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Sources

Adamek, Rachel. “Korean ‘Comfort Women’ of WWII: Cultural Trauma and Formation of National Identity (2021).” International Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses 2 (2021). https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=intl-std-theses

Rachel Adamek’s article is centered in the observation of the cultural trauma South Korean women were, and are, afflicted with. With an emphasis on solely female participants, the article conveys how comfort women’s experiences and traumas have transcended through generations, continuing through the current day. It particularly inspects how the topic impacts the perception young Korean women have towards Japan, and how the country’s actions might have held a heavy hand in South Korea’s national perspective to Japan over the years. When applying a closer look to One Left, Adamek’s article provides a helpful reference on the South Korean population’s opinion, and adds cultural context to better understand the societal and personal impacts of comfort women.

Cho, MiJin. “Victim Silencing, Sexual Violence Culture, Social Healing: Inherited Collective Trauma of World War II South Korean Military ‘Comfort Women.’” VCU Scholars Compass, 2020. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=pkp

The subject of comfort women often focuses on the critiques of the Japanese government’s lack of acknowledgement, but Cho provides another vital angle. This article focuses on the South Korean government’s timid stance towards possible reconciliation, and the letdown it has given to women’s rights activist groups. It critiques the process of dealing with said issue from the end of World War II up to modern day and suggests a new way to approach rectification attempts via a victim-centric mindset. Over the years there has been a consistent silencing of comfort women who have bravely tried to seek justice, and when dissecting a book on such a dark topic the understanding of what is being done today can provide a full circle level of understanding as well as a reminder that, although a horrific historical event, comfort women’s human rights are still being fought for.  

Lee, Hye-Ryoung, Jamie Chang. “From the Front Line of Contemporary South Korean Feminist Criticism.” Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture 14 (2021): 215-41. https://doi.org/10.1353/aza.2021.0014 . 

This article touches on the #MeToo movement and its significance on feminism in Korea in modern day as well as how it affected modern feminist writers. It even goes on to give criticism to some novels including One Left. It emphasizes the worry that the novel focuses too much on alienating comfort women of other nationalities, specifically Japanese comfort women. 

Min, Pyong Gap. “Korean ‘Comfort Women’ The Intersection of Colonial Power, Gender, and Class.” Gender & Society 17, no. 6 (2003): 938-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243203257584.

This article analyzes the factors that went into the suffering of the Korean victims of sexual slavery during the period of Japanese colonialism in Korea. Instead of just being either colonization or gender hierarchy as the main issue it argues the intersectionality of those things plus class is the only way to fully explain their suffering. This article can help reinforce the themes present in One Left as well as provide more insight into what the victims went through.  

Nicolini, Emma. “A Retrospective of “Comfort Culture:” a Paradigmatic Study on the Creation of the “Comfort Women” System Constructed by the Imperial Japanese Military From 1932 to 1945." (2024).

This article talks about the creation of comfort women and the institution’s lasting impact. There is a “comfort culture” in Japan that was created by the idea of comfort women. There are also effects stemming from early modern Japan such as nationalism, racism, and imperialism. The end of World War II did not end the sexual exploitation of women in Japan. It created a lasting astigmatism around sex workers, going as far as to call the comfort women “sex workers” instead of sex slaves.

Oh, Bonnie BC. "The Japanese Imperial System and the Korean “Comfort Women” of World War II." In Legacies of the comfort women of World War II, pp. 3-25. Routledge, 2015.

This book talks about how there were hundreds of thousands of women forced into sex slavery by the Japanese imperial army. About 80 percent of these comfort women were Korean. These “comfort women” were stationed in “comfort stations” throughout Asia and the South Pacific. Despite being subjected to verbal and physical abuse, their stories were not widely known until recently. The UN and other womens’ rights groups around the world have pushed for apologies and reparations from Japan, but they have been ignored.

Park, Jee Hoon, KyongWeon Lee, Michelle D. Hand, Keith A. Anderson, and Tess E. Schleitwiler. “Korean Survivors of the Japanese ‘Comfort Women’ System: Understanding the Lifelong Consequences of Early Life Trauma.” Journal of Gerontological Social Work 59, no. 4 (2016): 332–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2016.1204642.  

