The Ongoing Battle of Comfort Women

Trigger warning: sexual violence

As many of you know, one of the more heinous war crimes committed during World War II was the use of "comfort women", up to 200,000 majority-South Korean women and girls forced into sex slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army.

The two countries have had very different responses to the crime following the war: both populations have varying memories of the war (partly due to the omission of details in their education), while Japan is reported to have no formal compensation that South Korea has deemed acceptable. Since the war's end, the use of comfort women, along with the lack of formal apology and compensation from Japan to South Korea, has colored Korean-Japanese political relations significantly, which continue to this day.

On January 5th, 2021 a case was raised in South Korean courts once more, which ordered the Japanese government to pay an equivalent of $91800 to 12 surviving victims. Many called it a "landmark ruling" for being the first ruling of its kind; others claim the ruling is largely symbolic due to the fact that Korean courts have no jurisdiction over the Japanese government, and it's likely to be rejected.

Another case is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, January 10th, with the same premise of demanding compensation from Japan. In the wake of the increasing nuclear threat from North Korea, officials in the U.S. (an ally of both countries today) worry that this will make an alliance between the two against North Korea even more difficult than normal. After many similar verdicts in the past years, coupled with the same rebuttal and lack of resolution, Japan and South Korea are left with a tense dispute that still affects security and trade issues between them.

Undoubtedly, the outcomes of these cases continuing in 2021 show just how strongly the outcomes of World War II and the use of comfort women affect East Asian political relations to this day.

As you go forth in preparing to relive a crisis in this time period, try and consider how the actions taken during and after the Mukden incident affect today's politics and relations between countries, and how your role might affect that.

Additionally, while it's easy to find yourself dissociating from the reality of events that occurred over 50 years ago, I urge you to keep in mind the harms inflicted on real human lives that had and continue to have lasting effects.