The Korean Committee on Measures for the Victims of Sexual Slavery for the Japanese Army and Forcible Drafting recently obtained the testimony of Nakamura Sumie that she witnessed a “comfort station” for the Japanese army in then Kyonghung Sub-county of Kyonghung County in North Hamgyong Province before Korea’s liberation in 1945.
The Japanese woman, aged 92, was born in Korea and went to Japan after its defeat in WWII.
On the basis of her testimony, the committee had made a field survey of the Sonbong area in Rason City since last year and confirmed Japan’s sexual slavery, before making public the survey report on August 14.
The report dealt with the circumstances of the stationing of Japanese troops in Kyonghung County before Korea’s liberation.
In order to put down anti-Japanese struggles and prevent the influx of socialist ideology from the Soviet Union, the Japanese imperialists positioned border guards in Kyonghung County, which was regarded as a place of strategic importance as it borders on China and Russia, put them under the command of the 76th regiment of the Ranam 19th Division and kept reinforcing troops.
In particular, they threw a round-the-clock cordon on the banks of the frozen Tuman River in winter in order to bar the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army and other anti-Japanese forces that were active in Northeast China from entering Korea.
Such circumstances provided full conditions for the earlier appearance of comfort stations in Kyonghung County.
The committee also confirmed the existence of a comfort station set up in Wonjon-dong in the Songbong area of Rason in the course of the survey.
The station which is likely to have been built in the mid- or late 1930s was a one-storeyed brick building with a high fence, located on a hilly place in the middle of the village. Local residents testified that women aged from 17 to 20 had been brought to the station from Korea’s southern regions and they were almost kept in confinement. Through the survey, the building remembered by Nakamura and the one referred to by the locals were found identical.
The comfort station in Wonjong-dong was at the exclusive service of soldiers of the Ranam 19th Division.
This is evidenced by the time when the station was set up. In accordance with the "guidelines on the reorganization of border guards", the border guards of the 76th regiment were reorganized and their headquarters was moved to Kyonghung County in 1937.
Residents also attested that the station came into being in 1937 or 1938.
The composition of the inhabitants in Wonjong-dong at that time also proves that the station was for the exclusive use by the Japanese army.
Wonjong-dong was a small village with only dozens of farming households and the majority of its inhabitants were poor tenants. Except them, there were only the Japanese military police and guards.
It is absolutely unthinkable that a brothel was set up for the poor peasants who barely eked out their living.
The locals also stated that the station was never visited by civilians, but only by Japanese officers and men.
Another piece of evidence is the station building and the situation of the women.
The high fence around the station was to conceal the visits by Japanese soldiers from civilians, and the women there kept their southern accent as they were shut in and forced to deal with Japanese soldiers only.
The most convincing evidence indicating that the Wonjong-dong station was for the exclusive use by the Japanese army is that the women were regularly examined by a Japanese medical officer. Such practice existed only at comfort stations for the Japanese army.
In addition, comfort stations for the exclusive use by the Japanese army had already been found in different places including Chongjin in North Hamgyong Province in which units belonging to the 19th division were stationed. This is also clear proof that the comfort station in Wonjong-dong was one of the military brothels belonging to the division.
URL:http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/?bbs=27361
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