stationed] was called Shin-machi. There was just one Shin-machi in Singapore.
“Singapore was a better place to live. There were not many customers coming. Just two, three, or four a week. I would work in the kitchen and [if the other girls complained] I would tell them I am busy preparing meals. I can’t go out, I would say. Then they would do it with the customers.
“The food was not so good. The only thing that we ate every day was eggplant. I am sick and tired of eggplant because we fried it in oil for every meal. We would have meals with eggplant and rice. But the rice was not good either. Like short-grain rice.
“We had rice that soldiers brought for us. Full of bugs all the time.
“There was nothing to wear. We didn’t have money to buy clothes. There’s no need to talk about it. The women who spent years there couldn’t even buy clothes. Then you know how things were.
“You think the Japanese soldiers paid us after they did it with us? No, they didn’t, the Japs. Sometimes nice soldiers paid us a little. And Korean men were kind of nice to us. There was not much money changing hands. I didn’t put on make-up. Other girls would spend a lot of money buying cosmetics. But I never bought those. What’s the point of putting on make-up? Why would you want to make yourself pretty in front of the morons? I didn’t do anything to my hair, either. I didn’t even wash my face. I would go out to see [the soldier customers] and then they would just walk out without saying anything. Sometimes I went to the room with other girls along. I was such a shrewd girl.
“If the bastards came, we would say in Japanese, Irasshaimase, but I never spoke in Japanese. I would always speak in Korean, especially when we were together. If a girl’s name was Chunja, then her Japanese name would be Yoshiko. But I would insist on calling her Chunja, never in Japanese.
“There were Japanese women selling their bodies. They were sold to Singapore. I knew a small girl who spoke such good Japanese. She would beat up Japanese girls whenever she felt like it. In a public bath, she would step into the tub without washing her body with soap [where there were Japanese women in the tub]. Then [the Japanese women] would run away complaining Chōsenjin kitanai, meaning Koreans are dirty. Then we would take the public bath to ourselves. That’s how bad we were.
“[Whenever soldiers came] we would go, the fucking bastards, why are they coming so often? The fuckers, why are they coming here every day! We cursed them a lot. But how could they understand what we were talking about? Ha-ha, they were cursed a lot by us. This bozo or that bozo, get shot and die already. Huh-huh.

The Gentlemen

Would My Father Allow Me to Get Married to a Japanese Man?

“There was a Japanese man who took a liking to me. He brought me all kinds of gifts to buy my heart. Still I kept saying, “No.” Why would I live with a Jap? “No way,” I said. Every time he came, he took care of me. He never stayed long in my room, just brought food to eat. At the time, the Japanese people had lots of good stuff to eat. He brought all that to me. He begged me to live with him. He even said he would send a letter to his parents. He sent me dresses and pleaded with me to get married. But I wouldn’t listen. I still remember how he looked vividly. I would know right away if I saw him now. I wonder if he is alive and how he is.
“I was scared of my father. Even while fighting with other girls, I would stop and run away when I heard his voice. He hated Japanese people so much. Back then, some Japanese were walking around villages and threw water colors on those wearing white clothes. That means to make clothes with color fabric. Whenever my father saw that kind of scene, he would beat them up so hard. That’s how scary he was. Then would my father allow me to get married to a Japanese man? No way.
“There were some Koreans, like sailors, supervisors to prisoners of war, and gunzoku. These people came once in a while in a group of two or three.
“There was a Korean man whose last name was Yang. He was from Pohang and a military man, I mean gunzoku. He was so nice to me and understanding. He told me not to take customers until he came. Once he came, he stayed until late so that I didn’t have to take customers.
“He said let’s get married and live together in his house [after liberation]. So I said that I would. I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to because he was such a gentleman and I didn’t want to break his heart. I was a bad girl.

Syphilis

I was sick, but I was glad that I had it.

“I asked for disinfectant. Once I disinfected my down there, worms began coming out. They were swarming in the water. You know sakku (condom)? Something men wear when they do it, sakku. Most men refused to wear it. So what’s the point of washing with disinfectant? I got pregnant again.
“I was pregnant the second time. There was no way to abort the fetus once you were pregnant back then. That’s why so many babies died while being born.
“This is why I think the second baby died. I did a lot of drugs, right? Disinfectant. A lot of pills and injections. That’s why the baby was not healthy and got sick.
“I almost died from syphilis and gonorrhea. It was just after I left Manchuria. There was no time for me to check in Manchuria. For one whole year, I didn’t go to the doctor for a checkup. I had no idea that I was infected. But it was killing me little by little. My down there looked like suction cups on an octopus. Damn it, it still itches.
“Every time I got checked [in Singapore], doctors would give me Compound 606 injections. I would visit the doctor’s office once a week. Once I was diagnosed as positive, then they put a notice in front of my room door. So customers wouldn’t come in. Once you are found positive, you have to visit the doctor’s office so often.
“‘Then I said to myself, “Yes, this is a good chance. Even though I am sick, still it’s a good thing.”
“A Japanese guy came in and said he wanted to sleep with me. Then I went, “You didn’t see the notice?” He said, “It’s okay, I can wear the sakku (condom).” If I kept saying no, he would turn his back and leave complaining.
“So that’s how good the notice on the door was.
“Once I got better, they took the notice away and I started taking customers.

