Park Yu-ha

Park Yu-ha
Hangul 박유하
Hanja 朴裕河
Revised Romanization Bak Yuha
McCune–Reischauer Pak Yuha
This is a Korean name; the family name is Park.

Park Yu-ha (박유하, 朴裕河; born March 25, 1957) is a professor at the College of Liberal Arts, Sejong University.[1] Her research focuses on Japanese-Korean relations. Her 2013 book Comfort Women of the Empire criticized the Korean interpretation of comfort women as exclusively "sex slaves".[2][3] A Japanese language version of the book was published in Japan in November 2014.[4] Nine former comfort women in Nanume-Jip (나눔의 집) sought to ban sales of the book, filed suit claiming that the scholar had defamed them for both civil and criminal lawsuit, that she defamed them.[5] In November 2015, a group of 54 scholars from Japan and the United States, issued a statement criticizing South Korean prosecutors for “suppressing the freedom of scholarship and press”.[6][7]

Academic career

Park graduated from Keio University in 1981. She earned an M.A. from Waseda University in 1989 and a Ph.D. in 1993.[1]

Comfort Women of the Empire

In her the most controversial book Comfort Women of the Empire, Park is challenging an established description of the imperial Japan's military brothel system.

Based on historical documents and the testimony of comfort women, including several cases of a comfort woman fallen in love with a Japanese soldier, a soldier who took care of a sick woman, or soldiers who helped comfort women to return their home country, Park asserts the existence of hidden comfort women who have been excluded from the mainstream narrative of comfort women, mainly consisting of "Japanese military coerced Korean women" and "sex-slaves".[8] She describes a more complex relationship between the comfort women and soldiers.[9]

She says this kind of "comrade-like relationship" tragedy, which is basically a co-operative relationship of mobilized weak people by the name of patriotism, was a result of Japan's colonization of Joseon (Korea). Since Japan and Korea were not superficially distinguished as separated countries during the period of Japan's Korean annexation, the act of forcibly arresting Korean women could not have officially taken place, rather the dealers sold women to the "comfort station" by deception.[8]

She also says condemning Japan with requesting a legal responsibility is not effective, considering the colonial status of Korean and the existence of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and criticizes the way of Jong-Dae-Hyup (정대협, the main comfort women supporting NGO in South Korea)'s movement which has insisted a "legal" responsibility toward Japan.[10] Since Jong-Dae-Hyup's movement has only been focused on the legal responsibility of Japan even including some forged facts, it has increased hostility between Japan and Korea, and also caused the group of conscious people in Japan to turn away. Furthermore, excluding other comfort women's stories which do not fit into the pre-existing image of "pure innocent teen girls who were arrested by Japanese soldiers and coerced to be sex-slaves" is actually suppressing the real victims and makes the victim groups separated.[10][11]

Therefore, considering the historical situations, the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965, and the apology and compensation of Japan in 1990s, Park gives her opinion that requesting responsibility for Japan's colonial domination is required rather than trying to urge Japan the legal liability of the War.[9]

While she is stating that Korea must face the truth correctly in order to properly hold Japan's responsibility for their offences, she also criticize Japan at the same time, for the rightwing extremists in Japan excuse their responsibility by the treaty between Japan and Korea in 1965 and the compensation in 1990. While Park acknowledges the treaty in 1965, she avers that Japan took legal responsibilities only for the individuals as per the necessary process after the War, and also, she censures the compensation of 1990 was failed to disseminate throughout Korea due to the Japanese government’s ambiguous attitude.[9]

As a result, Park seeks Japan, before other dominant empires of the past, to profoundly apologize for their actions of the colonial domination and the case for the Korean comfort women, for this would be significantly meaningful internationally, and also for the Asian integration or co-operation in the near future.[9][12]

Park’s book Comfort women of the Empire contains a significantly different narrative about comfort women compared to the previously accepted narratives, as it describes in depth of the imperialistic exploits by Japan, patriarchal system in Korea and also capitalistic exploits of the "dealers". This explanation brought fierce anger from the comfort women supporters, since her explanation were analyzed as "virtually an exoneration to Japan" from the critics. She was sued by nine comfort women who had filed from Nanume-Jip (나눔의 집) and paid 10 million won, or $8,262, to each of nine women. She was also accused by Korean prosecutor. This trial is on progress.[13]

On 25 November 2015, against the indictment of Park, 54 Japanese scholars and intellectuals including Kenzaburō Ōe (大江 健三郎, Nobel Laureate) Tomiichi Murayama (村山 富市, former Prime minister of Japan), Yōhei Kōno (河野 洋平, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan) and Chizuko Ueno (上野 千鶴子, professor, Tokyo University) addressed statements supporting Park Yu-ha, and asking for the Korean government's withdrawal of the accusation. 190 Korean intellectuals also followed the statements.[14]

On 1 February 2016, Park made the book available online hoping to help solve the comfort women issue.[15]

Works

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "College of Liberal Arts". Sejong University.
  2. ↑ "New South Korean Academic Writings on Contemporary Japan and Japanese-Korean Relations". The Asan Institute for Policy Studies. November 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Korean author issues call for talks on sex slave issue". The Japan Times. 30 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Togo, Kazuhiko. "Park Yuha indictment risks hindering ROK–Japan reconciliation". East Asia Forum. East Asia Forum. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Wartime sex slaves seek sales ban on defamatory book". The Korea Times. 15 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Japanese, U.S. scholars attack Seoul's indictment of professor over 'comfort women' book". The Asahi Shimbun. November 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ Yoshino, Taichiro. "「帝国の慰安婦」朴裕河教授の在宅起訴に学者ら54人抗議声明". The Huffington Post - Japan Edition. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  8. 1 2 Institute, Pursuit Of Truth (2016-04-30). "Comfort Women Articles by Scholars: "Comfort Women of the Empire" by Professor Park Yuha". Comfort Women Articles by Scholars. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Rightists distort author Park Yu-ha's views on 'comfort women' | The Japan Times". Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  10. 1 2 "『제국의 위안부』 삭제판 다운로드 | 박유하 『제국의 위안부』 , 법정에서 광장으로". parkyuha.org. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  11. ↑ "Yuha Park, How We Should Consider the Comfort Women Issue Based on Discussions between Ikuhiko Hata and Yoshiaki Yoshimi | 박유하 『제국의 위안부』 , 법정에서 광장으로". parkyuha.org. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  12. ↑ "Genichiro Takahashi, 'Comfort women' denied ownership of their memories | 박유하 『제국의 위안부』 , 법정에서 광장으로". parkyuha.org. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  13. ↑ Sang-hun, Choe (2016-01-13). "Professor Ordered to Pay 9 Who Said 'Comfort Women' Book Defamed Them". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  14. ↑ "Statement against the Indictment of Professor Yuha Park | 박유하 『제국의 위안부』 , 법정에서 광장으로". parkyuha.org. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  15. ↑ "박유하 교수가 '제국의 위안부'를 온라인에 전격 공개했다" [Professor Park Y-ha made Comfort Women of the Empire available online]. The Huffington Post. 1 February 2016.
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