This research article shows the results of interviews done with comfort women that are now older and does thematic analysis to gain an understanding of the trauma that has impacted their lives ever since. It explains how it has affected their family relations, their inability to marry and conceive children as well as their overall mental and physical wellbeing. Considering One Left is a story about a woman after she came back to Korea from being a comfort woman and the hardships she faces; this article can give an understanding of how accurate the portrayal is.   

Soh, Chunghee Sarah. "The Korean “comfort women” tragedy as structural violence." In Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia, pp. 33-51. Routledge, 2007.

This study focuses on South Korean historical struggles, with special attention given to comfort women and girls. These women are represented now as military sex slaves to imperial Japan. “Comfort women” is a translation of the Japanese word that refers to young women and girls that were forced into sex slavery for the Japanese troops. It is estimated that the amount of girls that were taken into slavery was between 100,000 and 200,000.

Kim Soom, One Left. Translated by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton. University of Washington Press, 2020.

This is the novel we are discussing.

Ushiyama, Rin. “‘Comfort Women Must Fall’? Japanese Governmental Responses to ‘Comfort Women’ Statues around the World.” Memory Studies 14, no. 6 (December 9, 2021): 1255–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980211054308.

When discussing a book focused on comfort women, the understanding of both countries’, specifically governments’, opinions and actions is crucial to conceptualizing the situation as a whole. Ushiyama’s article discusses the resistance Japan’s government has shown towards statues built in the name of honoring and remembering comfort women’s experiences. Through this example, Japan’s theme of craving ignorance is highlighted with their frustration towards comfort women becoming a worldwide women’s rights topic, and through their wish to deconstruct these monuments that are creating international interest and unrest towards their previous atrocities.  

Wininger, Jessica. “Broken Bodies, Shattered Dreams: The Aftermath of a Life as a Korean "Comfort Woman.”” The Gettysburg Historical Journal 2, no. 5 (2003). https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=ghj

This article provides insight into the lasting impacts of the trauma comfort women experienced, and helps to express not just the gravity, but also the importance, of this book’s topic. Wininger delves into the Japanese government’s continuous mishandling of rectifying their past actions, which adds support for how comfort women’s trauma is still an ongoing, life altering issue that needs to be healed. 

Yoon, Bang-Soon L. "Imperial Japan's Comfort Women from Korea: History & Politics of Silence-Breaking." Journal of Northeast Asian History 7, no. 1 (2010): 5-39.

This study inquires about two questions. Why was there such a long silence about Korean comfort women from the Korean government, and what changes were made internally to allow the silence to be broken in 1991, and allow for the comfort women movement to be created? Yoon talks about three main arguments. The first is that nobody acted as agents of interest to be the one to speak out in support of the victims’ rights and welfare. The second is that the orientation of women’s movements in South Korea lacked women-centered political activism. Thirdly, the democratization of the political climate as well as the impact of global feminism is what allowed the movement to be heard.

Yoon, Heo, Jamie Chang. “The Story "Our Grandmothers" Could Not Tell: Representation of the Comfort Women and the Physical Manifestation of Memory.” Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture 14 (2021): 311-34. https://doi.org/10.1353/aza.2021.0018.  

This article explains the problematic ways that comfort women were represented in media and other forms throughout the colonization by Japan up to modern day. It goes into detail about the sexualization that they faced and how finally the way they were represented needed to be reassessed. It mentions multiple important moments in time where representation of comfort women changed. One Left is meant to show the pain of life after coming back to Korea after being a comfort woman so I think this source could give historical context to the story.

Additional Sources:

“Kim Sum.” Wikipedia, October 13, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Sum. 

Due to the popularity of One Left growing with the recent English translation release, there are very few resources discussing author Kim Soom’s life and history. Wikipedia is not a first-choice-source, but with the lack of in-depth biographical information on Kim, it was the main option. The information that is available on other websites matches Wikipedia’s information, for example birth year and location. Given that verification, it felt safe to use Wikipedia as a source in this instance.

Amnesty International. 2015. “70 Years On, the ‘Comfort Women’ Speaking out so the Truth Won’t Die.” Amnesty International. September 2, 2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/09/70-years-on-comfort-women-speak-out-so-the-truth-wont-die/.

‌This article provides information on comfort women in Korea and the Philippines. It describes the author meeting these comfort women, who are well into their elderly years, and listening to their stories from the times they were enslaved as comfort women.