A Friend’s Death

”What’s the Point of Going Back Home After Ruining My Body in This Place?”

“There was a friend of mine who killed herself by taking hard drugs. She was kind of old, a woman from Jeolla Province.
“She left a note. ‘What’s the point of going back home after ruining my body in this place?’ and killed herself. I entered her room in the morning to have breakfast but she was already stiff. You know, opium? You die after sucking blood from your finger and taking opium. That’s what they would tell me. You die quietly in your sleep. That’s how she died.
“It was a shame. She was such a nice woman, with a lot of affection. After her death, we took a picture of us sitting together. All of us sitting in a row, with flowers and all. You know, the uniform nurses wear? We had the uniforms custom-tailored together. There were other pictures of us wearing white uniforms. [The pictures were] taken by the Japs, the soldiers. Every one of us had a copy. But most of the pictures were gone during the war after the house was burned down.
“I am sure some of the women stayed on. They may have thought, “What kind of welcome will I get in Korea?” and decided to stay where they were.
“We were the first ones who learned about our liberation. A Korean military attachment told us about it. Japanese people didn’t know about it until much later.
“There was a big floor. All of us gathered there. All Koreans gathered there, with [Japanese soldiers were] looking on to see what the Koreans would do.
“It was about 20 or 30 people. There were men, too. Some of them were gunzoku, some of them were.
“I couldn’t come right back [after the liberation]. They were fighting and shooting in a war after independence. How can we get out of there in that situation? So we stayed there for months. For months, we spent time doing nothing, eating and sleeping. Like beggars. Huh-huh.

To the Hometown

I was ashamed, and felt people were watching me.

“I gave birth to four babies there, but only one survived. I took the last one home after the liberation.
“Just two of us who came back with a baby. One had a boy and I had a girl. Just two of us came home with a baby.
“The girl had her first-year birthday party in Singapore. I made rice cake in a mortar. Just after that we took the boat. By the time we arrived in Busan, it was late at night and there was no car to take us anywhere. All of us had to go back home, but we had no money. So we slept in the street. In the morning, we took the train back home with the help of the conductor.
“I was ashamed. I was ashamed when I took the train because everyone looked at me. They knew I was a comfort woman. Kids didn’t know. But young people who were learned enough knew it. That I was abducted to serve in the Japanese Army. I was really ashamed.
“Once I got home, there were no parents. So I went to my uncle’s. I asked him where my parents went. He said, “You know how desperately they looked for you? They asked us to take care of you if you came.”
“As there was no family, I just sat there and cried.
“[Our whole family] went to Manchuria after my older brother moved there. They suffered a lot, I was told. I didn’t know the details as I was away. But I heard about what happened.
“I spent about half a year at my cousin’s house. I felt increasingly uneasy about staying there. So I went to my older sister’s.
“Still who will welcome a new family member with a small child? They are already having a hard time making a living.

Rumor

Even if I wanted to go, I wouldn’t because of the shameful rumor.

“Yang sent me a letter. I didn’t understand a word in it. How could I know? I am an illiterate. I just put the letter in my bag and visited his house. It was Guryongpo in Pohang. I delivered his letter to his mother who said thank you very much. I am glad he is alive. And she told me to stay there until her son returns. I politely declined, “No, I can’t. I have to go home.” But she insisted I stay. I think he wrote something in the letter. The mother said you will have a hard time back home if there are no parents. So she gave me a room and asked me to stay.
“After a year [Yang] came back. But I wasn’t so glad to see him. I just felt, “Oh, he came home. I will do what I want.” I would go out a lot to collect greens. He said to his mother,[note 115] “She is not happy to see me after all these years.” And then he sent someone to take me to the temple. He wanted to have a long talk with me. What’s the use of listening? There was no need. So I refused to go. [Yang] came to where I stayed and talked about my past to the neighbors. After all, he was not a nice man. How could he spread rumors about my past like that? So everyone in the village knew about me. Because they knew of my past, I felt ashamed when I met them on the street. So I said, “You bastard. You are the same asshole as other men. Why did you open your mouth about me? How can you do it just because I didn’t want to live with you?”
“Now I wouldn’t go [to Pohang] anymore because of the rumor. It’s shameful. That’s how proud I am of myself.

