SMU News
Originally Posted: April 20, 2016
DALLAS (SMU) – During World War II, the Japanese military abducted, tricked or coerced as many as 200,000 women for use as sex slaves, euphemistically called “comfort women.” Most were from occupied Korea, with others from China, Southeast Asia and Europe – and two-thirds were killed or died after their abuse.
In a rare U.S. appearance, two of the survivors will be at SMU on Friday, April 22, for the Embrey Human Rights Program’s “Evening With Kang Il-Chul and Lee Ok-Seon,” held in partnership with Seoul, South Korea’s House of Sharing, an assisted living home where Il-Chul and Ok-Seon and five others find support.
The free public event will begin with a 6:30 p.m. reception featuring Korean food and dance tributes, followed by a 7:15 p.m. discussion in McCord Auditorium, Room 306 of Dallas Hall, 3225 University Blvd.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those in the SMU and Dallas community to hear two of less than 50 surviving victims of Japanese military sexual slavery,” says Embrey Human Rights Program Director Rick Halperin. “Their powerful stories of exploitation and courage deserve to be heard – and the atrocities inflicted on them remembered and never repeated.” READ MORE