Park, Han-sol. “[Interview] Author of ‘comfort Women’ Series Urges World to Hear Their Testimonies.” The Korea Times, March 7, 2021. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2021/03/135_305026.html. 

A long and detailed interview, offering insight into Kim Soom’s thought process and opinions as an author.

BBC News. 2019. “North Korean Women ‘Forced into Sex Slavery’ in China - Report,” May 20, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48340210.

‌This report describes how North Korean women and girls are taken or coerced into sex slavery in China.

BBC News. “North Korea: Sexual Abuse of Women ‘Common’ - Report.” 2018, November 1, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46053342.

‌BBC reports how the sexual abuse against women is commonplace in North Korean society, perpetrated mostly by men in high-ranking positions.

Human Rights Watch. 2018. “‘You Cry at Night but Don’t Know Why.’” Human Rights Watch. November 1, 2018. https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/11/02/you-cry-night-dont-know-why/sexual-violence-against-women-north-korea.

‌This research displays how common the aforementioned sexual abuse is in North Korea.

Mathilde Penda. 2023. “The Concept of Rape in South Korea - Institut Du Genre En Géopolitique.” Translated by Zoé Llacer. Institut Du Genre En Géopolitique. October 30, 2023. https://igg-geo.org/en/2023/10/30/the-concept-of-rape-in-south-korea/.

This article displays the shortcomings of South Korean policies in terms of defining things like rape and the subsequent poor treatment of survivors who report their assaulters.

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Additional Resources

An interview with former comfort woman Kim Bok-Dong, who would sadly pass away a year later in 2019.

Found in the National Archive and Records Administration in 2017, this short video is believed to be footage of comfort women in Songshan, Yunnan, China.

When looking at the tragedy of comfort women, a web of other monstrosities committed by Japan in the same era can be discovered. In this video the events of Unit 731 are laid out in a digestible manner given the content. While not the majority, Koreans were also forced into this experimental unit.

A very comprehensive look into the word choice, politicization, and history of comfort women, while also including modern events.

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Cultural Context

The first Korean comfort woman to speak out about her enslavement was Kim Hak-soon. (1) She opened the door for other women to share their stories and bring shame to the Japanese government. Literature like One Left raises an important discussion surrounding comfort women, as it showcases what they were subject to as well as the long term impacts on their lives.

Even today there are still crimes being committed against women regularly. In Korea's patriarchal society, with a misogynistic president in Yoon Suk-Yeol, there is a common sentiment of anti-women and anti-feminism. The Minister of Gender and Family announced that he wanted to update the legal definition of rape, which didn't include non-consensual relations. (2) When women go to report their assault to the police, they are faced with scrutiny, often being accused of lying and even refusal by the officers. There were initiatives to create special teams to lessen this problem, each team having at least one woman, but there is such a lack of women police officers that these teams were unable to be made. (2)

At the time of comfort women, the Korean Peninsula was united, meaning that North Korean women were also subject to kidnapping and sexual violence. These days, North Korean women are often assaulted by men in high-ranking positions. Because these men have the power to ruin the women's lives, their victims are unable to report their abuse. They will leave the women jobless and outcasted from society, or even incarcerated. (3) Sexual abuse is so common in North Korean society that it has come to be accepted as a part of daily life. It is perpetrated by officials, police officers, and even husbands and partners.

North Korean women are also facing sex trafficking in China. They are kidnapped or coerced into sex work while defecting, and comply out of fear of being sent back. Some women are even abducted from North Korea directly. (4) They are imprisoned in brothels in Northeastern China, forced into marriage and raped by their husbands, and involuntarily do cybersex work. In the case of cybersex work, many of the subscribers are from South Korea, displaying a continuously misogynistic society. (4)

It is precisely situations like this that make books such as One Left so important. It tells the true stories of women in a society that does not want to believe them. It outlines the offenses they face as well as the lasting effects of the trauma in their lives.

(1) Amnesty International. 2015. “70 Years On, the ‘Comfort Women’ Speaking out so the Truth Won’t Die.” Amnesty International. September 2, 2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/09/70-years-on-comfort-women-speak-out-so-the-truth-wont-die/.

‌(2) Mathilde Penda. Translated by Zoé Llacer. 2023. “The Concept of Rape in South Korea - Institut Du Genre En Géopolitique.” Institut Du Genre En Géopolitique. October 30, 2023. https://igg-geo.org/en/2023/10/30/the-concept-of-rape-in-south-korea/.