Restaurant

If I Had not Given Birth to This Girl, I Would Have Worked as a Live-in Maid.

“I didn’t need to walk around all day to make a living. I started working because I knew I would starve to death without any income.
“If I had not given birth to this girl, I would have worked as a live-in maid. So I went to some remote town in Gyeongsang Province. In Gyeongsang Province I rented a small space and opened a restaurant.
“My daughter grew up to be a school-age child. But she wasn’t officially in the national registry. So I appealed to the school principal and managed to send her to school. She went to the elementary school there. As she grew up, I figured we have to move to a big city. So I sold the restaurant and moved out to do some business. The money I got from selling the place was not much. Still it was quite a large sum. With that money and the daughter with me.
“I did the restaurant business in Daejeon and Yeongdeungpo…and Cheongsong.[note 116] It was a special penitentiary for repeat criminals. I did a restaurant inside the prison and the business was so good.
“I spent a few years there and my daughter got so seriously sick. So we went to Seoul.

Aftereffects

The Aftereffects of Syphilis Were Still with Me. They Were Harmful to Children, Too.

“So what’s the point of getting married? It was itchy down there to the degree of driving me crazy. I had to scratch like crazy until I bled. Still it wasn’t getting better. Even when I walked on the street, it happened. Then I had to walk to some alley to scratch myself. That’s how serious my problem was. Still how can I talk to anyone about it?
“Even when I scratched myself until it bled, it was still itchy. After a round of scratching, I had a burning feeling after urination. Even then, I couldn’t take a pill for that. I couldn’t go to the doctor or pharmacy out of shame. The only way to relieve the symptom was going to the public bath a lot and cleaning that part with salt water. It was always spring and autumn. That disease gets worse in spring and autumn. Syphilis. Still I couldn’t go to the hospital out of shame.
“When I was there [in Singapore], I was given a lot of pills and shots. That’s why it was okay. But [back in Korea] the itchiness drove me crazy. I could get a little nap after soaking that part in hot water. Just thinking about it now makes me dizzy. The syphilis aftereffects are still with me. They were harmful to children, too. I mean when women give birth to babies. That’s why I didn’t get married.
“The reason my daughter had a heart problem was because of that. She didn’t walk properly. It was okay when she grew up. After she became 19 or 20, her symptoms got worse. The problem was getting worse.
“That kind of problem you had to go to America to treat. Not in Korea.
“[My daughter said] Mom, I can’t survive here. Please send me to America to treat my heart problem.
I said, “I will do anything to make you healthy.” So I gave her 13 million won, or 5 million won, from the savings from the restaurant business and housemaid work.
“It was a rich family living in Hyehwa-dong. I got 500,000 won in cash from the family. I added the money to my savings for my daughter. [At the time] monthly pay was only 20,000 or 18,000 won at best.
“After I received 500,000 won from that house, I started working as a live-in maid.
“[She went to America] and I sent her money. She would have survived if she had met someone nice. But she wasn’t lucky enough and she died in less than one year. Someone there told me she would send my daughter’s personal belongings in packages. But it would have cost a lot to send. So I said no, don’t send them.

A Buy

I Was Envious of People who Walk Hand-in-Hand With Their Kids.

“It was Sangju.[note 117] Do you know the Veterans Administration? It’s for former soldiers’ welfare. In that Veterans Administration office, I worked in the cafeteria kitchen.
“There was a boy [in his early teens] whose parents had died and he had nowhere to go.
“As I had no child, I decided to adopt him to do some good work.
“But he was becoming a delinquent. He was just a high school freshman but he would drink and fight with other boys. In the end, his school expelled him. I went to the school to plead for clemency and he was reinstated. He managed to graduate and now he will enter the Aerospace University. You know, Aerospace University. The place where you learn how to talk on a walkie talkie. Once you have a degree from that university, it’s so easy to get a job anywhere. So he joined a company in Suwon. He does some work related to wireless or something and gets paid a lot.
“I didn’t have a lot of money because I gave it all away to the daughter [who went to America]. So I asked him, “If you lend me 150,000 won, I can rent a house outside Seoul.” I will pay you back later. But this scoundrel refused. He wouldn’t give me the money. So I rented a small room with the money I get every month.
“[My son’s] wife ran away and left two daughters with him. She ran away with everything he had. So now he’s penniless. [The son] came to see me with the two kids. He couldn’t go to work because of the kids. He asked me to take care of the children. I said, “You are really an asshole.” If you had lent me the money when I asked for it, I would have taken care of the children and all by now. You had several houses under your name and still refused to lend me 150,000 won. Now you come to see me to ask for that? I don’t need it. I don’t. I don’t want to deal with people like you anymore.” He came back later. He begged me to take care of the kids.
“You know how much I suffered while doing the restaurant and water trade. You are not grateful for that. I adopted you and educated you to become a good person because I was envious of people who walk hand-in-hand with their children. You have a long way to go to pay back everything I did for you. You said no to giving a small sum of money to me? You ungrateful bastard, get out of my house. I don’t want to see you anymore! So I kicked him out.
“He never came back. That’s how I parted with him. I really didn’t want to see him anymore.

