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2024-10-15 19:14:04 UTC
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Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
Dongducheon-si (AFP) – Slated for demolition, the graffiti-covered building
close to the inter-Korean border was once a "monkey house", a clinic for
sex workers forced to serve US soldiers protecting Seoul from North Korea.
A building near the inter-Korean border was once a "monkey house", a clinic
for sex workers forced to serve US soldiers © Anthony WALLACE / AFP
ADVERTISING
Activists, including women who were forced into gruesome treatments for
sexually transmitted diseases, say the site should be preserved for its
historical significance, but the bulldozers will move in this month to
clear it for a tourist development.
ADVERTISING
The fight over the building in the lush forest of Dongducheon is
illustrative of the broader struggle for recognition faced by South Korean
women who say they were tricked or forced to work in state-run brothels
serving US troops.
Unlike the better-known "comfort women" used by Japanese soldiers until the
end of World War II, the tens of thousands of victims of state-sanctioned
brothels run from the 1950s to 1980s by the South Korean government, have
received relatively limited attention.
The tens of thousands of victims of state-sanctioned brothels run by the
South Korean government have received limited attention © Anthony WALLACE /
AFP
"It was nicknamed the 'monkey house' because the women were kept confined
like monkeys," Choi Hei-shin, a peace activist and researcher, told AFP.
ADVERTISING
Many women in the brothels, which Seoul's Supreme Court ruled were illegally
"established, managed, and operated" by the state for US troops, were
forced to undergo STD treatments against their will to protect their
clients' health.
Kim Un-hui was dragged to the monkey house in Dongducheon in the late 1970s
when she was caught by authorities without an STD certificate and
forcefully injected with an excessive amount of penicillin.
It was so painful it felt like someone was "stabbing me over and over
again," Kim, now 66, told AFP.
Kim Un-hui was dragged to the monkey house in the late 1970s and forced to
receive an injection of excessive amount of penicillin © Anthony WALLACE /
AFP
At that point, Kim was not even working in the military brothels, as she had
married an American GI. Even so, she says she was detained and forced to
share a cramped room with 20 other women.
One woman passed out from the penicillin injection and injured herself by
hitting herself against the bedframe while unconscious, she says.
Medical staff "just stood there and did nothing," Kim told AFP, adding the
experience still haunted her.
No recognition
Many other women died from the drugs handed out by pimps or from the
consequences of the botched medical treatments offered in the monkey houses
© Anthony WALLACE / AFP
A historic 2022 Supreme Court ruling found the South Korean government had
illegally been "justifying and promoting prostitution" among its women
citizens, causing "loss of human dignity" and "mental suffering".
Kim said she responded to an advert looking for a waitress but was
trafficked by a Korean pimp into a military brothel. She considers herself
lucky as she quickly met her husband, one of her first customers, and
escaped with him.
Many other women died from the drugs handed out by pimps or from the
consequences of the botched medical treatments offered in the monkey
houses, according to survivors and historians.
"The authorities administered over ten times the safe amount of penicillin
to the victims," said Kim Eun-jin, director of Durebang, a group of
activists supporting the survivors, to AFP.
The United States, which still has troops stationed in South Korea, has not
acknowledged its role and apologised © Anthony WALLACE / AFP
Some survivors have received small payouts from the Korean state, but
efforts to get the United States, which still has tens of thousands of
troops stationed in South Korea, to acknowledge its role and apologise have
so far been fruitless.
"We have witnessed our colleagues die from illnesses, suicides and crimes,"
73 South Korean survivors wrote in a letter to then-US president Barack
Obama in 2009.
"The US military authorities in South Korea intervened directly in the
prostitution surrounding military bases for the 'health and comfort of the
US troops'... This was a clear state crime.""
