김학순 공개증언과 일본의 시민운동: 말하는 자와 듣는 자가 만들어낸 파장(波長)

초록

2021 marked the 30th anniversary of the public testimony of Kim Hak-soon, a surviving representative of the ‘comfort women’ who were forced to provide sexual services to the Japanese military during wartime. Since that time, Kim Hak-soon continued to write a new history of women's rights by demanding accountability from the perpetrators of this system, from the perspective of the female victims. Her active testimony and activism continued until her death in 1997. This article focuses on Kim Hak-soon’s first public testimony in Tokyo, Japan, in December 1991, and its impact on Japanese society. In particular, based on the oral history data collected for the purposes of this study, I analyze how Zainichi Korean women’s experiences match Kim Hak-soon's testimony, along with the background and consequent effects. Crossing the boundaries of ethnicity, gender, class, colonialism and imperialism, and national division under the Cold War system, Kim Hak-soon finally encountered Koreans in Japan. Together, they experienced mutual empowerment and self-recovery through the construction of new relationships, based on empathy of suffering, and expanded their movement to expose and demand retribution for the ‘comfort women’ issue. Unfortunately, their aims have not yet been fully met, as the Japanese government continues to deny legal responsibility and to refuse to offer a sincere apology.

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