Registration

”Now That I am Old. There’s Nothing Shameful in My Life.

“This girl here...[in a small voice] she is the daughter of my cousin.
“I raised her since she was 3 or 4 years old.
“[Her parents] died from an unknown disease. Now it’s called cancer, but back then nobody knew what killed them. Their hair fell out and all.
“[She didn’t have her name in the national registry] so she won’t be able to get married. I told her to register as if she was adopted by me. Because of that, the government wouldn’t give me money. Because I have a daughter and a son-in-law. So I thought I don’t care about being shameful. I will just register for the former comfort women list.[note 118] “After the money was reduced, I was pressured so much. Not because of people around me looking down on me, but because of my pride. My friends would come to my house with clothes and things, because I had little money. With just 80,000 won, it’s not enough to buy groceries. So there was no other way. “What the hell, now that I am old and there’s nothing shameful in my life. That’s how I registered.

Tears

I never cried in my life.

“I never shed tears. I don’t have tears in my tear glands. Some people say I am so aloof. I didn’t cry when my uncle passed away. They found fault with me behind my back. Even when my older sister’s husband died, I didn’t cry. People talked. How can I cry when I don’t have tears in me?
“You know the TV drama? The story about a woman who gets married with her child left with her divorced one? Then a stepmother comes in and she would beat her up. Whenever I watch dramas like that, I cry a lot with so many tears coming out. That’s the only occasion where I cry a lot. I would think to myself I should never do things like that in my life. With that kind of thinking, I get so emotional. But I don’t get sad when I am told someone died. I can’t help it when I don’t have tears in my tear glands. Should I put some saliva on my eyes? Even now I don’t get sad and cry when someone dies.
“Of course, I feel pain in my heart. But no tears. There is no crying out loud.
“I once said to a friend of mine, “I don’t know why I can’t cry and shed tears.” [She said] maybe you lived such a hard life with a lot of grief.
“That’s how much I suffered. I suffered. That’s why no tears.
“[When I heard the news of my daughter’s death] other people would have fainted. [The person who delivered the news said,] “I was worried about you falling on the floor upon hearing the news.” So I said, “There’s no need for fainting.” Dead people are dead and alive ones like us should move on.
“I had no tears then. I am not lying. No tears, not even a runny nose. I just couldn’t.
“Even when [a friend died in the comfort station] I didn’t cry and said, “Farewell, sister.” But all the others cried their eyes out. I envy you to go to a place with no worries. I didn’t cry. But if I met someone who spent time together in Singapore and talked about things like me giving birth, suffering from lack of food, and drinking cold water after delivery that caused my teeth to fall out…then maybe I would have cried. Damn.

 
[note 112]
Yeongdong County, North Chungcheong Province.
[note 113]
At the time, there was an older sister of hers living in Busan.
[note 114]
Submarine.
[note 115]
Yang’s mother lived in a Buddhist temple in the mountains.
[note 116]
Cheongsong County in North Gyeongsang Province.
[note 117]
Sangju City, North Gyeongang Province.
[note 118]
Jeom-dol Jang had been paid 300,000 won a month as a recipient of the government’s livelihood protection program. After the law was revised in 2001, however, her monthly stipend was reduced to 80,000 won because her registry indicated she had a stepdaughter and a son-in-law. That’s what prompted her to register as a former comfort woman under Japanese colonialism.
[note 112]
Yeongdong County, North Chungcheong Province.
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[note 113]
At the time, there was an older sister of hers living in Busan.
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[note 114]
Submarine.
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[note 115]
Yang’s mother lived in a Buddhist temple in the mountains.
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[note 116]
Cheongsong County in North Gyeongsang Province.
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[note 117]
Sangju City, North Gyeongang Province.
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[note 118]
Jeom-dol Jang had been paid 300,000 won a month as a recipient of the government’s livelihood protection program. After the law was revised in 2001, however, her monthly stipend was reduced to 80,000 won because her registry indicated she had a stepdaughter and a son-in-law. That’s what prompted her to register as a former comfort woman under Japanese colonialism.
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