Women in South Korea were lured and kidnapped to provide sexual services “她们被韩政府献给美国大兵赚外汇，如今却被遗忘”

 "They were donated by the South Korean government to American soldiers to earn foreign exchange, but now they are forgotten"

However, for a long time after the end of Japan’s colonial rule, tens of thousands of women in South Korea were lured and kidnapped to provide sexual services for the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, and the South Korean government acquiesced, encouraged, and even provided convenience for this. “In fact facilitated" these crimes.

Carrying an STD test card with him, being violently detained for STD treatment, being injected with antibiotics to death, multiple people committing suicide and self-mutilation... The New York Times reported on the 2nd by studying unpublished government documents and interviews with 6 women involved. The book reveals the sad past behind this South Korea-US alliance. Faced with the difficulties of life this year, the Korean government's compensation is only a drop in the bucket. The women interviewed said that they will file a lawsuit in the United States in the future.

Screenshot of the New York Times report

The South Korean government has not always publicly discussed its history of sexual exploitation. When South Korean sociologist Jin Guiyu quoted South Korean military documents at the beginning of the century to expose the situation of the Korean Army's "special comfort team" during the war, the government's approach was to seal these documents. Kim Kyu-ok said that the South Korean government is "worried that Japan's right wing will use this to whitewash its history of comfort women." The news about the unfair treatment of "comfort women" around the US military bases in South Korea did not start to receive more attention from Koreans until 1992, when a woman named Yoon Jin-hee was brutally raped and killed by American soldiers. .

After the end of the Korean War in 1953, South Korea lagged behind North Korea in terms of military and economic strength, and American troops remained in South Korea in the name of the United Nations, while South Korea tried its best to retain American troops. The report quoted a recently released document saying that in 1961, Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital Seoul (now Seoul), believed that "in order to provide comfort and morale to the United Nations troops, it was urgent to establish a large-scale comfort women facility." Because they are scattered around the US military bases in South Korea, this kind of red light district is also called "base village".

The Gyeonggi government has also openly allowed private clubs to recruit women into the sex trade to "save the budget and earn foreign exchange," the report said. The number of comfort women under the jurisdiction of Gyeonggi Province was estimated to be 10,000, and growing at the time, and these women provided services to about 50,000 U.S. troops. According to an earlier report by South Korea's "Unified Nation" magazine, by the 1980s, the number of such women had reached 1 million. Most of them suffered from diseases due to years of taking drugs and drinking a lot of alcohol.

A street in the "special tourist zone for foreigners" in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do, where there used to be many nightclubs and brothels serving American soldiers. Image credit: The New York Times

According to the South Korean government’s report to the parliament in 1970, the annual “commercial income” brought by the US military presence to South Korea amounted to US$160 million, accounting for nearly 20% of South Korea’s annual export value of US$835 million at that time, including the “comfort women” of the US military. sex trade. Some women are reportedly attracted to earn a living, others are kidnapped or lured away with promises of work, and newcomers are drugged by pimps to deal with the stigma of prostitution. The cost of a one-time sex is usually $5-10, and the money is often taken by the pimp. Although the dollar is not handed directly to the government, it enters areas of the economy that desperately need hard currency.

According to the report, a South Korean newspaper at the time said that "comfort women" were "illegal, like cancer, and evil," but they also called them "front-line fighters who won dollars." According to a previous report by the Global Times, in order to beautify this behavior, the South Korean government also publicly referred to women who were forced into prostitution as "foreign princesses" and "US-Korean civil diplomats". But these women still suffer social disdain, said 64-year-old Park Jin-ae, "Officials who call us patriots sneer at us behind our backs, saying we are 'dollar machines'." She was sold to pimps at the age of 16 and suffered beatings and other abuse by GIs.

Park Jin-ae, a former comfort woman, shed tears as she recalled her past. Image credit: The New York Times

When then-President Richard Nixon announced plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops in South Korea in July 1969, the South Korean government became more anxious. At that time, South Korean President Park Chung-hee began to mobilize all means to prevent the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula, including improving the environment of U.S. military "base villages" and personally drafting a plan for "carrying out purification campaigns in U.S. military base villages". The so-called "purification campaign" means that relevant government departments conduct sexually transmitted disease examinations on women in the "base village".

The women interviewed described to The New York Times how they were called together for monthly "classes," praised by South Korean officials as "dollar-earning patriots" and urged by U.S. officials to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. They must be tested twice a week, and those who test positive are detained for treatment. According to unsealed documents and statements by former "comfort women," women in "base villages" are required to carry registration cards and STD test cards and wear numbered badges or name tags, according to regulations established by U.S. military and South Korean officials.

According to the report, the U.S. military regularly inspects the "base village" and keeps photo files of these women at the base clinic to help infected soldiers identify contacts. Detainees included not only women who were found to be infected, but also women who were identified as contacts during random checks or who did not have a valid test card. They were locked in shelters with iron bars and were heavily injected with penicillin. Some of them died of shock due to drug allergy.