(3) Human Rights Watch. 2018. “‘You Cry at Night but Don’t Know Why.’” Human Rights Watch. November 1, 2018. https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/11/02/you-cry-night-dont-know-why/sexual-violence-against-women-north-korea.

‌(4) BBC News. 2019. “North Korean Women ‘Forced into Sex Slavery’ in China - Report,” May 20, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48340210.

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Historical Context

When discussing the subject of comfort women, understanding the atmosphere in Korea leading up to the second world war is vital. The Japanese annexation and colonization of Korea began in 1910, later ending in 1945 (1). In 1925, around the middle of the colonial period, Japan had been one of the multiple countries to sign numerous international treaties which banned sex trafficking of women (1). But, frustratingly, provisions to said treaties offered a loophole in which the ban did not apply to colonies of signatories (1). Already ruling over Korea with an iron fist, this loophole granted Japan the ability to enact a new form of exploitation in 1932, manifesting in the form of comfort women. The dehumanization of these women, and many young girls, was another form of Japan displaying their craving for control and power over Korea.

            The creation of the concept of comfort women is undeniably a direct result of Japan’s intense patriarchal society, and nationalistic viewpoint (2). But Japan’s societal perspectives were not unique to them. Korea’s own patriarchal beliefs hindered the impacted women’s ability to speak out (3). Whether it be in relation to mandated sex work with the United States military in the coming years, or to Japan’s period of sexual exploitation, the expectation of women to be “pure” and remain abstinent until marriage directly led to their inability to share their traumatic experiences for fear of being shamed (2). The continuation of the comfort women system with the United States military held a heavy hand in relation to women feeling hopeless towards ever having their stories heard, and due to this repetition of history the knowledge of these horrendous events were unknown until the early 1990’s. 

            Protests of the sexual exploitation, experienced by an estimated range of 20,000-400,000 Korean women, were originally met with backlash from the public. These displays were spearheaded by the creation of the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean council) in 1992, a non-profit that became known for their weekly Wednesday protests (1). Sadly, instead of being met with empathy, Korea’s patriarchal society caused the predominant perception of comfort women to be negative. Many viewed the public presentation of these events as shameful, their misogynistic beliefs swaying them to place blame on the women, rather than the Japanese government.

           Now, a little over three decades since the protests began, the collective opinion has thankfully shifted from the original bigoted disgust. Over time the public started to attend protests, and the shared attitude shifting to a more empathetic outlook gave additional comfort women the ability to share their own stories publicly (1). Although there is still much work to be done in terms of even an ounce of consolation for what these women went through. The Japanese government is still yet to admit to their heinous actions, much less offer any form of apology (3). One Left does not only offer a painfully descriptive insight into what comfort women experienced, but also educates international readers on this tragedy that was, if Japan’s actions are any evidence, meant to stay concealed. As the first Korean novel centered around comfort women, it is continuing the advocation for the justice they deserve as well as shedding light on an event whose entire existence is commonly unknown outside of Korea.

(1) Adamek, Rachel. “Korean ‘Comfort Women’ of WWII: Cultural Trauma and Formation of National Identity (2021).” International Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses 2 (2021). https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=intl-std-theses (2) Min, Pyong Gap. “Korean ‘Comfort Women’ The Intersection of Colonial Power, Gender, and Class.” Gender & Society 17, no. 6 (2003): 938-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243203257584. (3) Cho, MiJin. “Victim Silencing, Sexual Violence Culture, Social Healing: Inherited Collective Trauma of World War II South Korean Military ‘Comfort Women.’” VCU Scholars Compass, 2020. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=pkp

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Themes

There are multiple themes present in this novel that touch on serious topics. These themes include the long-term effects of both mental and physical trauma, shared experiences with trauma and the healing it can bring, and the unity that victims share with one another. There are multiple moments in the novel where you are in a present-day perspective that shows how P’unggil’s trauma manifests and affects her everyday life.’The last one’ is also a character that has significance in helping P’unggil find solace in knowing someone is out there that is going through the same troubles as her. Furthermore, the young girls at the comfort station with her in the past show the community that was built in order to help them survive. I will highlight the moments where these themes are best represented throughout the book.

