Friday, March 5, 2010

70 years later, still waiting for apology

Yi Ok-seon with a photo of herself in her 20s.

Back in mid-January I went on a tour of the House of Sharing -- a museum and home for Korean "comfort women" survivors about an hour outside of Seoul. These brave 할머니 (grandmas) are spending their retirement telling their stories of sexual enslavement during World War II and fighting for an apology from the Japanese government.

Last week Radio Netherlands Worldwide's "The State We're In" aired the interview I helped put together with one of these grandmas. It was incredible hearing Yi Ok-seon 할머니's story and spending time with the other women. Not enough people know about their struggles, even here in South Korea.

A shrine at the House of Sharing museum. The garland on the right is a chain of tiny origami cranes made by Japanese visitors.

No comments:

Post a Comment