The viewing of Young – Pyŏn Yŏngju “Nanjun Moksori - Murmuring” (1995) documentary film made me wonder how many other women, from South Korea or any other part of the world, have been sexually exploited in wars without any formal accounting of such events. From the estimated number of 100.000 former South Korean sexual slaves, several of them gathered their forces in a public manifestation, asking for apologies and indemnifications from the Japanese government. These requests keep the women alive and fighting, as the sexual slavery experience left them troubled, frustrated, ashamed and hopeless, dreaming of the life they could have had if they were not victims of the military abuses.
The military abuses were enforced and orchestrated by Japanese governments, as this documentary film suggests. South Korean women were tricked into going to Japan, under false pretexts, such as working as nurses or in governmental factories, but they were placed into sexual services for soldiers. Many women died, as the film indicates, while even more are afraid or ashamed to step out and tell the story of their sexual slavery.
The documentary film tells the story of the 68 years old Song Panim, a sexual slave in the World War II, Japan, who describes her current life of sadness, emptiness, desolation, whole she still dreams that she could have been a popular singer. This scene made me feel anger, because it made me aware that Song Panim’s life was stolen from her. She, and many other women like her, had dreams and aspirations, a life in front of her, which was taken away from her while she was only a teenager. She had to live with the shame and the trauma of that experience for the rest of her life, and as a result she developed a drinking habit that she admits, indicating that drinking is the only thing that makes her forget.
The magnitude of the sexual slavery during the World War II left deep scars on the victims’ souls, and their only comfort left to think of, is to hope for a public apology and an indemnification. They want a page of history to indicate that their oppressions were real and actually occurred, in order to be able to move on and rest their souls, and replace their frustration with the satisfaction of receiving an appolgy.
Another important moment in the documentary film is the scene wherein six women, victims of the sexual abuses of the Japanese World War II soldiers, gathered in their shared apartment, discuss about their fight. They seem resigned, but they have nothing else to do than fight, which lifts up their moral. I could say that I like this scene, because I see the women together, comforting each other and keeping each other company. This unity makes them stronger, not in the sense that they can win what they are fighting for, but in the sense that they can overpass their pain and frustrations together.
Taken one by one, each woman reported her agony, the sad lifestyle that they bared or their unfulfilled dreams. However, together they seem serene, accepting their lives, making the agonies they lived seem less important. They even share some jokes, which makes gives a meaning to their lives. Among other women who experienced the shame, frustration or agony of being sexual slaves, the deep scars in their souls do not disappear, but they find a home, where they can be understood.
The documentary film, “Nanjun Moksori - Murmuring”, reveals a plague of the history, which is not yet officially written in the history, although it occurred and left deep scars for the victims of the sexual slavery. The film induces powerful emotions and the realization that an event occurred half a century ago, traumatized the victims for life. They only have each other to attain their comfort, and the dream of achieving what they fight for: a public apology and an indemnification for their pain and frustration. While the outcome of their efforts was not presented in the film, they succeeded in attaining a comfort, from their shared lives, being part of each other’s sadness and humiliation.
Works Cited
Yŏngju, Pyŏn. Nanjun Moksori – Murmuring. [Online]. 1995. Accessed from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6BGqL0TayI&index=1&list=PL640015F33DB25689 >. 1st June 2016.
