Korean-American works to raise comfort women awareness in US

Jeongdaehyeop President Yoon Mi-hyang (left) and Education for Social Justice Foundation President Sohn Sung-suk (right) pose together with a teaching guide concerning sexual slavery under the Japanese imperial army. (Hwang Geum-bi, staff reporter)

San Francisco-based foundation works with Korean organization to educate American students

On July 3, Sohn Sung-suk, a 53-year-old Korean-American, delivered educational material about the comfort women under the Japanese imperial army to the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop). As president of the San Francisco-based Education for Social Justice Foundation, Sohn has been working to raise historical awareness of the comfort women.

Sohn met Jeongdaehyeop President Yoon Mi-hyang in the group’s office in Seoul’s Mapo District on the afternoon of July 3 and gave Yoon a teaching guide containing lesson plans about the comfort women. This teacher’s guide was distributed to 18 public high schools in San Francisco in April.

The cover of the Education for Social Justice Foundation’s teaching guide, “Comfort Women” History and Issues.

The Education for Social Justice Foundation started creating the teaching guide last fall. The guide is divided into four sections. The first details the history of the comfort women movement during the 1990s and introduces the memorial statue that was built in San Francisco; the second explains the historical facts and documents related to the recruitment of the comfort women in the 1930s; the third contains the teaching plans; and the fourth is composed of students’ worksheets.

“Since the news got out, requests have been coming in from teachers working in New York and Irvine who want access to the teacher’s guide,” said Sohn, who was instrumental in creating the guide.

Civic groups in places outside Korea such as Vancouver in Canada and New Jersey in the US have played a leading role in educating history teachers about the comfort women, but the Education for Social Justice Foundation is reportedly the first group that has created its own teaching materials for distribution.

By Hwang Geum-bi, staff reporter

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