Mental & Physical Effects of Trauma

P’unggil often hallucinates and sees, hears, and feels things that harken back to her days at the comfort station. For example, she often thinks she has six snails in the palm of her hands. It was while she was collecting snails from a marsh that she was kidnapped and loaded onto a truck with a bunch of other girls around her age, 13-16 years old. She had held onto those six snails for as long as she was able to. “She clung to a hazy belief that the snails would return her to the riverside of her home.” (1) Magpies also play a major part in her trauma. She has a cat named Nabi that will occasionally bring her dead magpies. This has significance because when she was younger her mom would always call her and her younger sisters back to the house after collecting snails when she would hear a magpie. One day her sister didn’t return home when she was called back. From then on throughout the story P’unggil seems to associate magpies with the young women that were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. Near the end of the novel her cat brings her an injured magpie, and she is desperate for it to be alive. While she was at the comfort station, she always felt guilty when one of the girls died and this is still haunting her till this day.  

Throughout the novel it is shown just how badly these girls were sexually abused which led to many damaging psychological and physical effects. If they were to become pregnant, they would have their wombs cut out and eventually they would be injected with some sort of substance that was meant to make them infertile. They were constantly abused and raped multiple times a day. In the present day, when P’unggil takes a bath, she constantly checks the door before she gets naked, and after undressing, she will cover herself with her hands showing that she still feels vulnerable.. She washes her private parts vigorously with salt water to the point of bleeding because of the sexually transmitted diseases she got that left her with long lasting problems. In an article written by Jessica Wininger, she mentions how comfort women had various long-term health problems that “range from low self-esteem and self-worth...to disabilities incurred as a result of systematic physical abuse, as well as the debilitating effects of syphilis and other venereal diseases contracted through serial copulation.” (2) She also obsessively cleans herself because she wants her corpse to be seen as clean, presumably because of the state many of the girls were in when they died at the comfort station. 

Shared Experiences & Healing

There is also a theme of shared trauma and the comfort it can bring. Throughout the novel in the present day, P’unggil watches the news whenever there is something about comfort women being shown. Because she hadn’t registered as a comfort woman, due to the various stigmas attached to them, she had a curiosity about the lives of those who had. When she watches the interview of ‘the last one’ she notices that she also lives by herself. Eventually she sees that ‘the last one’ is being hospitalized and P’unggil finds herself wanting to go see her because she wants her to know that there will be someone left to tell the story of the comfort women. In a final interview ‘the last one’ says “I am not a comfort woman. I am Yun Kŭmshil.” (3) “I want to be happy until the very end.” (4) This makes P’unggil think for the first time that she wants to be happy. This is a very powerful moment in the book that shows that as a victim, you can reclaim your identity and try to build a more positive life for yourself. 

Unity Between Victims

It is shown throughout the novel that many of the young girls that were kept at the comfort station confided in one another about their family and their worries. They also would care for each other as much as they could. For example, they would pick crab lice from each other’s pubic hair and would swear to never forget one another. “Yŏnsun and Haegŭm pledged themselves to sisterhood and sealed the pledge by giving each other a blue, threadlike tattoo.” (5) Often their unity was through the pain and suffering they were going through. “The girls in this comfort station in Manchuria could hear one another’s screams, an endless round of pain, through the thin plywood walls of their rooms. And they could hear one another moaning and groaning.” (6) The theme of unity between these young girls is a driving force of the motivation behind P’unggil wanting to visit Yum Kŭmshil to let her know she will be around to tell the story of the comfort women.

(1) - Kim Soom, One Left, trans. Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (University of Washington Press, 2020), 19.

(2) - Jessica Wininger, “Broken Bodies, Shattered Dreams: The Aftermath of a Life as a Korean "Comfort Woman.” The Gettysburg Historical Journal 2, no. 5 (2003). https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=ghj

(3) - Kim Soom, One Left, trans. Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (University of Washington Press, 2020), 173.

(4) - Kim Soom, One Left, trans. Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (University of Washington Press, 2020), 174.

(5) - Kim Soom, One Left, trans. Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (University of Washington Press, 2020), 80.

(6) - Kim Soom, One Left, trans. Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (University of Washington Press, 2020), 29.