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241008-former-south-korea-clinic-for-us-comfort-women-to-be-demolished#:~:text=Topics,clear%20state%20crime.%22
ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS / TECH
SPORT
CULTURE
INFOGRAPHICS
FIGHT THE FAKE
SPONSORED CONTENTS
By region
FRANCE
AFRICA
MIDDLE EAST
AMERICAS
EUROPE
ASIA-PACIFIC
Français
English
Español
عربي
Manage subscription to notifications
Offline navigation
Sign up for newsletters
Manage my privacy settings
Skip to main content
France 24 - International breaking news, top stories and headlines
EN
SETTINGS
MENU
FRANCE
AFRICA
MIDDLE EAST
AMERICAS
EUROPE
ASIA-PACIFIC
ADVERTISING
HOME
LIVE NEWS
Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
Dongducheon-si (AFP) – Slated for demolition, the graffiti-covered building
close to the inter-Korean border was once a "monkey house", a clinic for
sex workers forced to serve US soldiers protecting Seoul from North Korea.
A building near the inter-Korean border was once a "monkey house", a clinic
for sex workers forced to serve US soldiers © Anthony WALLACE / AFP
ADVERTISING
Activists, including women who were forced into gruesome treatments for
sexually transmitted diseases, say the site should be preserved for its
historical significance, but the bulldozers will move in this month to
clear it for a tourist development.
ADVERTISING
The fight over the building in the lush forest of Dongducheon is
illustrative of the broader struggle for recognition faced by South Korean
women who say they were tricked or forced to work in state-run brothels
serving US troops.
Unlike the better-known "comfort women" used by Japanese soldiers until the
end of World War II, the tens of thousands of victims of state-sanctioned
brothels run from the 1950s to 1980s by the South Korean government, have
received relatively limited attention.
The tens of thousands of victims of state-sanctioned brothels run by the
South Korean government have received limited attention © Anthony WALLACE /
AFP
"It was nicknamed the 'monkey house' because the women were kept confined
like monkeys," Choi Hei-shin, a peace activist and researcher, told AFP.
ADVERTISING
Many women in the brothels, which Seoul's Supreme Court ruled were illegally
"established, managed, and operated" by the state for US troops, were
forced to undergo STD treatments against their will to protect their
clients' health.
Kim Un-hui was dragged to the monkey house in Dongducheon in the late 1970s
when she was caught by authorities without an STD certificate and
forcefully injected with an excessive amount of penicillin.
It was so painful it felt like someone was "stabbing me over and over
again," Kim, now 66, told AFP.
Kim Un-hui was dragged to the monkey house in the late 1970s and forced to
receive an injection of excessive amount of penicillin © Anthony WALLACE /
AFP
At that point, Kim was not even working in the military brothels, as she had
married an American GI. Even so, she says she was detained and forced to
share a cramped room with 20 other women.
One woman passed out from the penicillin injection and injured herself by
hitting herself against the bedframe while unconscious, she says.
Medical staff "just stood there and did nothing," Kim told AFP, adding the
experience still haunted her.
No recognition
Many other women died from the drugs handed out by pimps or from the
consequences of the botched medical treatments offered in the monkey houses
© Anthony WALLACE / AFP
A historic 2022 Supreme Court ruling found the South Korean government had
illegally been "justifying and promoting prostitution" among its women
citizens, causing "loss of human dignity" and "mental suffering".
Kim said she responded to an advert looking for a waitress but was
trafficked by a Korean pimp into a military brothel. She considers herself
lucky as she quickly met her husband, one of her first customers, and
escaped with him.
Many other women died from the drugs handed out by pimps or from the
consequences of the botched medical treatments offered in the monkey
houses, according to survivors and historians.
"The authorities administered over ten times the safe amount of penicillin
to the victims," said Kim Eun-jin, director of Durebang, a group of
activists supporting the survivors, to AFP.
The United States, which still has troops stationed in South Korea, has not
acknowledged its role and apologised © Anthony WALLACE / AFP
Some survivors have received small payouts from the Korean state, but
efforts to get the United States, which still has tens of thousands of
troops stationed in South Korea, to acknowledge its role and apologise have
so far been fruitless.
"We have witnessed our colleagues die from illnesses, suicides and crimes,"
73 South Korean survivors wrote in a letter to then-US president Barack
Obama in 2009.
"The US military authorities in South Korea intervened directly in the
prostitution surrounding military bases for the 'health and comfort of the
US troops'... This was a clear state crime.""
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241008-former-south-korea-clinic-for-us-comfort-women-to-be-demolished#:~:text=Topics,clear%20state%20crime.%22
--
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