SOUTH KOREA: Play "The Trojan Women" depicting the lives of Korean comfort women during World War Two opens in Seoul

A play called "The Trojan Women", which depicts the lives of Korean women forced to work as prostitutes during World War Two by the Japan's Imperial Army has opened in Seoul, stirring painful memories of the past. Based on Euripides classic tale "Women of Troy", the play is the latest chapter in a long history of sexual violence against women during the war, focusing on the pain of Korean "comfort women" -- Japan's euphemism for wartime sex slaves. The play, directed by Austrian Aida Karic, used the narrative form of the "Pansori" or Korean traditional opera, to accentuate the sorrow of the comfort women. "I want every victim who suffered in the war to see the play in which someone else is expressing their pain and take comfort from it. At least, we care about them," said Kang Sun-sook, one of the actresses in the play. Almost every week for more than 15 years, elderly South Korean women who had served as "comfort women" have been gathering outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul to provide what they say is a living reminder of a dark chapter in Japan's past. Eighty-year-old Kil Won-ok, who was forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army, hopes the play can deliver a strong message to the world. "I hope the actresses in the play will do their best to portray our true stories so that the whole world will know the truth," said Kil. As each year passes, the number of former comfort women decreases. The U.S. House of Representatives in July called on Japan to apologize for forcing up to 200,000 women into sexual servitude to its soldiers during and before World War II. In 1993, Japan acknowledged official involvement in setting up and managing the brothels and established a fund, which collected private donations and offered payments of about $20,000 US Dollars to 285 women.

ITN Source | November 29, 2007

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