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Plot

One Left takes the readers along the grueling journey of a young girl, kidnapped by Japanese forces at the age of 13. She, and a plethora of other young girls, were taken to a comfort station in Manchuria, China. There, they were subjected to abhorrent serial rape by Japanese soldiers and physical and mental abuse at the hands of the station owners. It was described that the girls, as young as 11, would "take" about seven soldiers each day on the weekdays, and on the weekends the number could reach over fifty. "Taking" soldiers means allowing them to rape and torture the girls, while the girls had to suffer through without complaining, for fear of abuse or even death. The girl is there for seven years, and in her time there, she took about thirty thousand soldiers in total. She goes through an incredible amount of trauma, but escapes the station after news of the imminent defeat of Japan in WWII. It takes her five years to get home, working odd jobs across the country until she is finally able to make it back to her hometown. She does not tell anyone the truth about where she was or what she went through out of fear that she would become a social outcast.

The story goes back and forth between her as a child in the comfort station and her as an elderly woman living on her own. As an adult, the woman was unable to fin companionship because of the trauma she faced. While watching TV, she sees the headline that the last reported comfort woman is on her deathbed. This motivates her to reach out to the other comfort woman and let her know that she is not alone. Her journey to build up the courage to leave her house and face her fears and traumas allows the readers to see the lifelong effects on comfort women, and how they felt like they lost their sense of identity. This loss of self is also demonstrated within the novel, as the name of the narrator, P'unggil, is not revealed until the very last chapter of the book.

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Kim Soom

"The reason we take interest in wartime sexual slavery is because we are talking about the restoration of fundamental human rights and dignity. That's a universal necessity."

Kim Soom has become a pioneer of spreading Korean history to the masses. With her book One Left being the first Korean novel to focus on the events of Comfort Women (1) she is spearheading the continuation of protests that began in the early 1990’s. Born in 1974 in Bangeojin, Ulsan, South Korea, she began her writing career with poetry in her teens (2). As she developed her skills, Kim branched out into writing longer stories, eventually receiving the Daejeon Ilbo’s New Writer Award in 1997 (3).

In recent years, she has become known for her detailed retelling of Korean history. Kim’s way of portraying dark and complex events, emotions, and experiences give her readers a closer insight into the severity her books’ topics possess. With lurid descriptions and details that work to fully humanize her characters, her writing style helps with her mission of continuing to give victims a voice (4).

Kim emphasizes day-to-day scenarios based off of Comfort Women’s testimonies, which helps to fully immerse the reader into their reality, while also showing the level of trauma these women were continuously living through. In One Left, a notable example of this is when the narrator notes how the girls in the comfort station are helping to pick pubic lice out of each other’s genital hair (5). To these young girls, this is a normal occurrence given their situation, but the emphasis on this small detail gives the reader a better understanding of the bleak, dark reality Comfort Women experienced. But, at the same time, it also is almost symbolic of the unity they share with one another. As they experience this horrific trauma, they at least have each other to provide some semblance of comfort, which connects to the narrator’s journey through the novel with letting the last Comfort Woman know there will still be “one left”.

(1) Kim Sum.” Wikipedia, October 13, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Sum (2) Kim Sum.” Wikipedia, October 13, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Sum (3) Kim Sum.” Wikipedia, October 13, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Sum (4) Park, Han-sol. “[Interview] Author of ‘comfort Women’ Series Urges World to Hear Their Testimonies.” The Korea Times, March 7, 2021. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2021/03/135_305026.html.  (5) Kim Soom, One Left (University of Washington Press, 2020), 80.

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Statement of Advocacy

Not just in Korea, but in many parts of the world, women are subjected to abuse and sexual assault. Men throughout history have often dehumanized women and treated them like objects that they have authority over. Unfortunately, that is even more emphasized in One Left with the detailed descriptions of the sexual torture young girls and women were put through during the Japanese colonization. After Japanese colonization ended there was a long silence regarding what happened to these comfort women.

There is a long history of beliefs that prescribe women as being lesser than men and only recently have these beliefs loosened enough that these victims have become comfortable enough to speak out about what they experienced. Globally in the past decade we have seen more women start to feel comfortable speaking out about them being sexually assaulted. It is very important to bring more attention to these topics especially in today’s world with the constant misogyny that women tend to face.

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Navigation "I'm a victim, too"

Introduction

Statement of Advocacy

Kim Soom

Plot

Themes

Historical Context

Cultural Context

Additional Resources

Sources