by STEVE HAN
South Korean “comfort women” are often known as those who were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military during World War II. The long-standing controversy centering on South Korean government’s demand for Japan’s sincere apology is still ongoing and widely publicized.
Recently, however, another group of South Korean “comfort women” sued their own government for coercing them to serve as sex slaves in state-controlled brothels for the U.S. military after the Korean War, which ended in 1953.
Korean daily Kyunghyang Shinmun reports that the alleged victims filed the lawsuit on June 25, and are seeking close to $10,000 in compensation, along with an apology, for forced prostitution. This is the first legal action by “comfort women” against the South Korean government.
The U.S. sent over 300,000 troops to South Korea for the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. The so-called “comfort stations” allegedly operated on the frontline throughout and after the war. While working in brothels, the women allegedly went through medical check-ups for sexually transmitted diseases.
It is reported that over 60 percent of all South Korean prostitutes worked near U.S. military camps in the 1950s and 1960s.
