‘Comfort woman’ memoir to have English, Chinese editions

The memoir of a Korean woman who was forced into sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II will be published in English and Chinese.

The Office of Education of South Gyeongsang Province said that it would publish the English and Chinese editions of the true life story of Kim Bok-deuk, 96, the oldest surviving former “comfort woman,” in mid-December.

The office published a book of her testimony in Korean, titled “Don’t Forget Me,” in March, and released its Japanese translation in August.

The publication is intended to utilize the vivid testimonies from the former comfort woman as material for historical education in classrooms as well as to let the world know the truth about comfort women, officials said.

Ten South Gyeongsang-based school teachers and experts have completed the English and Chinese translations.

The office will receive the translations through editorial supervision next month by external institutions, including a committee under the Prime Minister’s Office, which was set up to seek the truth about the forced mobilization of Koreans by the Japanese colonial rulers, and the Korean Association of Women’s History.

It plans to publish 1,000 and 500 copies of the English and Chinese editions, respectively, and also the same number of a related guidebook for school teachers.

The office will mail English and Chinese editions to education and textbook authorities of foreign countries, nongovernmental organizations related to comfort women issues, women’s rights and peace, and international bodies including the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Ko Yeoung-jin, superintendent of the office, will enclose a letter in the books to be mailed overseas to appeal to the international community to join efforts for an unbiased, factual and accurate education of history regarding comfort women.

Born in 1918 in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim Bok-deuk, at 19, was deceived by a man who offered her a job when she was on her way to visit her aunt. He got her to board a ship, which took her to an overseas comfort station. She spent about seven years as a sex slave for Japanese soldiers.

The office has already supplied Kim’s memoirs to schools within its jurisdiction as teaching material.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)