▲ Japanese Military Sexual Slaves being transported by Japanese military trucks due to the movement of the front line (Source: Archives of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Institute of Problem Research 814)

CWNU’s Sustainable Development Center was selected for the "Investigation and Exhibition of Private Records on the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Issue", a project organized by the Korea Women's Human Rights Promotion Agency. The project will collect, investigate, and display private records related to the victims of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery living in Gyeongsang-do, as well as the civic groups and activists who supported them, and will be carried out with a total project cost of 112.3 million won by November.

The, “Private Records Investigation and Exhibition Project related to the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery," issue in connection with the Japanese military, consists of investigation and exhibition fields. The first is an oral survey project on volunteers who worked in Gyeongsang-do to support the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery. The center conducted the first oral survey project in Changwon, Jinju, Tongyeong, Namhae, and Daegu last year, with plans to conduct additional investigations this year. The second is to build an archive (Website: http://www.archive814.or.kr/) by transferring major exhibition materials, including records related to the so-called, ‘official court,’ Busan Jong-gun Japanese Military Sexual Slavery and Women's Japanese Military Sexual Slavery official apology cases, of the National and Women's History Museum (Suyoung-gu, Busan), which is scheduled to be newly reconstructed after this month's data research findings. Based on this, the main goal of the project is to plan and present an exhibition on the supportive resources for victims of the Japanese military, specifically, "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery," in Gyeongsang-do.

The data of the, "National and Women's History View," which will be historically re-evaluated through the survey project, will later be re-transferred to an institution designated by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Professor Shin Dong-kyu of Changwon University, who was in charge of the research, will participate in the research project, including Moon Kyung-hee (International Relations Department), Lee Jung-eun (Society Department), Kim Min-jung (Early Childhood Education Department), and Kim Joo-yong, Ko Eun-young, and Park Jin-hyun from the Changwon National University. Changwon University's Center for Sustainable Development said, "The project is very meaningful in that Gyeongsang Province is the most damaged area related to the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery." "We expect to contribute to expanding human rights awareness and establishing a peace-oriented historical perspective in Gyeongsangnam-do along with the Gyeongsangnam-do Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Historical Museum," he said. "As a National University in Gyeongsangnam-do, we will do our best to contribute academically and carry out social responsibilities."

Meanwhile, the Center for Sustainable Development, which belongs to Changwon University's Social Science Research Institute, is rooted in the establishment of the Institute for Unification Issues in 1983 and was reorganized into the Institute for Social Science in 1995. Previously, in September 2019, it was selected as the, "Korea Research Foundation Humanities and Social Research Institute Support Project" and is actively continuing its research activities. Congratulations on Changwon University's selection for the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Private Records Survey and Exhibition Project, and we hope it will proceed smoothly and successfully as it deals with events of significant historical significance at the national level.

By Shin Jeong-eun,cub-reporter  jes203id@gmail.com

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