In the detention center in Dongducheon, "comfort women" infected with sexually transmitted diseases were locked in such bedrooms. Image credit: The New York Times

Although there are vivid examples that the South Korean government "de facto facilitated" these crimes, the report mentioned that there is no evidence in government documents released in recent years that South Korea was directly involved in the recruitment of "comfort women" for the US military . This also means that these women have to live in shame and silence. With the economic development of South Korea, the "base village" has gradually disappeared from people's vision, and the lives of the "foreign princesses" seem to be the same.

Cui Guizi, 77, recalled that officials urged many illiterate women like her to earn dollars, promising free apartments in their later years if they would sell themselves in the “base village.” "It's all a lie," she said. Fighting back tears, she recounted the multiple abortions she and other women have experienced because of South Korea's prejudice against people of mixed race. Her voice trembled as she recalled the women who had committed suicide—whom American soldiers had first regarded as de facto wives and then abandoned them and their children.

In 2014, 120 "comfort women" victims of the U.S. military filed a lawsuit, claiming that the South Korean government facilitated the sex trade, so they were unable to escape from the sex trade in the "base village" for a long time, and suffered great physical and mental torture. The government argues that the five-year statute of limitations for claiming damages has expired and there is no liability for compensation.

It took until September 2022 for the South Korean Grand Court (Supreme Court) to convict the government, stating that the South Korean government determined that "base village" prostitution was "legitimate" and "encouraged" it to help maintain the South Korea-US military alliance and earn dollars . According to the final judgment, the South Korean government should compensate 95 female victims from 3 million won to 7 million won (approximately RMB 15,700-36,700). passed away.

However, the report pointed out that this did not help much to alleviate the economic plight of the victimized women. In a psychiatric report that Park Jin-ae submitted to the South Korean court as evidence in 2021, she described her life as "always walking on eggshells" because she was worried that others would know about her past. She has self-inflicted scars on her arms and thighs.

It is reported that these victims intend to continue to file lawsuits in the United States in the future, but it is unclear what legal strategy they will adopt and what recourse they can make. "The Americans need to know what some of their soldiers have done to us," Park Jin-ae said. "Our country is allied with the United States. Do whatever you want, right?"

Meanwhile, the New York Times said the U.S. military declined to comment on the South Korean Supreme Court ruling or the women's claims. "We will not tolerate any violation of South Korean laws, regulations or directives, and have implemented good order and discipline measures," Pentagon spokesman Col. Isaac Taylor said in an email.

“她们被韩政府献给美国大兵赚外汇，如今却被遗忘”

然而在日本结束殖民统治后的很长一段时间里，韩国还有数以万计的女性被诱骗、绑架为驻韩美军提供性服务，而韩国政府默许、鼓励，甚至为此提供便利，“事实上助长了”这些罪行。

随身携带性病检测卡、被暴力扣押接受性病治疗、注射抗生素致死、多人墮胎自杀自残……美国《纽约时报》2日通过研究未公开的政府文件和对6名当事女性的采访，在报道中揭开了这段韩美同盟背后的悲痛往事。面对如今晚年生活的困难，韩国政府的赔偿也只是杯水车薪，受访女性表示未来还将在美国提起诉讼。

《纽约时报》报道截图

韩国政府并不总是公开讨论其性剥削历史。当韩国社会学家金贵玉（音）在世纪初引用韩军方文件揭露战时韩军“特殊慰安队”的情况时，政府的做法是封存这些文件。金贵玉说，韩国政府“担心日本右翼会用此粉饰其慰安妇历史”。有关驻韩美军基地周边“慰安妇”受到不公待遇的消息，更是直到1992年一位名叫尹锦姬（音）的女子被美国士兵残忍性侵并杀害后，才开始获得韩国人更多的关注。

1953年朝鲜战争结束后，韩国在军事和经济实力上落后于朝鲜，美国军队以联合国的名义留在韩国，而韩国则竭力留住美军。报道引述一份近期才披露的文件说，在1961年，环绕首都汉城（今首尔）的京畿道曾认为，“为了给联合国部队提供安慰、鼓舞士气，迫切需要建立大规模的慰安妇设施”。因散落在驻韩美军基地周围，这类红灯区也被叫做“基地村”。

报道称，京畿道政府还公开允许私人俱乐部招募女性从事性交易，以“节约预算并赚取外汇”。据估计，京畿道管辖范围内的慰安妇人数达1万人，而且当时还在不断增加，这些女性为约5万名美军提供服务。据韩国《统一民族》杂志早先报道，至上世纪80年代，这样的女性累计达100万人，她们多因常年服药和大量饮酒而疾病缠身。

京畿道东豆川市“外国人观光特区”的一条街道，这里曾经有很多服务美国士兵的夜总会和妓院。图片来源：《纽约时报》

根据韩国政府1970年给议会的汇报，美国驻军每年给韩国带来的“商业收入”达1.6亿美元，占韩国当时8.35亿美元年出口额的近20%，当中就包括美军“慰安妇”的性交易。据报道，有些女性为谋生而被吸引去，还有一些女性则是被绑架或者是被工作承诺诱骗而去，新来者还会被皮条客下药，以应对卖淫的耻辱感。一次性行为的费用通常在5-10美元，这些钱往往都被皮条客拿走。尽管美元没有直接交给政府，但进入了急需硬通货的经济领域。

