Women as a Weapon of War: The Tragic History of Korean ‘Comfort Women’
By Carolina Dionísio
“Korean Women Target U.S. Military in Suit Over Prostitution” has been the recent headline of many news outlets. From The New York Times to The Sun to international papers like Público in Portugal, the news was seemingly a shock — and a first attempt to hold the U.S. government and militia accountable.
As said by The New York Times, “dozens of women from South Korea are seeking an apology and compensation from American G.I.s”. But why?
It all dates to the Korean Wars (1950-1953), an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula that resulted from Japan's defeat in World War II, and Korea’s division at the 38th parallel (with the Soviets occupying the North, and the U.S. the South). The Cold War (circa 1947-1991) also had a great impact on the development of it all.
Sourced by Los Angeles Urban League
The war officially began on June 25th, 1950, when North Korea, also supported by China, invaded South Korea, supported by a UN coalition led by their occupiers, in a surprise attack. U.S. Marines charged at Inchon, pushing North Korean forces back, but China sent out a massive number of troops in retaliation, which caused a lot of American losses.
By 1951, a “stalemate” (a chess position that results in a draw) was set around the 38th parallel, leading to peace talks and eventually an armistice agreement in July of 1953. There wasn’t a “winner” in this war. The North failed to conquer the South, and the U.S. failed to achieve its goal of a unified, non-communist Korea.
Therefore, the Korean Wars are usually lost in the middle of history books, which granted them the title of “Forgotten Wars”. However, their geopolitical impact on the Peninsula shaped not just the landscape of global politics in decades to come, but also the people who suffered heinous crimes for the sake of their country, like South Korean women.
South Korean women were long silenced and pushed to the background of the conflict. Their help was never acknowledged or valued for a very simple reason: they were never really on the battlefield, dressed in a uniform with a gun in hand; instead, they were shoved into bars and brothels.
These women were South Korea’s secret weapon, and also one of their most well-kept shameful secrets.
Nicknamed “comfort women for the U.S. Military”, their story dates back to World War II and the horrible acts perpetrated by Imperial Japan. Then, they were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers, despite their age, and used as “public toilets”. The trade of sex slaves also extended to other countries like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and many more.
Sourced by The New York Times
The term “comfort women” was coined somewhere in the midst of WWII by the Japanese Imperial forces — an euphemism that hides the true nature of the crimes. Most scholars agree that hundreds of thousands of women were victimized.
So, you’d think the Korean government would offer its sympathies and condolences to all the survivors, but instead, they shamed them into living in silence for decades. Mostly, to “honor” their quiet compliance with the Japanese acts, but also to hide the fact that they allowed such a thing to happen again. Even worse: they encouraged it.
This time, during the Korean Wars, “special camp towns” were created in South Korea with the sole purpose of entertaining and pleasing the thousands of American troops stationed there. These were strategically built around U.S. bases and called kijichon: prostitution zones filled with bars, brothels, and shops.
The women forced to work at camp towns could be as young as 12. Most were either kidnapped from their homes or sold to pimps, while some women were also deceived into the kijichon with a promise of well-paid work to help their families. Still, all women, despite how they got there, were held hostage by the pimps over debt bondage (in which the debt in question was inherently fake) or ultimatums involving shame, dishonour, or even jail (since prostitution was/is illegal in Korea).
According to a live reporter from The NY Times, a 66-year-old woman spoke anonymously at a news conference in South Korea on Monday, September 1st, sharing her experience. She was 16 when she was sold to a kijichon pimp. She saw children being brought into the state-sponsored sex ring; the American troops knew some girls were minors, but still, they did nothing to help them or any of the women.
Besides all the extreme violence the women suffered during “work”, there are also reports of the government forcing them to receive treatment for STIs in a “systematic and violent” way. They had to be tested twice a week, and their photos and private information were kept at base clinics in order to help infected soldiers identify their respective transmitters. The troops conducted random and surprise inspections at clubs and brothels with no authorization, valid registration, or V.D. test card.
Then, the infected women — but not their infected G.I. “partners” — were locked up in mandatory isolation (the troops demanded, the government complied) in facilities with barred windows. There, they would receive extremely high doses of penicillin. Many women died from penicillin shock, tell survivors.
All this was the South Korean government's way of thanking the American soldiers for their help, while simultaneously fortifying their alliance over this shared shameful secret. The women weren't used just as a gift, but as leverage, too.
The kijichon were also used as an economic lifeline. The U.S. troops were lured into spending as much money as they could on women, food, or alcohol, in a desperate attempt to save South Korea from bankruptcy.
Sourced by The Philadelphia Inquirer
Camp towns faded with time as a result of South Korea's rampant economic growth at the hands of K-Culture. However, some women say the areas were active until 2004, 51 years after the end of the conflict.
Because lawsuits seeking compensation from the U.S. troops based in South Korea must be settled with the local government, the women could not even sue the U.S. Military directly. So instead, in 2022, they sued their own government — and they won.
South Korea’s Supreme Court found the government guilty of encouraging prostitution for American G.I.s to raise the economy and maintain ties, and ordered compensation for dozens of women for the trauma they endured as “comfort women”. Each of the women sought compensation for 10 million won ($7,200). Many said they lived an empty life and that society despised them. They were treated as nothing more than “a shameful underside of its alliance with the United States”.
The ongoing lawsuit, signed on September 5th, 2025, in Seoul, accuses the United States militia of illegally promoting the sex trade for decades. The survivors demand apologies and compensation for all the damages and the “rampant human rights violations”, but it is important to reinforce that no amount of money paid by the U.S. will ever erase all the horrific acts they committed.
Korean women will not be shamed anymore.
Korean women will not be silenced anymore.
Note: In 2017, after a two-year hunt, a government-funded South Korean research team discovered a short, black-and-white clip in the midst of U.S. archives — this would become the first known footage of “comfort women”. It dates back to WWII, and we can see the women, clearly scared, standing next to a presumed brothel and surrounded by Japanese soldiers.