报道称，当时有韩国报纸说“慰安妇”“非法、像是癌症、邪恶”，但也将她们称为“赢得美元的前线战士”。据《环球时报》此前报道，为了美化这一行为，韩国政府还将被迫从事卖淫的妇女公开称为“洋公主”“美韩民间外交官”等。但这些女性仍遭受着社会的冷眼，64岁的朴瑾爱（音）说，“称我们为爱国者的官员在背后冷笑我们，说我们是‘挣美元的机器’”。她16岁就被卖给皮条客，遭受了美国大兵的毒打和其他虐待。

前慰安妇朴瑾爱（音）在回忆过去的遭遇时不禁流下眼泪。图片来源：《纽约时报》

1969年7月，时任美国总统尼克松宣布计划减少驻韩美军人数时，韩国政府愈发急切。当时的韩国总统朴正熙开始动员一切手段阻止美军撤离朝鲜半岛，包括改善美军“基地村”环境，并亲自拟定“在美军基地村内开展净化运动”方案。所谓“净化运动”，就是政府有关部门对“基地村”内的女性进行性病检查。

受访女性向《纽约时报》描述，她们被召集起来参加每月一次的“课程”，韩国官员称赞她们是“挣美元的爱国者”，美国官员则敦促她们避免性传播疾病。她们必须每周接受两次检测，检测呈阳性的人被拘留接受治疗。根据未密封的文件和前“慰安妇”的陈述，据美军方和韩官员制定的规定，“基地村”妇女必须携带登记卡和性病测试卡，并佩戴有编号的徽章或名牌。

报道称，美国军方会定期检查“基地村”，在基地诊所保存这些女性的照片档案，以帮助受感染的士兵识别接触者。被拘禁者不仅包括被发现感染的妇女，还包括在随机检查中被确定为接触者或没有有效检测卡的女性。她们被关在装有铁窗的收容所里，并被大量注射青霉素，有些人因药物过敏而休克死亡。

在东豆川的拘禁中心，感染了性病的“慰安妇”就被关在这样的卧室里。图片来源：《纽约时报》

尽管鲜活的例子就在眼前，韩政府“事实上助长了”这些罪行，但报道提到，近年来公开的政府文件中，没有任何证据表明韩国直接参与了为美军招募“慰安妇”的行动。这也代表着，这些女性们不得不生活在耻辱和沉默中。随着韩国经济发展，“基地村”逐渐消失在人们的视野，“洋公主”们的生活仿佛也是。

77岁的崔桂子（音）回忆说，官员们曾经催促许多像她一样不识字的女性去挣美元，并承诺如果她们愿意在“基地村”卖身，晚年就可以住进免费公寓。“都是骗人的。”她说。她强忍着眼泪，讲述了她和其他女性因韩国对混血儿的偏见而经历的多次堕胎。她用颤抖的声音回忆起那些自杀的女性——美国士兵先是视她们为事实上的妻子，随后又抛弃她们和孩子。

120名美军“慰安妇”受害者们于2014年提起诉讼，称韩国政府助长了性交易，因此她们长期无法从“基地村”的性交易中脱身，身心遭受巨大折磨。政府方面则主张，五年的损害赔偿请求权时效已过，没有赔偿责任。

直到2022年9月，韩国大法院（最高法院）才裁定政府罪成，指出韩国政府认定“基地村”卖淫活动“正当”，并“加以鼓励”，以帮助维持韩美军事联盟并赚取美元。根据最终判决，韩国政府应对95名受害女性分别赔偿300万韩元到700万韩元（约合人民币1.57万-3.67万元）——在等待裁决的8年期间，有部分人撤诉，还有一些人离开了人世。

然而，报道指出，这对缓解受害女性的经济困境没有多大帮助。在朴瑾爱2021年提交给韩国法院作为证据的一份精神病学报告中，她形容自己的生活“总是如履薄冰”，因为担心别人会知道她的过去。她的手臂和大腿上都有自残留下的疤痕。

据悉，这些受害者们打算未来在美国继续提起诉讼，但目前尚不清楚她们将采取何种法律策略，以及能做出怎样的追索。“美国人需要知道他们的一些士兵对我们做了什么，”朴瑾爱说，“我们的国家与美国结盟，我们知道美国兵来这里是帮我们的，但这并不意味着他们可以对我们为所欲为，对吧？”

与此同时，《纽约时报》称，美国军方拒绝对韩国大法院的裁决或这些女性的说法发表评论。“我们绝不容忍任何违反韩国法律、法规或指令的行为，并实施了良好的秩序和纪律措施。”美国国防部发言人艾萨克·泰勒上校在电子邮件中说。